Acting Your Dreams: Using Acting Techniques to Interpret Your Dreams

By Benjamin David

Every night after we go to sleep we become the star of a major motion picture. Scene by scene we are literally drawn into a drama that surpasses any movie. In this movie, we're the star. But unlike any other movie our whole mind, body and imagination is involved in such a way that our brain is convinced that it's actually happening to us. No matter how bizarre the situation or the images, and when we wake up we may find ourselves still sweating from the fright, or still trying to escape some unknown entity that has been chasing us. We may find ourselves still haunted by the images or feelings for years, or in some cases, the rest of our life. So why not look at the dream as it is… a movie. And in doing so, we can use the same techniques that actors use to understand the characters they play in solving our own dilemmas with our starring roles, "by Acting Your Dreams."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yhabbut Publishing
• Release date: Apr 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524297534

Book preview

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Benjamin David

Pilgrim Withdraws: A Rebuttal to Pilgrim’s Progress

Left Out: What to do if You’re Left Behind or Left Below

My Egypt: Why I Left the Ex-Gay Movement

God is my Fag Stag

In loving memory of Brendan Johnson: Friend and brother. A gregarious man filled with compassion and generosity, loved by all, especially children and animals. May your fortitude and integrity guide me in all that I do while I still walk the earth.

Acknowledgments

I want to thank those who have supported me through the years.

To my mom, Sharon, who has been so supportive. I am who I am because of the sacrifices she made. She raised us with an ear toward Heaven, and I am grateful for that.

My greatest thanks go to my sister Anna, who has always been the person everyone could trust. Those who know her respect her for her wisdom and her diplomacy. She has been a powerful advocate and ally for so many. In my case, she is always more than a sister to me; she’s a friend. And she has changed my life for the better. I owe her so much.

Much of my writing was done in a place where I could still be around people, but having my privacy was reasonable. There were people there who took such good care of me that I honestly don’t know how I could have written this without them: Amanda, Bobby, Kris, Randy, Maurice, Meghan, Slade, and Tye.

I would also like to send out my best to Drew. I have loved our chats, and I wish the best for you in your life.

And Meghan and John, our Tini nights were the highlight of my week.

The Late Night Show

Every night, as you sleep, you become the star of a major motion picture starring—YOU. You are present in every scene and are part of the drama/comedy/or fright. Yet unlike any film you watch on T.V. or at the cinema, in your dream, your mind and body are involved to such a degree that your brain is convinced the events are happening, no matter how bizarre the situation or strange the images. It’s better than 3D.

When you awake from such a dream, you may find yourself sweating from the fright or still trying to escape some unknown pursuer. Your heart may be pounding, or your breathing may be shallow. You may even struggle to suppress a scream or prevent yourself from trying to run.

In waking life, you may find yourself haunted by specific images or feelings experienced in dreams—images that can shadow you for years or, in some cases, the rest of your life. You may look up these images in a dream dictionary only to be disappointed by the answer. The dream dictionary told you that the snake in your dream was a sign of sexual potency, but the way it coiled around your arm and tried to slither up to your neck left you feeling anything but sexual.

This book aims to look at the dream for what it is... a series of stories in the form of moving pictures cobbled together with flashes of memory, emotion, and feeling, all in the realm of your mind—while the body itself is paralyzed. Dreams have been notoriously hard to understand and even harder to interpret, but because they’re stories that can act like movies or short sketches, looking at them the way an actor looks at a script can make this process easier while giving us insight into the hidden narratives that on the surface don’t seem to make much sense.

We are storytelling animals, and dreams are stories. This is why I call this book Acting Your Dreams.

Meet the Dream

All of us dream whether we remember them or not. During any given night, we will have anywhere from four to seven dreams, which will become longer as the night wears on. Dreams can be confusing because seemingly random scenes run through our vision in rapid succession, getting weirder and more detailed as the night wears on—while, at the same time, harder to remember. About every ninety minutes, we will visit that strange land where anything can happen, from an Egyptian mummy in a tutu singing I Got You Babe with Beavis and Butthead to elephants wearing sweatpants eating butterscotch ripple while vacuuming the living room with their trunk. Many of us won’t remember our dreams, though we may remember a feeling, a sensation, or a fleeting image as we wake.

What’s more ironic is that even if we don’t remember the dream, we don’t remember the ‘feelings’ it brought up. They can still affect the day ahead of us. The same is true even if we do remember.

The reasons we dream are still being heatedly debated. Scientists don’t understand the functions of sleep all that well, let alone the dreaming mind. Yet nobody would argue that the land of dreams is a fantastic place—both fanciful and confusing. Why are those elephants eating butterscotch ripple ice cream? What about those Egyptian mummies in tutus? And why, when an image like this that should be funny can frighten us so that their memory can haunt us for days, weeks, years, or in some cases, our whole lives?

The early Egyptians created the first dream diary, dating back to 4,000 B.C.E. It’s doubtful they were