Why Are Dreams So Irrational?

Have you ever wondered why your dreams are so darn irrational, outlandish, bizarre?

I sure have. In just the last week or so, I have woken up remembering several real doozies.

From the mundane to the nonsensical

One of my dreams featured huge rats scampering around the back yard. When I hurled a rock at the hole in the ground I thought they were coming from, an unending fluffle of bunnies began leaping out, one after another. And yes, a group of wild bunnies is, indeed, called a fluffle. You’re welcome.

Another dream had me in a living room that apparently was in my house. But it was a room I have never seen before. In the middle of the room were three giant flatscreen TVs all in a row. And in this dream, I thought that was so amazing and cool. But then I suddenly felt embarrassed as I realized this was definitely not haute décor.

Dreams often don’t make any logical sense. You might be in a setting very familiar to you, then you walk through a doorway and into a completely different time and place.

Or maybe you’re interacting with someone you know – a friend, family member, co-worker, or even a pet – but they are not really who you know in the waking world. It might be someone you’ve never seen before or even a celebrity. Or maybe one person turns into someone completely different right in the middle of the dream.

REM (rapid eye movement), where most of our dreams occur, shuts down the part of the brain that controls logical thinking.

That’s why in dreamland, it doesn’t seem at all strange to be having high tea on a rowboat with your 2nd grade teacher who is wearing a satin ballgown and a Kansas City Chiefs helmet while belting out Van Halen’s Runnin’ With the Devil.

Emotional highs and lows

Another of my recent dreams had me running toward the door yelling, “Daddy’s home!” when I heard the garage door opening. I was feeling a childlike joy I haven’t known in many years. When I opened the door, there was my smiling dad – who has been gone for more than 35 years – pulling into the garage in a teeny-tiny car crammed with people I’ve never seen.

In the dream, all those strange people crowded in my dad’s car didn’t even faze me. All I knew was that I was thrilled he was home, just like when I was a little girl. Dreams where a deceased loved one appears are called grief dreams.

In yet another dream, I answered a knock at the front door at night. Two strangers were there. One of them told me he would like a pencil, and when I said, “What?” they were both instantly pushing their way in, and I was desperately trying to get the door slammed shut and locked and was screaming, “Call 9-1-1 quick! Call the police!” I woke up terrified, heart pounding.

Dreams can seem to come and go

What’s strange is that before this latest batch of odd dreams, I had just recently realized I hadn’t been dreaming much at all in the past few months. Or what that may really mean is that I hadn’t been waking up during or immediately after and remembering them.

I’ve also noticed over the years that I seem to go through periodic phases where I am dreaming (or remembering my dreams) all the time. And then it will seem like weeks can go by without my being aware of any dreams at all. But this last non-dreaming phase seems to have gone on much longer than usual.

Now I’m wondering if I’m getting to that age where it’s common to dream less.

I can’t say I’m sad to see them go. So many dreams are frightening, traumatic, emotionally charged, or just plain boring. I’ll take a good, solid, dreamless sleep any night.