Purpose of Recurring Dreams
This article is written to answer to question: "Have you had recurring pleasant dreams? What are their purpose?
Recurring dreams are a fascinating subject. I had a recurring dream for many years after my grandfather died. He died when I was four. My grandfather always made me feel special. He'd drive to my house to visit any time I asked and would show me off to his friends.
Even though my parents divorced a few years later and my grandfather was my father's father, my mother and mother's side of the family still talk about how wonderful he was. It's been over thirty-five years since his death. I think it's pretty remarkable that his in-laws still talk about what a nice person he was. My mother still tears up when talking about him, as do I.
The recurring dreams that I had throughout my childhood showed me as a very young girl standing on the banks of a stream. I was scared. Then, my grandfather is standing next to me. He takes my hand and helps me across the stream. I wake up when I am safely on the other side. I always believed that the purpose of that dream was to show me that my grandfather will always be with me through the trials of my life.
This is a villanelle poem that I've written about the recurrent dream:
Dream From Grandpa
Facing the raging stream, the scared girl stands
overwhelmed by helplessness and fear.
Feel the love and support of Grandpa’s hand.
Water churning, pounding the rocky land
creating deafening noise that draws tears.
Facing the raging stream, the scared girl stands.
Over algae-slick rocks, the wet path spanned.
Small footsteps flounder with the current near.
Feel the love and support of Grandpa’s hand.
Forgetting to breathe, she holds his right hand
waiting for the distant bank to appear.
Facing the raging stream, the scared girl stands.
His grip steadies her faulty stance. Doubt banned
with encouraging words for her to hear.
Feel the love and support of Grandpa’s hand.
As nervous slumber turns peaceful and bland,
the message delivered by dream is clear-
Facing the raging stream, the scared girl stands.
Feel the love and support of Grandpa’s hand.
Some may think that the dream wasn't pleasant since I was scared of the stream during the dream, but I always found the dream to be reassuring. I have not had the dream since late adolescence, but in the recurrent dream, I was always that scared little girl.
Many people have differing opinions about recurrent dreams. I have heard others who say that they may be messages from people we loved who have passed on. I'm not sure I completely believe that my dream was from my grandfather. The dream could be a gift from God or my mind's way to try to deal with my grandfather's death. Whoever was the source of the recurring dream, I feel that it was a message that I needed to hear at different times in my life.
