The Importance of Dreaming: Processing Daily Stimuli and Emotions

The brain receives stimuli from many different sources all day long. There are far too many stimuli for it to process at once, so the mind prioritizes them, making you aware of those that require immediate attention, such as a crying baby, an out-of-control car, or a request from your boss.

Subconscious Awareness of Stimuli

Even though you may not be consciously aware of some stimuli, the brain still notes them on a subconscious level. These can be minor sounds or remarks, like the drip of a bathroom faucet or a coworker’s comment while you’re on the phone, which the brain processes in the background.

Emotions and Repression

Throughout the day, you experience a wide range of emotions. Some emotions are acknowledged and acted upon (e.g., smiling when complimented), while others are repressed (e.g., resisting the urge to react when your boss criticizes your work). In the case of traumatic experiences, you may consciously face them or, if they are too painful, you may repress them deep into your subconscious.

The Brain’s Workload

In addition to processing stimuli and emotions, the brain keeps your body functioning, remembers names and faces, enables you to perform multiple activities simultaneously (like walking, talking, and chewing gum), and much more. It’s a lot for the brain to manage!

Why We Dream

At night, when your body rests, the mind continues working. With no need to perform daily tasks like typing or grocery shopping, the brain focuses on processing all the subconscious stimuli and emotions it collected during the day. This is why we dream—because the brain needs to communicate these signals to your conscious mind, even though you are not awake to perceive them directly.

Dreams as a Processing System

The mind uses everything at its disposal, from your past experiences to your emotions, to convey messages through dreams. Simply put, dreaming is the brain's way of processing the stimuli and emotions it has received or repressed over time, helping you to act on them.

The Benefits of Remembering Your Dreams

It’s an intricate system, but unless you remember and interpret your dreams, you are missing out on countless opportunities to learn about yourself and live life to its fullest.

Even though this has been mentioned before, it bears repeating: Why should you try to remember your dreams?

See Also: subconscious processing, dream recall, emotions, brain function.