Lately, I’ve been having trouble sleeping. When I wake up, my mind is filled with strange images: one moment I’m falling off a cliff, the next I’m arguing with a talking squirrel. These dreams are so bizarre, but I’ve noticed that every time I have one, I feel restless and unmotivated during the day.
Coincidentally, there was an old book at home called “Interpretation of Ten Thousand Dreams.” The cover was yellowed. I had flipped through it a few times before, randomly looking up a few words and thinking, “Oh, so that’s what it means,” but I forgot it right after and it didn’t really help. This time, I decided to try a different approach—to follow the instructions carefully, step by step, and see if I could really understand my dreams.
First thing in the morning: don’t touch your phone, write down your dreams
In the past, my first reaction when I opened my eyes in the morning was to reach for my phone, check my messages, see what time it was, look at my WeChat Moments… But this time I resisted. I knew that dreams are easiest to remember right after you wake up. As soon as you lose focus, the images dissipate like steam.
I rolled over and reached for the thick dream interpretation book on my bedside table. I also picked up an old envelope from the floor—the kind that advertising flyers come in—and grabbed a pen. On the back, I started jotting down:
- I dreamed that a bridge broke while I was walking on it, and my feet slipped.
- There was a particularly large squirrel that could talk and was pointing at me and laughing.
- I felt very panicked, afraid of falling.
The writing was crooked and the sentences were incomplete, but I captured the key feelings and images. This step was important—even if the writing was messy, it was better than doing nothing.
When I finished writing, I tore off a corner of the envelope and tucked it into the dream interpretation book to use as a bookmark. That way, every time I opened the book, I would see the dream I had written down and wouldn’t forget it.
Don’t rush to conclusions: a dream must be examined carefully
After breakfast, I sat at the table and opened the book to look up the meaning of these dreams.
First, I looked up “squirrel.” The book said, “Squirrels represent preparing for the future and storing resources.” I was a little confused and thought, “I don’t have any savings, so what does this have to do with me?” It seemed too general, like something that could apply to anyone.
Next, I looked up “bridge.”This entry was much more detailed: a bridge symbolizes “moving from one stage to another,” such as changing jobs, breaking up, or moving; a broken bridge may indicate “you are facing an important transition but feel uncertain.” When I saw the word “slip,” my heart skipped a beat—lately I’ve been juggling three part-time jobs, running around all day, and unable to sleep at night, constantly worried about messing something up.
At that moment, I realized that the “bridge” in my dream might not be a real bridge, but rather my current state—I want to move forward, but the pressure is too great, and I’m afraid of falling.
But if I had closed the book at this point, it would have been a waste of time. There was still one strange thing I didn’t understand: the talking squirrel.
Don’t overlook even the most absurd details
Many people skip over the parts of their dreams that seem silly. For example, animals talking, flying in the sky, wearing the wrong clothes… They think, “That’s nonsense, don’t worry about it.” But this time, I decided to look up everything, no matter how absurd it was.
I flipped to the index at the back of the book and found the category “animals appearing in dreams.”
It said: Animals often represent a part of your emotions or personality. Look at what they look like, how they move, and how they make you feel.
So I thought: What was this squirrel like? It was very big, moved very quickly, kept jumping around, had a high-pitched voice, and kept reminding me to “hurry up.” It didn’t seem like an enemy, but it made me nervous.
Suddenly, I realized: Isn’t this just like me?Recently, in order to earn more money, I took on three small projects at the same time. My schedule was packed every day, and my mind was constantly spinning, afraid of missing something. That state of “always preparing, always busy” is just like a squirrel frantically hoarding nuts, isn’t it?
It turns out that the “storing resources” mentioned in the book does not refer to getting rich, but to the fact that I was so desperate to seize every opportunity that I ended up exhausting myself.
Connecting dreams with real life is the true meaning of dream interpretation
At that moment, all the pieces started to fall into place:
- Broken bridge + slipping → I want to move forward, but I’m afraid of failure
- Big squirrel → I’m too busy, too anxious, and always want to “do more”
- They appear together → It’s not that I’m unlucky, but that I’m putting too much pressure on myself
This isn’t some mysterious prophecy or fortune-telling. This book didn’t directly tell me, “You’ll get a promotion next week” or “Be careful of car accidents.” It just provided some keywords and directions for me to compare with my own life.
It’s like a jigsaw puzzle: the explanations in the book are the pieces, and my real experiences are the map that connects them all.
Summary: How to use a dream interpretation book effectively?
After trying it out, I discovered several particularly useful methods:
- Write down your dreams as soon as you wake up, even if it’s just on a scrap of paper. The important thing is to capture your feelings at that moment.
- Use your written dreams as bookmarks and place them in your dream interpretation book. That way, when you flip through the book next time, you’ll naturally think of your own dreams.
- Look up every symbol, even if it’s something strange like “a flying cat” or “purple toothpaste.” No matter how strange it may seem, it could hold a clue.
- Pay attention to the feelings in your dreams: Are you afraid? Happy? Ashamed? These emotions are more important than the images.
- Don’t rush to find the standard answer. There is no single interpretation of a dream. The key is to see what it reminds you of in your real life.
Final words: Dream interpretation is not magic, it is a way to understand yourself
Many people think that dream interpretation is for predicting the future, but that’s not true. Truly useful dream interpretation helps you discover emotions and pressures that you don’t normally notice.
Like this time, I thought I could “hold on,” but through a ridiculous dream, I realized that I had already been panicking inside.
That squirrel wasn’t a monster; it was my own shadow. That broken bridge wasn’t a disaster; it was a reminder to slow down, steady myself, and take it easy.
So if you have strange dreams, don’t rush to ignore them. Find a dream interpretation book, take some time, and talk to yourself as if you were having a conversation. You’ll find that dreams have always been talking to us; we just haven’t listened for a long time.