When the subject of dream analysis comes up during my discussions with people, I encounter a common response: "I almost never remember my dreams." Some people even go so far as to say that they don't dream. People only say this because they aren't remembering their dreams, not because they don't have dreams. Everybody dreams. Just because you don't remember them doesn't mean that you don't have them. 

On of my graduate school professors used this analogy to illustrate why we loose contact with the dreamworld. If you had a friend who lives in some far-off country, and over the years this friend wrote you many letters in attempts to deepen the relationship and communicate you you what's going on, and you never responded to those letters, that friend would eventually give up. Well, dreams are messages from our unconscious (our deeper selves) and by neglecting to respond to those messages, the only message we are sending back is that we aren't interested, that we could live without them, that we have much more important things to do. This effectively shuts down the roads of communication. 

The good news is that your deeper self wants deeply to have a relationship with your conscious, walking-around, daylight self. All that you need to do is show some interest to open back up those channels of communication. It is really that simple. What does it mean to show interest? First, you must consciously want to remember your dreams. Second, it is important to demonstrate this want. Demonstrating the want sends a message in the other direction that says: "Hey there! I realize I've been a neglectful friend, but I really do want to know what's going on with you in your strange and foreign country, so please send me some more of your crazy letters." Of course, what is going on with this friend is really what is going on with you on a fundamental level, so it's in your best interest to do this to know what's going on.

But how do you demonstrate the want? Well, to demonstrate is to show. So just do something to show that you want to remember your dreams. You could go out and purchase a nice dream journal. Don't buy a crappy one, for what kind of message would that send?! Place that journal next to your bed. You could also buy a special pen for writing down your dreams. If you treat you preparations for remembering your dreams as a sacred activity, done with care and intention, you will be sending the right message, and you will begin to remember your dreams. Members of my dreamwork groups have reported (during the first meeting) that they never remember their dreams. By the end of the group's time together, after a couple of months, they were remembering full, rich, detailed, complex dreams! The sheer act of attending a dream group was a substantial enough indication of their desire to establish, or reestablish, the relationship, which opened up those channels of communication. 

Well, I hope I have provided you with a little encouragement. If you would like more suggestions for helpful activities for dream recall, please ask.