Inside My Dream Journal

Adam offers a peak into his dream journal practice and his subconscious. Don’t worry—there are notebook pics!

I keep a green notebook next to my nightstand and write down my dreams as soon as they wake me up. I like to use a bold or garish notebook to match the weirdness of dreams. A bright or bold pen makes writing in darkness easier but — as you’ll see below — not much. For this notebook I’ve been using a green Zebra Sarasa. You’ll want a clip pen — so it’s always attached to the notebook when you’re reaching for it in the middle of the night.

In my experience, making a point to write down a dream that I remember makes the next dream more available to me when I wake up.

Psychologist Robert Stickgold recommends not opening your eyes or moving when you wake up. “If you roll over and say to your spouse that you just had the coolest dream, you’re going to lose it,” Stickgold says. “Stay half-asleep and replay what you remember in your mind. As you replay it while awake, it gets stored differently, and now you’ve got it. A whole other chunk might even pop into your mind.”

I don't want to overstate the mystical benefits of this practice, but I think I've already done so by using the M word. I do think there are creative and grounding advantages to keeping track of your dreams – and they are the most entertaining notebooks to reread.

Below are some pictures of my current dream journal. I’ve already got my next dream journal picked out: the Dapper Notes Flying To edition. (Thank you Fancy Chimpanzee.)