Do your dreams reveal hidden messages? - Borneo Post Online (2025)

I WAS browsing YouTube looking for a video to watch when I saw that one of my favourite YouTubers ‘PewDiePie’ had just uploaded one of his more recent videos, ‘30 Day Dream Challenge’, which struck me as particularly insightful.

In that video, he tried an experiment whereby he would journal his dreams, ‘listen’ to them, and discover the hidden messages behind each one.

When we talk about dreams, these two individuals spring to mind: philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, and psychologist Carl Gustav Jung.

While Nietzsche did not have a formal ‘theory of the unconscious’, he recognised the importance of unconscious processes and considered them as the driving force behind human behaviour.

Jung then expanded Nietzsche’s ideas to create the concept of ‘shadow work’.

What Jung referred to as our ‘shadow’ are the darker impulses of our subconscious that we do not like to acknowledge that are made up of unresolved conflicts.

In this regard, shadow work can help in recognising ‘those shadows’, instead of fighting them.

I found the idea of ‘discovering oneself’ by listening to one’s dreams and interpreting their hidden meanings to be quite intriguing. So for the past week, I have been experimenting with it myself to write about my experience here.

I had to make sure, like PewDiePie, that I wrote down my dreams as soon as I woke up, and more importantly, that I did it with full honesty.

Since our brains normally do not work according to the same logic when we are asleep as they do when we are awake, the following dreams will seem nonsensical, but that is the fun part – finding meaning in something so strange.

Also, keep in mind that these are just fictional stories created by the mind, by blending emotions and subconscious ideas into vivid narratives.

Dream #1: The absurd incident

In this first dream, I was waking up and going to the kitchen to prepare a Milo drink for breakfast.

But instead of Milo powder, it was noodles that came out from the packets.

And if that was not strange enough, every time they went into the mug, the noodles vanished.

I went to my mum to tell her about the strange occurrence, and then became agitated and accused the purchased products of being ‘broken’.

When she said: ‘If it makes you mad, just don’t put the noodles in’, I stopped and realised how silly it was to get worked up about it.

My interpretation of this dream is, I believe, rather simple: I should stop letting my emotions get the better of me over any inconveniences, especially when the solution is plain obvious.

I think it was a manifestation of a past mistake or event where I would let my impatience, irritability take over my rationality while dealing with problems – something I have always tried to improve.

Dream #2: The rescuing

In my next dream, I helped a victim in moving her belongings onto our disaster rescue vehicle in the midst of a flood crisis.

Entering a house, the dream continued with a tiny kitten approaching and going inside a small cabinet drawer that had been pulled open.

I left to tell others about the animal, and when I came back, the drawer was closed. As I opened it, I saw two little kittens emerge.

I believe that these dreams were a result of the numerous catastrophe and disaster-related news stories I had been seeing lately.

For instance, the floods that struck this region, the earthquakes that hit Thailand and Myanmar, and the Putra Heights gas pipeline blast, among others.

I suppose that dreaming about assisting humans and animals represents the empathy and compassion for the welfare of the sufferers during these terrible events.

Dream #3: The uncontained emotion

In this last dream, my three friends and I had just finished shopping at a mall. While we were heading towards the escalator to get to the basement parking lot to leave, two random men approached us.

Truthfully, I cannot recall what the duo did, but I remember my friends and I were furious when they finally left us alone.

We eventually arrived at the parking lot and saw the same pair there.

Without giving it much thought, I immediately approached them and confronted them about the prior event before they entered their vehicle.

Since they arrived at the parking lot ahead of us, one of my friends raised the alarm, asking what if they had stolen anything from our car.

In order to verify whether the claim was right, my two other friends rushed up to the men’s car and forcibly stopped it before they were able to escape.

First of all, I doubt that two girls had the strength to physically stop a moving car.

Secondly, I know for a fact that neither my friends nor I had ever been the type to hastily confront someone in such a situation.

For these reasons, I found this dream especially amusing and gave it extra thought.

This dream, in my opinion, most likely represents the pent-up sentiments or bitterness in my waking life.

This makes sense since I was having a conflict with someone dear to me at the time I was writing this, and I was frustrated that I was unable to express how I felt and directly deal with the issue.

The ‘dream version’ of myself and my friends may be acting in ways that indicate repressed emotions, stress, or conflict that are trying to come out, because they did something that the ‘real life version’ of us would never have thought to do.

Do dreams really have meaning?

The relationship between dreaming and brain activity during sleep is still being investigated by neuroscientists and psychologists.

The true nature of dreams is still unclear, and there is still much research and debate over their purpose, whether they are a result of brain activity or something else entirely.

Since dreams are subjective, I cannot give a definitive answer to the question of whether they have real meanings.

However, I like to think of them as being vital to our well-being.

Making connections between dream images and everyday life can be a way to understand the subconscious, whether it be for the sake of seeking clarity or reflecting on past events.

When you approach them with openness and curiosity, dreams can be an intriguing, insightful window into our inner selves.

What was in your dream last night?

When you wake up, do you ever find yourself wondering what the images from your dream may mean?

* The writer is a psychology graduate who enjoys sharing about how the human mind views the world. For feedback, email to [emailprotected].