So, hopefully, you slept last night (I actually got a full eight hours of sleep, are you jealous?). As we all know, when you sleep you dream. Sometimes you remember these dreams, other times you don't, sadly (don't you hate it when you just know you had an intense dream and you can't quite recall it?). So, I'm sure you've asked this question before, what do they mean? There are really a wide variety of answers to this question. Some say that dreams mean nothing at all. They're just a sort of hallucination, or a bit of indigestion, perhaps -- "an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato,” as Ebenezer Scrooge firmly believes (Dickens "A Christmas Carol"). Others resolutely deem the symbolism that dreams supposedly hold within them to be true and take their dreaming quite seriously. So, I'm going to focus in on just those who are somewhere in the middle: those who believe there to be some connection in the subconscious dreaming state to the conscious state, though perhaps, not a necessarily stable one.
There seem to be several types of dreams in particular that people are able to remember. Those sorts are repetitious dreams, recreations of actual events, dreams about running, people, death, flying, falling, etc. Reasons behind why these and not other types of dreams are more often remembered vary, but most seem to agree that it is because of either traumatic or significant events that have occurred in real life and may need some closure.
Apparently, your feelings with regard to the content of your dream (while you are still in the dreaming state) are of particular importance to the interpretation of a dream. If you recall feeling anxious, perhaps you are too busy and need to slow down a bit in your real life. A feeling of desire may mean that you have unfulfilled wishes in your actual life that you may need to pursue to gain a sense of peace. If you felt adventurous, maybe you need to leave something behind you or try something new, etc.
Well, the field of dream research is constantly expanding and being revised. Most of what dreams mean is up to your own interpretation, honestly. Perhaps dreams are just messages from the aliens! Anyhow, goodnight and don't let the bed bugs bite! Sleep tight, friend!
Citations:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dreamscloud/meaning-...
http://www2.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/fmid9.html
