I recently dealt with something in my personal life that was extremely difficult.  Honestly, it was the most difficult thing I’ve had to deal with in my life so far.

During this last year as I was dealing with it, I was not sleeping very well, or very much, and was dreaming even less.  The few times I did dream, the scenery therein was typically very dark (night time setting) and the person who was playing the major role in my stress/drama was always there in my dream to wake me up. 

That ordeal ended a month ago and I’ve noticed a very sharp increase in the vividness and quantity of dreams I’m having.  Not to mention that I’ve been sleeping wonderfully (a full, uninterrupted 8 hours last night!).

It seems like a no-brainer to say that stress affects sleep, but I had no idea the tremendous influence it can have over one’s dream life, too.  I didn’t directly link my lack of dream life to my stress.  I thought it was just part of a regular cycle one might go through in life.  My dream life has certainly been very active at sometimes and waned at others.  I never correlated it to anything that was happening in my life, but now it is undeniable.

When considering the state and quality of my life, it only makes sense now to consider my dream life as well.  It is about 33% of my life, after all.  As my waking life steadily improves, I fully expect my dream life will as well.