What if your dreams were trying to tell you something and you actually listened? Well, some Kenyans are keeping journals in which they write down the things that unfold in their sleep. Each of them has their own reasons for doing it, but at its core, dream journaling is a way of making sense of both the visible and invisible parts of life.
“I believe dreams are tools through which we receive messages from the supernatural world,” says Caren Kimeli, who is in her thirties. She has been recording her dreams for a decade now.
“They are like snaps of moments lived in another dimension, and because they can be very spontaneous, I like to write them down while the details are still fresh,” she says. “You never know, these messages that they carry could be for the present or the future.”
Though she’s always been a dreamer, Caren purposely began to record her dreams in 2015, after learning how important dreams actually are.
“I write them down on paper, or digitally through a journaling application on my phone.”
Caren Kimeli, Operations Manager at Hope Alive Initiatives, has been journaling her dreams for ten years and says it helps her walk in clarity and awareness.
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However, not every dream earns a spot in her diaries.
“There are some dreams that I call ‘the wake-up dreams’. These are the very scary ones that wake me up whenever I have them. I choose not to record such dreams as well as the ones that I cannot remember very well,” she says, although for those that slip from her memory, she has discovered a hack for recovering them.
“I pray and ask to go back to that moment and sometimes, it happens. I’ll sleep and have the exact same dream again.”
In such cases, she makes sure to capture the main details, which include the main characters, the environment, the actions, and the feelings involved. These, Caren says, are what make for a typical entry in her dream journal. And she revisits these entries every so often in search of deeper interpretations or in reflection.
“It’s very encouraging when I go back and see that a dream I documented came to pass. It validates the fact that I didn’t receive it in vain.”
“Sometimes I get dreams about other people. In such cases, I have to share the dream with the person so that if they want to, they can look into it, find the meaning, and make use of the information the dream has to offer.”
Caren nurtures her skill for dream interpretation by reading and studying the subject of the dream as much as she can.
“I am able to interpret most dreams now, but dreams are like puzzles. Sometimes they’re direct and things happen exactly as seen, but in other cases, they are really coded and I have to look for someone who can help me make sense of them.”
For her, this is mostly her pastor, who is not only well-informed about the subject, but is also a dream interpreter. So far, dream journaling has helped Caren to walk in clarity and awareness, learn to take nothing for granted.
“I’ve had to learn to be sensitive and wise while relaying other people’s dreams to them, but it’s important to have good relations with people beforehand because then, you’re better placed on knowing what to share, how to share, and to what extent.”
Wambui Kinyua, 32, says her dreams are movie-like and deserve to be recorded.
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Wambui Kinyua, 32, often has dreams about other people, and she likes to call them and find out what they’re going through before relaying the dream to them. It’s from this habit that she got the idea of writing down her dreams.
“Every time I called someone about a dream I had, they would comment about how much it sounded like a movie, and it would make sense because my dreams are usually very dramatic. I thought it would be nice to record them, so I just started doing it.”
This was back in 2019, and she now sleeps with a notebook beside her. Wambui says that journaling her dreams and going back later to read them helps her to see patterns in her life more clearly.
“I think that as humans, it’s our role to solve the mysteries of our lives. Dreams give us pieces of the puzzle so that you are able to figure some things out in your life just by dreaming about them.”
Unlike Caren, Wambui doesn’t shy away from bad dreams. She records them all, as long as she can remember them.
“No matter what the dream is about, I always want to have a record of it,” she says. “Everything happens for a reason. Even terrible situations are a part of life. Besides, dreams are just like the plays we sit through, whether they’re good or filled with horror. They scared me when I was very young, but not anymore.”
Giving an example of a bad dream she once had (and recorded), she recounts when she lost a close relative.
“I could see him lying face-up, then all of a sudden the people around him turned him over so that he lay facing the ground.”
That afternoon, she received a call informing her of his death and it hit her that perhaps her dream had foretold the unfortunate event. For interpretation, she initially had a friend who would help make sense of her dreams, but he would encourage her to seek out the meaning for herself, therefore, she learnt to be very observant and instinctively try to understand the meaning of her dreams.
Francis Bukachi, Pastor at Grace Community Christian Ministries (GCCM), says dreams are one of the methods used in divine communication.
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For Francis Bukachi, 53, a pastor at Grace Community Christian Ministries, dreams are just one of the languages that God uses to speak to him.
“I realised this in 2015. Before that, I never used to pay attention to my dreams.”
He records his by writing them down on paper, digital notes, audio recordings, or he’ll note it in an email and send it to himself.
“If I can remember a dream in detail, there is no need to record it. Dreams are recorded in one’s imagination, so if I need to reflect on a dream, I only have to go back to my imagination and it will start to play again. I can even get additional details this way,” he divulges. “I also don’t record it if the dream is sensitive, more so, when it’s something sensitive about someone else. This is simply because I don’t want anyone else to chance upon it.”
Still, the pastor says it’s important to write, review, and revisit one’s dreams because the interpretations are not always instant. Some take even years before they can make sense, yet they remain catalysts of spiritual growth and breakthroughs.
As a spiritual authority, Mr Bukachi affirms that some of his teachings have been inspired by what he has seen in his sleep.
“I remember one in 2017 where I saw a man of integrity preaching about a particular topic. I later bought a book that remained untouched on my shelf until I reviewed the dream and was directed to read it. In it, I found the sermon from my dream. And because I study scripture a lot, I prayed for references. When I received those, I began teaching people about the topic.”
Mr Bukachi says that one way to distinguish whether a dream is a divine message or just a replay of the day’s experiences, is to look at its type.
“Scripturally, we have warning dreams, dreams that reveal the future, dreams that encourage, and dreams where you receive wisdom or instruction about a matter.”
He insists that one must go back to God for guidance, but he also recommends using helpful materials such as books and seeking help from those who know how to interpret dreams.
And when it comes to relaying dreams to others, he says,
“You don’t have to say everything you see. I always tell people to only share the application. Give people something that edifies them, not something that they won’t know what to do with,” he advises.
Tackling one of the most frequently asked questions, Mr Bukachi says that when one dreams of their past, it could be that they are not growing.
“It could be that there is something in their past that needs to be dealt with or there is a test that they keep failing spiritually and are not progressing.”
And while the pastor believes that some people receive divine messages through dreams more often than others, he says everyone dreams, they just don’t pay attention.
Mwende Kimweli, a sleep consultant, also gives her views on the subject.
“In Kenyan culture, we often say dreams are spiritual messages, and while some may interpret them that way, there’s also a strong psychological and biological foundation,” she says. “Dreams are like the night’s diary where the mind writes what the heart and body went through during the day. Simply put, they are how our brains try to make sense of emotions, memories, and thoughts while we rest.”
According to her, everyone dreams but some are better positioned to remember because their sleep is more consistent and restorative.
“When we sleep, especially during the REM (rapid eye movement), our brain is very active. It sorts out memories, keeping some and discarding others, and in the process, images, feelings, and stories blend to create the dream experience. This sleep cycle is common to us all,” she explains. “The difference lies in how much deep sleep and REM sleep you get.”
In her practice, the sleep expert has noticed that people under high emotional stress or those with irregular sleep schedules often dream more vividly when their bodies finally rest properly. In a sense, it’s as though their brains are finally unloading everything that’s been stored up.
Additionally, certain medications and supplements can also influence dreaming.
“Melatonin can enhance REM sleep when ingested, although with poor sleep quality or chronic sleep-deprivation, drugs can’t help the brain reach its natural rhythm for dreaming.”
The key, she says, is quality sleep.
“Simple habits like keeping a consistent bedtime, avoiding screens before sleep, and creating a quiet, dark environment can go a long way in improving not just sleep quality but also the dream experience.”
To remember dreams, waking up during or right after REM sleep makes it easier, while heavy or interrupted sleep cycles make it harder. Still, forgetting them is not abnormal.
“Our brain is designed to forget dreams. This is because when we dream, the hippocampus, which stores long-term memories, is less active so unless we wake up in the middle of the dream or just after it ends, the details fade quickly.”
Journaling, however, helps the brain transfer the fleeting memory into long-term storage. Over time, it also trains the brain to become more aware of its dream patterns.
When a dream constantly recurs, Ms Kimweli reveals that it’s the brain hinting at unfinished business.
“These dreams reflect the mind’s effort to bring your attention to something that you haven’t processed fully. This could be an unresolved emotion, memory, or a fear that keeps resurfacing.”
Giving an example of one of her clients, she talks about a police officer who kept dreaming that he was lost in traffic with no uniform and couldn’t find his way to work. After several conversations, it became clear that he was dealing with burnout and pressure from long shifts. Once they worked on his sleep hygiene, stress relief, and set up a consistent routine, the dreams faded.
“Dreams are not strange or unexplainable phenomena. They are messages from within, gentle whispers from our subconscious minds. Sometimes they’re confusing, other times comforting, but always deeply human. So, the next time you wake up from a dream that makes you pause, don’t rush to dismiss it. It might not always hold a mystical meaning, but it could be your body’s way of telling you something: ‘You need rest. You need balance. You need time to heal.’ And that, truly, is the language of sleep.”
