If you know the figure in your dream from waking-life, you can ask yourself, “What are their most defining qualities?” If you don’t know them, ask yourself, “Who do they remind me of?” or “What do I like or dislike about them?”

For each of us those dreams will be different, and yet – deep down – I believe there is also a common dream, a hope shared by most of humanity, that our lives, and the lives of all beings, become filled with purpose and meaning, rich in experience and freedom, wisdom and creativity.

We do not simply rewind the video of the day’s recorded experience and relive it at night, projected on the big screen of our cortex. If there is such a thing as “day residue,” there are but a few drops of the stuff in our otherwise arid dreams. But Stickgold did find a strong and predictive daytime signal in the static of nighttime dream reports: