And you think you know it all...

Many of us still believe in certain myths, some of them are completely made up by parents trying to get their children to eat their vegetables.

" Drink your soup if you want to grow up!"

" Eat your carrots, you will be more polite." (This one is common in France)

" You remember Popeye? He ate his spinach, maybe you should do the same!"

The least of common ones can go on forever, and I heard many of them from my dear mother who would try everything to make us do or eat something we didn't want to.

Here are a few myths we hear but aren't true...

#1. Chocolate gives you acne!

Sounds about right, and yet it is far from it. Chocolate itself doesn't give you acne or else I would be covered with it! And no it's not the sugar either! It's actually the dairy in it that may affect your skin especially if you have sensitive skin, skin that reacts fast.

#2. Watching TV will ruin your eyesight.

Said like this, it may sound like an advice, something you should take seriously and yet... Don't be surprised to know it's not going to ruin it. We all hear our parents tell us not to be sitting right in front of the television so you wouldn't ruin your eyesight. It can lead to eyestrain if you exceed some type of monitor watching, but it won't kill your eyesight! It may cause some headaches, slight migraines, or fatigue, that's why it's encouraged to take a few breaks. But no need to exaggerate!

#3. Don't wake up a sleepwalker

Not sure why we started believing it in the first place, but they are at high risk of hurting themselves than by being awoken by someone else. Next time you encounter a sleepwalker, wake him up slowly, calmly, don't go brutal either but make sure they are sitting down on a chair and be sure to know you know what you are getting into because some explanations will be needed. Poor them, they have no idea if it happens or not!

#4. Pyramids were built by slaves

Despite what we read in our history books, this is just another myth! Sad to know we have been lied to ... They were built by free employees or people who already worked in constructions. If you go deeper into the whole history of it all, you will understand the process behind certain traditions, and certain ways of working.

#5. The Loch Ness Monter? Yeah, we saw it!

Some still, to this day, believe it does exist... I mean Scotland is quite known for that, and it may give a little mystery to the place, but let's be real here, did we actually have enough evidence to prove it does exist? Have we got physical evidence? Photos do not count, and toys aren't real.

#6. Sober you will be after coffee

Not sure why you would think it would be true, the only thing it will get you is more hyper, more awake. You will feel more alert after a cup of coffee but don't be fool by the amount of alcohol you drank. Time, on the other hand, will help! Time and time only! 

#7. Bulls are active when they see red

Right, sure why not... RED? Just the colour red? You say... Sorry to break the news to you but it's just the fact that you are moving the piece of cloth. They will want to attack just because of the movement in front of them! 

#8. Lightning never strikes twice in the same spot

It seems more like lightning will take the shortest route to the ground, no matter if it already landed on that passage once before. So don't believe everything you hear, it says lightning strikes the Empire State Building over a hundred times per year. 

Myths, legends, folk stories.... We all know them, some are more common, and others are used as white lies to help parents control their children. Sadly, half of the myths we know aren't always true. Make sure you fully understand and dig into some research if you want to use it to prove a point. No one likes false information! 

"Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths." - Joseph Campbell

~Bella

Dreams... Psych 101

DREAMS

What goes on when the lights are off

In psychology, dreams are defined as any thoughts, images, or emotions that person experiences while asleep. Psychologists have yet to agree on why we dream and what these dreams mean, but there are several significant theories. 

The "Science" of Sleep
Believe it or not, scientists still don't know the reason or purpose for sleeping in the first case!

FRAUD'S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF DREAMS

Sigmund Freud believed that the contents of our dreams were associated with wish fulfillment and that our dreams represented the thoughts, motivations, and desires of our unconscious. Furthermore, Freud believed that the sexual instincts that the conscious represses appear in our dreams. In Freud's book, The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud broke dreams down into two components: 

• Manifest content - The actual thoughts, content, and images in the dream.
• Latent content - The psychological meaning in the dreams that is hidden. 

To understand the meaning being dreams, Freud broke dreams down into five distinct parts:

• Displacement: When a desire for something is represented by something or someone else. 
• Projection: When the wants and desires of the dreamer are pushed onto another person in the dream. 
• Symbolization: When the urges and desire that are suppressed are metaphorically acted out in the dream.
• Condensation: When a lot of information is compressed into one image or thought, making difficult to decipher. 
• Secondary Revision: The final stage of dreaming, where the incoherent elements become reorganized into a comprehensible dream.

While research has refuted Freud's theory of the latent content being disguised by the manifest content, the work of Sigmund Freud contributed greatly to interest in the field of dream interpretation.

CARL JUNG'S THEORY ON DREAMS

While Jung believed in much of what Freud did when it came to dreams, Jung thought dreams were not just an expression of repressed desires, but that they also compensated for those parts of the psyche that were undeveloped during waking life. Jung also believed dreams revealed the collective unconscious and personal unconscious and featured archetypes that were representative of unconscious thoughts. 

COMMON THEMES FOUND IN DREAMS

The following are ten of the most common themes people experience while dreaming, as well as the possible meanings of these themes according to Freudian theory.

1. Taking a test that you are not prepared for: This type of dream does not only pertain to an academic test, and will usually be specific to the dreamer. For example, an actor might dream about not remembering their audition or not being able to recognize the words on a script. This type of dream deals with the feeling of being exposed, and the test might symbolize being judged or evaluated by someone else. 
2. Being naked or inappropriately dressed in public: This type of dream relates to feelings of shame or vulnerability.
3. Being chased or attacked: This type of dream is much more common in children, whose dreams tend to focus on more physical rather than social fear. Additionally, their size can often make them feel as though they are more physically vulnerable. In adults, this type of dream can be a sign of being under stress.
4. Falling: Falling can represent feelings of being extremely overwhelmed with your current situation and having a loss of control. 
5. Being lost in transit: This often represents feeling lost or trying to get something or find your path and being unsure of how to do it. 
6. Losing a tooth: This can represent feeling unheard or unseen in a personal relationship, or feelings of aggression. 
7. Natural disasters: This can signify feeling so overwhelmed by personal problems that it seems they are raging out of control. 
8. Flying:  This can represent a desire to escape or be free from a situation.
9. Dying or being injured: This can represent something in the dreamer's everyday life that no longer thrives or is wilting away, like a personal relationship or personal attribute, and does not necessarily mean or imply true thoughts of death. 
10. Losing control of a car: This type of dream can result from feelings of stress and fear, and of not feeling in control of everyday life. 

While Psychologists still do not fully understand dreams, their interpretation plays a key role in modern psychology. From Freud's prominently used interpretation of dream analysis, which suggests dreams are connected to our unconscious and represent repressed desires, to the work of G. William Domhoff, who believed dreams were merely a result of neurological processes, understanding why dreams occurs and the various details and possible meanings behind them remains a very important part of psychology. 

"I am a daydreamer and night thinker." 

~Bella