Why can't I remember how the dream started?

**giogoMoget2** · 11-08-2010 06:57 AM

I always recall the last part of the dream but i never remember how it started. Is this common?
And how can we learn to remember how it started?

my dream recall is much better. but i never remember how it started and how it lead to the last part.

or do dreams generally not have a beginning?

like i dreamt my sister and her boyfriend were together in my room talking. But i dont remember how they got into my room , what lead them to come. i dont remember how they came or nothing.

**rkenning** · 11-08-2010 07:17 AM

i never remember how the dream started either, the only way to remember the start is to WILD

**Grigorios** · 11-10-2010 11:34 AM

What I usually do when recalling my dream after waking up, is starting from the end of the dream (which is of course the part you recall better) and going backwards the more that I can.
It always comes a point when the recalling stops, but I guess this is normal. Actually a good reality check is precisely to check if you have a "past background" or not at the present moment: do you have a past, what did you do 1 hour or 2 hours ago? if you can remember this, you are probably not dreaming. I use it all the time.

**Oneironaut Zero** · 11-10-2010 02:28 PM

Well, think about it... How often do you remember the origin of a string of thoughts? In our minds, concepts tend to bleed into and out of each other. One thought leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to three similar thoughts, which may then branch out into tangents of their own, and so forth.

This is the same as when we dream. Those subconscious streams of thought are always flowing, and ever-changing. So I think it's just naturally easier to remember the "end" of a dream (which is usually just the point where our mind stops turning the thoughts into visualizations) than it is to remember the beginning. This is to say nothing about how fast recall decays over time, so, really, there are a number of reasons.