The Dreamer

Some people love those online personality tests. They want to know if they’re an INFJ or a 5 on the enneagram. They even Google “online personality tests” to see what new and exciting tests are out there.

I’m one of those people. When I say to my husband, “Hey, I just took this cool online test and you should totally take it,” he looks at me like I’ve suggested he gets a colonoscopy just for the fun of it.

Ok. It’s cool. I know boring personality tests aren’t exciting enough for you, you sanguine.

Yesterday, I took a test on mycreativetype.com. Based on a short series of questions, it told me (you guessed it) which kind of creative type I am. I honestly wasn’t shocked at all to be pegged as “The Dreamer” type- although I was amazed at the accuracy of the test! How did it know I’m a dreamer based on only a few questions?!

Now, I know that the title “The Dreamer” refers to figurative dreams (as in, “I dream of one day becoming an astrophysicist”) but I couldn’t help noticing the significant role literal dreams play in my writing.

Without dreams, I wouldn’t have been inspired to write my first quadrilogy– nor would I have been to finish it had it not been for a second dream in which the solution to a particular problem in my story was revealed.

And without dreams, I wouldn’t have been able to write the current book I’m working on (which, by the way, has a plot that is so totally crazy and controversial that I’m not even sure what to do with it once I finish).

In short, without dreams, I would not be an author. I’d be an aspiring writer who was still spinning her wheels in the mud.

Maybe being inspired by dreams isn’t so crazy- but it is when you take a closer look at the facts. REM sleep is the time of the night when we dream most vividly. But…

1) My sleep pattern benchmarks indicate I don’t get nearly enough REM sleep, 2) I dream vivid dreams all night long, and 3) ALL my best stories come from dreams I have while sleeping.

How is it possible that I have so many dreams at night when my sleep cycle is terrible like that?

I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that my inspirational dreams come from God. He totally gives me snippets and whispers, “Make a story out of this.” Why He chose to give me dreams, I’ll never be quite sure. But He’s a good God and He gives good gifts. What He gives me I will not waste. If it’s dreams that He gives me, its stories I will write.

(PS- Only a very small portion of my dreams are ones I would consider to be direct inspirations from God. Most are just the normal creations of my mind as it breaks down, sorts, and files the events of my day.)

I am honored to be a dreamer. Maybe it’s the phlegmatic in me coming out. Maybe it’s because I’m living out the calling for which God designed me. Maybe it’s all of those.

Regardless, I’m happy to be the dreamer I am and grateful to God for giving me this special gift.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What creative type did you get on a personality test? Did you agree or disagree with it?