Elsewhere Dream Journal App Review
Several weeks ago I discovered the Elsewhere Dream Journal app and decided to give it a try. In this post I’ll share my thoughts and experiences with it so far.
First a little background…I became aware of Elsewhere through Kelly Bulkeley, a dream researcher and author of several academic books on dreams. For some reason that I can’t remember, I felt compelled to look him up some weeks ago and the first thing I saw on his website was his updated review of Elsewhere. I have read a few of Bulkeley’s books and respect his work and, in fact, it was the discovery of his book “The Spirituality of Dreaming: Unlocking the Wisdom of our Sleeping Selves” that led me into my most recent deep dive into the world of dream work.
I remember it was May 2024 and I was about to embark on a road trip and wanted an audio book to listen to. I didn’t have anything particular in mind so I just asked my higher self to bring me a book. I opened the Libby app on my phone and scrolled through the titles in the “spirituality and religion” category. When I came to the “The Spirituality of Dreaming” something inside me lit up and I knew that was the one. I devoured that book which led me to the work of Jeremy Taylor which led me to participating in a Dream Sharing Circle with his daughter Tristy Taylor, which led me to leading my own Dream Sharing Circles. So, as I stand here on the energetic threshold of my next Dream Sharing Circle, it feels good to honor the path, and work of Kelly Bulkeley, that led me here.
Back to Elsewhere…it was created in 2023 by a small team of avid dream journalers/brilliant software developers with Bulkeley as their advisor. Here are Elsewhere’s core principles which can be found under “About Elsewhere” in the app. They feel really good to my nervous system as I read them:
Our Core Principles
Respect for the dreamer: You are the one who ultimately decides what your dreams mean. Elsewhere is meant to help you grow into your own abilities as a dreamer and an interpreter of your dreams.
Privacy and security: All dreams and other personal information are stored safely and privately. No one, including us, will see that information. If at any time you want to pull your dreams and information out of Elsewhere, you are free to do so.
Multiple meanings: We believe every dream has multiple meanings, which means multiple methods are needed to analyze and interpret the dreams. Elsewhere includes a large and growing number of tools that enable you to illuminate the multiple meanings of your dreams from a variety of perspectives.
More is better: Elsewhere can give you valuable, instant feedback about a single dream. However, the most powerful features of the app emerge as you record your dreams over time.
Basically how the app works is you log your dream, either through typing or voice-to-text, and give your dream a title. If you choose, you can add notes or associations and you can adjust the date if necessary. You are then given the option of adding an image to your dream journal entry, either by uploading your own image, or having AI generate an image for you in one of several styles: Modern illustration, Old illustration, Storybook, Surrealist collage, Comic book, Wood block, Retro Camera, or Surprise me!. I have to say that as a very visual person and someone who creates my own dream art, I find the AI generated images to be quite engaging in an unexpected way!
First, you have to choose an art style that best fits with your dream, which in and of itself can be an interesting process, then there is the charged anticipation as you wait a few seconds for the image to be revealed, and finally there is your emotional reaction to the image. My emotions can range from awe, to disappointment, to confusion, to intrigue, to inspiration, etc. What’s interesting is that regardless of whether my reaction is positive or negative it gives me more information about my dream. For example, if I am like, “Oh, yes! That image totally resonates and enhances parts of the dream that I feel are more interesting or significant!” or if I am like, “WTF AI? Why would you focus on THAT part of the dream?” both reactions tell me something about how I feel about my dream. This is similar to the projective process we use in Dream Sharing Circle where group members imagine that the dream shared is their own and reflect on what it means for themselves. The person whose dream it actually is pays attention to which interpretations feel relevant or “click” for them. The reason this process works so well is that our dreams don’t waste time showing us information we consciously already know, so it’s often only in hearing someone else’s ideas about what the dream symbols could mean that we can see our blind spots and recognize the deeper layers of meaning. Both our positive and negative reactions to others interpretations can be telling.
Here are some examples from my Elsewhere journal so you can see how the entries look and some example of the AI generated artwork:
Dream January 1, 2026, AI generated image in the Storybook style
Dream December 31, 2025, AI generated image in the Retro camera style
Dream December 30, 2025, AI generated image in the Modern illustration style
Dream December 23, 2025, AI generated image in the Surrealist collage style
Once you log your dream, Elsewhere will automatically create a list of themes, symbols, and word tags but you can easily edit these along with selecting a dream type (e.g. third person, precognitive, big, recurrent, episodic, fragment, cathartic dream, sleep paralysis, nightmare, visitation dream, stress dream, lucid, etc.). Another little detail I like is that right next to the date of the dream is a little moon symbol showing the lunar phase. I find this useful for tracking patterns related to how the lunar cycle affects my dream recall, dream style, and content.
As you continue to log your dreams over time Elsewhere will identify repeated patterns, themes, recurring symbols, places, people, etc. AI “interpretations” about each dream and “insights” about different repeated elements are available, if you choose to “reveal” them, but as stated in the Core Principles, the dreamer is the one who gets to decide what their dream means and every dream has multiple meanings. The AI features can also be easily turned off in the settings with a simple toggle switch if you’re like me and have complicated feelings about using AI. (Interestingly these “complicated feelings” about technology are reflected in my dreams and were noted in the Yearly Review that Elsewhere created for me: “The dreamer’s relationship with technology is ambivalent—phones and GPS often malfunction or are hard to use, symbolizing both the promise and the unreliability of external guidance or connection.” I’ll say more about the Yearly Review in a minute.)
Another feature I am excited about are the Groups. This is where you can create a group and invite others to join you. You can choose the group name and select an image and then send invite links to whomever you want to be in your group. The members of a group can share select dreams with the group and group members can “like” and comment on each other’s dreams. One detail I appreciate is that if you are sharing a dream (either to a group or through a public link) you can create a modified version for sharing. For example, when I share dreams publicly I will often change the names of some of the characters to protect my own and other’s privacy. I plan to create a Dream Sharing Circle alumni group for anyone who has done dream circles with me and would like to continue sharing dreams in an intentional community once the circle has ended.
As I mentioned I only started using Elsewhere several weeks ago but I’ve been keeping a regular dream journal for a few years now so I added all my recorded dreams going back to June 2025 to the Elsewhere app so it would have 7 months of dream information to analyze. As a bonus feature of being a paid subscriber Elsewhere sends a yearly wrap up that includes things such as most frequent dream topics, most unique dream topics, and a section on “Guidance and Things to Watch For in the New Year.” This is where I have to admit I was blown away! I felt so “seen.” And who did I feel seen by? AI? Elsewhere? No, I felt seen by my own dreams, or perhaps more importantly, my dreams/parts/soul felt seen by me. And yes, technology is helping to facilitate this integration and self-discovery (if we’re going to use AI let’s use it for more of this kind of stuff!!). To me the “accuracy” of Elsewhere’s yearly review is less about how cool machine learning is and more about the fact that our dreams are not just random brain activity, rather they really do reflect what matters most to us—the people, places, needs, desires, etc. Here are a few excerpts from my Elsewhere’s wrap up from looking at my dreams over the past 7 months (Note: I did not provide any additional personal information about myself, including my career):
“There are recurring appearances by professional acquaintances, clients, and therapists, which reflects the dreamer’s deep engagement with their work as a therapist and their own ongoing self-exploration….The dreamer’s professional identity as a therapist is deeply woven into the dream fabric. There are dreams about therapy sessions, client relationships, and even meta-commentary about the therapeutic process. This suggests a high level of vocational integration, but also hints at the challenges of maintaining boundaries between personal and professional roles.” (No notes.)
“Despite serious undertones, many dreams are laced with existential or absurd humor—the ‘mock trial/play’ atmosphere, the dog shit biscuits, the Star Wars musical, or the convoluted logistics of wrapping muffins or making biscuits. The dreamer often observes the silliness of the situation, even while participating in it, suggesting a capacity for self-reflection and detachment.” (How awesome that my dreams reflect my quirky, existential sense of humor?! I love this.)
“The persistent theme of getting lost, being unprepared, or struggling to navigate complex systems may point to underlying anxieties about competence, control, or the unpredictability of life transitions. In the coming year, it may be helpful to practice tolerating uncertainty and to cultivate trust in your ability to find your way, even when the path is unclear. Notice when you can let go of the need to have everything mapped out, and instead embrace the improvisational, creative aspects of problem-solving.” (The past 7 months involved so many transitions including moving to a new state, homeschooling my daughter for the first time, making changes to my business, planning for international travel in 2026…)
And finally,
“As your dreams so often feature creative, transitional, and communal spaces, consider how you might bring more of this energy into your waking life. Are there new communities, creative projects, or adventures you want to pursue? Can you invite more flexibility and experimentation into your routines, allowing yourself to be both a caretaker and an explorer?”
Yes please! And Dream Sharing Circles are one of the ways I will be doing this. (And I’d love to have you join me!)
In conclusion, I think Elsewhere Dream Journal is a really neat and thoughtfully designed app that aligns with my approach to dream work and makes dream journaling fun and easy. I think it can provide helpful insights about patterns and recurring themes and symbols while also supporting the dreamer as the ultimate decider of what the dream means. It’s awesome for supporting a personal dream work practice but can’t replicate the experience of insights gained through a live Dream Sharing Circle. I am excited to try out the Groups feature though, and will probably write an update on that feature once I’ve had more time to play with it!
