The Lethargy of Dreams

Image by Biljana Jovanovic from Pixabay

This morning I sat straight up in bed, my heart pounding from a dream I was experiencing. It was an emotionally charged dream but not scary at all. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had forced myself to wake up. I was startled awake as if a horrible disturbance had pulled me out of a deep sleep.

Since waking, I have remained in a bit of a dream fog I cannot seem to shake. I have enjoyed my first cup of coffee but am slow to move into the abundance of this day. The sun is pouring through the window urging me forward, but my mind stays attached to this dream and honestly, I cannot see why it was so disturbing.

There are so many opinions about the interpretation of dreams, I will not even attempt to analyze this one. I just need to better occupy my mind and shake the sluggishness that wants to linger.

It is an exercise in patience to lull the mind in another direction when there is something more powerful refusing to let go. Is there a message here or a lesson?

Have you ever tried to explain a dream to someone knowing you cannot relate the intensity of feeling in a way that they understand what you are feeling, especially when we cannot understand it ourselves.

I hope writing about it will help me release the angst. After all, this is the start of Christmas week. I have much more enjoyable things to think about.

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A Visit from My Sister

I am not sure why you chose last night
to visit me in my dreams
But I am glad you did

Three years is a long time to wait
But the wait was okay
Once you were here

You were young, tall and statuesque
The way I always saw you
Even if you never could

I hugged you so tight and held you
So close it startled me awake
But all I wanted was to stay
with you

Back asleep I saw you again
The details are cloudy now
I hope you come again
I miss you

Diving Into Dreams

Image Courtesy of Pixabay

Day 285

This morning my brain feels foggy. I had a night of strange dreams. Some of which I still remember — others fading with each sip of my morning coffee.

The experts say we all dream every night unless we do not make it into the proper sleep stage. But remembering dreams is a different thing. I usually do not remember dreams unless I am startled awake by some outside source.

I woke up early this morning. I was dreaming something. I cannot recall what, but I know it was unsettling. My heart was racing. Maybe I was having a heart attack. (I ruled that out since I am here writing this blog. I am sure the dream had me in a fervor.) I decided to get up and go to the bathroom. I checked my phone. 3:45 am. Yikes – that’s early. I drank some water then back to bed.

I continued to dream throughout the rest of the night. I can remember one dream in particular and I wonder why it is lingering. I know some people believe our dreams are meaningful. Maybe they are, or maybe they are just our way of working through problems or conflicts. It is odd to me when I dream of something, like this, which comes from the deep recesses of my past and something that never crosses my conscious mind.

The dream fog is clearing now. Another cup of coffee might just shake it from my conscious mind.

Something I read suggested that if we are not actively creating new memories, the mind will drift to the past. But isn’t everything we do creating a memory of some kind?

I think some of the dreams were related to what I was watching on tv before I went to sleep, Maybe I should try some meditation to clear my mind before going to sleep.

Ray Bradbury

Day 172

I came across this quote by Ray Bradbury this afternoon. Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man was one of the few science fiction books I read and really loved. It was never really my genre but I loved a lot of what I read about the man.

“It’s lack that gives us inspiration,” he said. “It’s not fullness.”

This quote came from an interview with Terry Gross in 1988 and was later reprinted by NPR upon his death.

Image by pixel2013 from Pixabay

I have thought about this quote a lot today and it made me think about my own writing and my own dreams. We do dream about things we desire or hope for, not the things already in our possession.

It makes me ask myself what I hope for and dream of at this phase of my life.

To create something that does not yet exist does take a dreamer with a high level of imagination.

Ray Bradbury never learned to drive a car but it did not stop him from writing about automobiles and space travel. So much so that he felt he inspired the people that made space travel possible. What an accomplishment!

I am re-setting my sights. I think it might serve us well if we took the time to do this more often. If we change, then I would think our goals and aspirations change as well.

Have a great week everyone!

Random Thoughts on a Sunday

Day 136

It’s late and I decided to just throw out some random thoughts for tonight.

Flowers

I just spoke with some friends about our favorite flowers. Mine is an iris. Flowers bring up a lot of thoughts for me:

• I always prefer natural planted flowers above cut arrangements.
• My mother’s favorite flowers were portulaca, bleeding heart, and lilacs.
• I like orchids and pansies because they look like they contain faces or figures.
• I miss the yellow tab trees in Florida when all the flowers fall to the ground.

Rainy Days

It’s pouring rain right now. Some random thoughts about rain:

• I love to walk in a spring drizzle of rain.
• I love the sound of rain when I sleep.
• I do not like threatening rain.
• I remember my grandfather teaching me that when the leaves turned upside down it meant it was going to rain.

Love

I’ve been thinking a lot about love since Valentine’s Day. Some random thoughts:

• I do not understand why it is so hard to love one another.
• One should never be fearful of love.
• Sometimes a bouquet of flowers doesn’t necessarily symbolize love.
• As children, we used to break milkweed and if it grew back our love was true.

Nostalgic Items

The memory of some things make me smile every time I think of them:

• Gum wrapper chains
• Dotted Swiss
• Marionette shows
• The TV show Where the Action Is

Dreams

I love thinking back on the things I wanted to be when I grew up:

• A Breck girl
• An elevator operator (I thought this was the MOST glamorous job ever!)
• A diamond cutter
• An archaeologist

Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday. I want to be happy about the day and not sad.