Dream, Dream, Dream

I’ve always had rather bizarre dreams. Maybe it comes from working in my head all day long, as a writer wandering down roads of the imagination. I remember back in my forties and fifties constantly finding myself on planes going to… somewhere. And then, somehow, I’d end up in an altered dream-state version of New York City where I’d spent my twenties and not be able to find my apartment. I’d wander around searching and then, when I did find it – if I found it – complete strangers would be living there, and I’d be invited to camp out in the garage. What? - garage? In New York City? Oh, but there it was. A garage, complete with bunk bed. Someone had constructed it off the kitchen. Were these nightmares? No, not at all. They were just wacky-ass dreams. Thankfully I didn’t have them all the time, but regardless, I woke up[ and went on with my day.

In my early seventies, I dream constantly now. They’re mad adventures that take me all over the place. To grand hotels, to seashores, to golf courses, to crowded concourses, to malls teeming with people. As often as not, I am an observer more than a participant, wandering the premises, holding it at arm’s length, not recognizing a soul. And let’s not talk about the movies that play and replay over and over in my head. Thrillers, mostly. I’m sure my subconscious has rewritten Star Wars 37 times. Sadly, I’m a supporting actor and there are no residuals.

Are these nightmares? Again, no, but there is an element of anxious confusion to them that often wakes me up. I muse and mull for a while and then finally I fall back to sleep, only to go on another odd journey through the labyrinth. The dreams stay with me when I wake up in the morning, then fade into the first cup of coffee.

It makes me wonder at times if real life is dreaming. You’re in the car, driving, and the images in the windshield in front of you keep shifting and changing. Or you’re in the market, shopping for groceries, and as if in a dream, you don’t recognize the faces or voices or products that surround you.

Muse and muddle, muddle and muse.

Quantum mechanics has suggested that the universe is split into any number of parallel universes and that we are just living in one of those universes. The idea being that there are infinite versions of each and all of us living different lives in alternate realities. Could it be that our dreams connect us to these alternate realities and that we are visualizing what happens to us in these different places? Probably not, but it’s intriguing to think about.

And finally, sometimes my dreams are filled with memories; events that actually happened, friends and people I loved and love. Those are the dreams worth going to sleep for, especially when they connect you with the people that are no longer with you. You wake up and you remember. You cherish.

Whenever I want you all I have to do is dream….

Indeed.