17273--I Have Dreams

Yes, I have dreams.

That is to say, I don't have one, singular dream.  I have some where I'll find myself in a place that I've dreamt being before, but not very often.  I get to travel and meet lots of different people, some I'm supposed to know in the dream context and others not at all.  Do you ever have the parts of people who're supposed to be strangers being played by people you know?  That's when you know your subconscious isn't skimping on a production.  Speaking of which, yes, they're always in color.  It always seems odd when people even ask about that.

Of course, it's also safe to say that I don't dream as much as I might were I to sleep more.  I don't have a problem sleeping.  I rather enjoy it.  I also enjoy being awake and learned a long time ago, that I have no problem functioning on very little sleep.  My brain, in the spirit of the program, gets me into dreaming sleep with astonishing quickness.  Some times, this can happen in just a few minutes and I'll find I've had surprisingly vivid and detailed dreams inside just thirty minutes of sleep.  I know  "normal" sleep is supposed require hours to get you to REM states, but I'm seldom asleep that long.  The brain learns shortcuts and I imagine the meditation helps.

Hosting the dragons...

Occasionally, my brain gets insistent.  I don't know if it's actually tired or just wants extra time to sleep, dream, and process.  When I "get the message", I'll intentionally get with the program, turn off the light, stretch out and doze.  I try to play nice with my subconscious and not begrudge it the time.  It gives me great dreams that can reach levels of glorious weirdness.  I love those.  Some of them are hilarious.  At least they seem hilarious, so I roll with it.  Let's face it, they're still dreams.  It's not like I'm going to understand all of them once I'm awake.  Take away the bits you can.  Make notes.  You know, if there are words that work.  At all.

I hadn't thought about it before, but that makes dreamwalking sound like a much cooler superpower than it ever had before.  Not only can you travel lucidly through dreams, but they actually make sense to you.  OK, still not my first choice, but I can see it in a more respectable light now.

Speaking of respectability, what's the story on sex dreams?  Do you have them?  I can't lay claim to any great experience with them.  (HA!  "Lay.")  To some, it may seem like a waste of the holodeck reservation time, but my brain seems to have other priorities.  More interesting than sex?  Alright, you've got my attention.  The last time there was even a hint of there being something of a sexual nature pending, the girl (no one I know, though in the dream I was supposed to) turned out to be a replicant.  So, of course, more notes.

I never have nightmares.  I know some people who claim to have little else.  I imagine this is one of the reasons I have a positive relationship with the whole thing.  What's not to enjoy when I never get the creepy, scary, let-me-turn-the-light-on stuff?  I do get hunted in some dreams as part of some adventure story.  Obviously, I'll make notes about the ones that make sense.  Some of the visits seem a bit weightier than others, coming from people I  know are dead or dragons.  Sure, they say they're just coming to talk and there are those that come across as exceedingly personable.  There are others, though, and I'm sure they know who they are, whose idea of "let's chat" more closely resembles "I'm going to hunt you down, meat."

Out in the hinterlands of the faerie realm, the Dreaming waits with all the malleability that an infinity of imagination can muster.  The subconscious knows the language out there, so the better its relationship with your conscious mind the better your chances of keeping track of which way is left.  In the situations when my metamorphic acquaintances come knocking, I engage in whatever level of evasiveness seems appropriate to the sense of menace.  And I enjoy the experience, because...dragon!  I mean, how cool is that?  I know, it sounds like it should be called a nightmare, but it isn't scary.  Have I not consorted with gods and heroes?  Have I not clashed with godslayers and traversed dimensions?  Damn right I have.  I welcome a good dragon visit as much as any flying dream whether Neverland is involved or not.  Ooh, I love flying.

Either way, you know...notes.