The Dreamer and the Dream :: Personal Narrative Essays

The Dreamer and the Dream   Even after all these years of daydream I am smooth dumbfounded by the intricacy and originality of the props that lie scattered across the dream stage. One of my dreams, for instance, featured a cautiously crafted garner from a old love which included a map of the Pacific Coast near Seattle with a cardboard sailing mail that slow sailed south by sou-west as I lifted the rogue.   It was so clever that I wondered out loud how did she do that? and turned over the page to discover a runty slit made rigid with a careful application of black wax. The ship was attached by a capitulation which passed through the slot the masthead had a small black plastic cap that kept it in place. The mechanism was crafted so that the force of gravity caused a stately procession of the ship shortly after the page was lifted.   So thats how the letter worked, but how did the dream itself work? I wont ask what it means, but, in general, how do dreams do wh at they do? ar there any patterns we can detect? If I could turn my dream over what kind of pins and slots would I find?   The radical pattern I soul is a dichotomy, two distinct and often opposing forces the dreamer and the dream.   The dreamer is like a hobbled version of my waking self. Perspectives in a dream often shift in bizarre ways - one minute I am watching a movie, the next I am in the movie, graduation exercise as one character then as another - but there is generally a me in the dream. When wad describe dreams they say I did this. Then I saw that. Despite all the shifting imagery we perceive ourselves as being in the dream.   besides the me in the dream is antithetic from the me I experience in waking life. For one thing, I cant seem to think clearly in dreams. Ive had dreams in which I struggle at majuscule length with some simple mathematical problem upon waking the answer is obvious. I sometimes try to take notes in my dreams but to no return s the dream me cannot read. (I can pretend read, that is, I can look at a newspaper or letter and seem to read a story, but Im not true(a)ly seeing the words even if I try to write I cannot see the actual words Ive written.The Dreamer and the Dream Personal Narrative Essays The Dreamer and the Dream   Even after all these years of dreaming I am still dumbfounded by the intricacy and originality of the props that lie scattered across the dream stage. One of my dreams, for instance, featured a carefully crafted letter from a past love which included a map of the Pacific Coast near Seattle with a cardboard sailing ship that slowly sailed south by southwest as I lifted the page.   It was so clever that I wondered out loud how did she do that? and turned over the page to discover a small slit made rigid with a careful application of black wax. The ship was attached by a pin which passed through the slot the pin had a small black plastic cap that kept it in place. The mechan ism was crafted so that the force of gravity caused a stately procession of the ship shortly after the page was lifted.   So thats how the letter worked, but how did the dream itself work? I wont ask what it means, but, in general, how do dreams do what they do? Are there any patterns we can detect? If I could turn my dream over what kind of pins and slots would I find?   The basic pattern I sense is a dichotomy, two distinct and often opposing forces the dreamer and the dream.   The dreamer is like a hobbled version of my waking self. Perspectives in a dream often shift in bizarre ways - one minute I am watching a movie, the next I am in the movie, first as one character then as another - but there is generally a me in the dream. When people describe dreams they say I did this. Then I saw that. Despite all the shifting imagery we perceive ourselves as being in the dream.   But the me in the dream is different from the me I experience in waking life. For one thin g, I cant seem to think clearly in dreams. Ive had dreams in which I struggle at great length with some simple mathematical problem upon waking the answer is obvious. I sometimes try to take notes in my dreams but to no avail the dream me cannot read. (I can pretend read, that is, I can look at a newspaper or letter and seem to read a story, but Im not actually seeing the words even if I try to write I cannot see the actual words Ive written.