Dream State

I’ve heard it said that a sure way to end a conversation is to talk about the dream you had last night. 

I’ve also heard that the best way to get people to leave a party that has gone too long is to turn up the music and say “OMG, this is my favorite song.  Listen to the lyrics.”

I’ve been to a party where that happened, and it’s true.

But back to our dreams.  I don’t totally agree with the view that hearing other people’s dreams induces a snoozefest.  It can be a bore to hear someone talk about themselves, dreams or otherwise, but some people have awesome dreams that turn into successful books and movies, songs and poetry, inventions and innovations.  It’s all in the delivery.  It’s how Twilight was born, and regardless of your preference, Team Twilight or Team I Can’t Wait Until This Undead Thing Dies, it’s no secret that dreams are a great source of creative inspiration and ideas that, if nurtured and expanded, can catapult a career or start a revolution.  It just has to be done well to be successful.

Dreams are also studied as if they lend insight into our personalities or futures.  I’ve looked up countless dreams in dream dictionaries to see what they mean.  Books and websites on dream interpretation are fun, but like horoscopes, are unreliable.  These interpretations usually tell me that my dreams show that I am repressing something.  Ridiculous.

I used to have vivid dreams that I remembered upon waking.  They were wild and random and of course would make great movies and books.  I was never smart enough to write any of them down, so I lose.  And although I can usually remember a little of my dreams once in a while, I often don’t sleep enough to get a good long dream going, and I don’t take any prescription drugs that bring on a good crazy-dream side effect.  Double loser.  

My mother has great dreams.  I always tell her to write that crap down, because they are fantastic.  She doesn’t, but she enthralls us with the stories she spins from her dreams. My favorite dream of hers is when she pulled worms out of her arm à la Black Swan.  Gross and disturbing, yes; boring, no. 

I guess the trick to describing our dreams is to be a good storyteller or to realize when it might be a start to something worthwhile.  Only then can you keep someone’s attention while talking about yourself.  If you care, that is.

If you don’t, you can just throw it right out there that last night you dreamed a baby elephant pooped on your bed.*

*******

*That’s all I got, anyway.