10: Two Types of Dreams
I am not sure when I figured it all out, but it had to be sometime when I was younger. Like nearly everyone, there are things you learn in the first few years of your life that once you are older you cannot truly pinpoint where that little bit of information has come from. But somewhere in my childhood, I learned that there two types of dreams.
Some dreams happen when you are sleeping and there are others that you aspire to. One is a goal that you want to make happen, and the other poses a question as to how your mind processes the information that you have received. This is my thoughts on both of them.
Aspirations
While the dreams you aspire to or set out to acheve can be looked upon by others and at times yourself as being completely out of reach. The fact of the matter is that they are not. If you are willing to put in the effort and learn from your successes, failures, and everything in between, you should be able to reach them.
Now, what I just wrote might sound stereotypical and it is, but the dreams that all of us are trying to reach vary in thought and action to the point that anything more detailed could be counterintuitive.
I will mention that while your dream takes shape you should allow yourself the ability to accept that the results might not be what you originally envisioned. We live in a world that is not perfect and when your dream comes into being, it will not be perfect, but that only leaves room for that dream to be expanded upon.
My dream is to become a successful author and while this dream of mine is perhaps a lofty one, I always keep in mind that success is something that only I can determine. There are so many situations in life that demand a result that is reliant upon expectations that are not yours, and when it comes to your dreams only you can say when they have been reached.
But remember, there will be people who help you reach your dreams. You might feel as if you are the only one who truly understands what you are aiming for, but support comes in many forms. You just need to have the flexibility of thought to recognize it.
My example of this is more or less a backhanded example of support, and keep in mind that this is something I overheard when the person who said it did not think I could hear them; keep in mind that I am not an optimist nor a pessimist, I let people show me who they are, “You know that when he makes all that money from his book, it’s going to be because he took all of his ideas from being around you.”
That was said to my roommate a person who understands what I am trying to accomplish, and has read the majority of the things I have written, my roommate knows that I am not taking anything from them. This statement is an attempt at manipulating my roommate into thinking that they are being taken advantage of. And my roommate recognized it as such.
As I am in the process of making my dream a reality, I am not trying to step on anyone’s toes or get in anyone’s way. Manipulation stems from ego and jealousy; a combination that drives a person to want to change what they see into something that benefits them. So, the person who made that comment believes that I am going to make it or at least make money, and for whatever reason they want my roommate to resent me for it.
The fact that someone is using my potential to try and put doubts in other's minds signifies to me that they have a strong enough belief in my dream that they would use it for their own plans, and that just makes me smile.
Other people do not have to see what you are doing as anything that benefits them, but their reaction to your dreams can be used as motivation even if their comments are ridiculous or self-serving. They are your dreams, and you can choose how you respond or perceive the comments that find their way to you.
Dreaming
When we close our eyes and eventually drift off to sleep, we encounter a world that our mind creates that can range from awe-inspiring to downright terrifying. Whatever you experience while in your dreams is something that is directly connected to you and you alone.
Sure, there is plenty of information out there that explains dreams, they range from the strictly scientific to the esoteric. Everyone has their thoughts regarding who, what, why, and where of dreams, and I am not here to change any of that for anyone, but I defiantly do not have a problem sharing my thoughts on the topic.
Let me start by saying that our brains are remarkable bio-electric computers whose ability to receive and process information from multiple sensory inputs while still being able to interact with the world around us, retain information, and solve problems. The brain is a multitasking powerhouse no matter what Intelligence Quotient you have.
The human brain takes in about eleven million pieces of information a second, but we can only consciously process about forty pieces of that eleven million. So, what happens to that other 10,999,960 pieces of information a second, it is stored in your subconscious.
The human mind takes in all of this information and is never really idle with it. Our brains need a sense of order, and dreams provide that to a certain extent. Example: If you have ever encountered someone who said or did something that you honestly did not understand? You might have tried to understand what that other person had said or done resolving the question that their action presented; you might have dismissed it or reasoned their behavior away to the point that it is forgotten, but your mind in concert with your brain do not truly forget.
Instead of being continuously confronted with information that we do not understand or something that has little meaning to us at the moment it shows up, we are given time that can and often does resemble a location for our minds to use those questions, details, and other information that we were not consciously aware of, and these moments are what we identify as dreams.
Dreams are the way your brain makes use of everything you know and the things you did not know you knew. It all comes together in a sometimes vivid simulation that only your mind can produce.
I will honestly say that I do not know all the science, theories, or beliefs that have to do with dreams, but at one point in my life I did kind of obsess over dreams and what they could mean. This all started when I was 12 and lasted until I was almost 15, I had a recurring dream that always started in the same way except for when it picked up where it left off.
This dream started with me opening my eyes, I would be standing or sitting next to an extremely large tree that in my dream I always thought of it as an oak. This tree and I were on a piece of ground that was surrounded on three sides by a lake. All around this lake was a landscape filled with trees, tall grass, and a snow-capped mountain range in the distance. This place gave off the impression that I was the only one around for miles. That is how the dream always started.
The things that would happen next would vary according to some pattern that I never honestly figured out. At times there was a glowing person who would emerge from the lake, they never resembled anyone I knew, but they always needed me to find something or help someone. Other times there was a gust of wind, smoke rising in the distance, lightning striking something, and even an explosion that would send me in a direction that would end up being the start of something more than just my curiosity or a simple request.
These dreams went on for at least 2 years of my life and while in them I experienced nearly every emotion I can think of. The only other thing that all of them had in common, even the ones that seemed to pick up where the previous dream had ended never really had endings to them.
I would like to think that the reason behind these dreams was for me to start looking at the things around me as something to explore and to never look at something at face value. If you feel the urge to provide me with another meaning of this series of dreams; go right ahead, I have had plenty of other dreams that I remember with more detail, but to be perfectly honest only one of them has ever made their way into my fiction writing.
In Conclusion
Sure, what I wrote might not stand out as some shining beacon for the world to rally around, and I am perfectly fine with that. Out of everything that I think that I know, there is one thing that I deem important for every one of us to have, and that is the two types of dreams.
One to aspire to and one to keep us guessing. They both display the power and versatility of what we have between our ears. It does not matter how high we rise or how far we fall; our dreams are with us through it all. Until next time, I am Nolan Ex Tenebris.
