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Friday, September 14, 2012

Why Dream When I Can Just Make Stuff Up?


I rarely dream.  While others recount their dreams to others – sometimes at an uncomfortable level of detail – tales of flying over cities and making naked speeches before Congress and whatnot, I’ve got nothing to say.

At this point, I’ll leave you alone for a moment so as to let the idea of me, speechless, sink in.

The medical community will tell you that, after having been tested several years ago, I exhibit abnormal brain waves.

Perhaps my “dreamer” is broken.  

My mother, after all, claims to have lost her “skip”.

"I used to skip," she says, frowning adorably, "I remember it distinctly."

So while I absolutely believe my mother when she claims that she could, at one time, skip, it's not that I used to dream and now don't.

I'm not sure I ever have.

Or perhaps I'm just not one for remembering them.

Everyone, I am told, dreams; it’s simply a matter of whether or not we recall them in the morning.  I’m thinking, however, that if I’m not remembering them, what’s to say I had them in the first place?  Huh?  Answer me that one!

So what’s it all about, Alfie? 

Is it because my conscious life is just so darn fulfilling?

It’s true that I have a fabulous view of downtown Minneapolis – if you lean over and  look right there you can see the garbage incinerator for the whole metropolitan area! 

It’s true that I sometimes leave the house without my cell phone because I live my life on the edge.

It’s even true that I can get the cats to cock their heads at me and then dash out of the room as if late for a meeting simply by playing The Clarinet Polka, which, if memory serves, also works for unwanted visitors and old boyfriends.

The power of the upper register compels you…

Anyway, I still have my “skip”, which I suppose is something.

But I can’t help but wonder if I’m missing out by not remembering my dreams. 

45 comments:

mapstew said...

Dreaming? Have a poke instead! :¬)

xxx

joy said...

Dropping by to say thank you for visiting my site. I am honored. And thanks for the nice comment. By the way, you have a nice post here. It made me think and smile too. Have a blessed day to you out there:)

savannah said...

sugar, sometimes i wake up and i don't remember where i am and i'm not even hungover! i think there have been studies done about people who don't dream that indicate they just don't remember the dreams. hell,honey, you still have your skip, so don't worry, be happy! ;~) xoxoxoxox

meleah rebeccah said...

I came to your blog, via Indigo Roth. And I'm sure glad I did. I never remember any of my dreams either.

Nessa Locke said...

I have a slew of dreams every night. I often tell the people who don't dream that I have their dreams for them. I can fall asleep in class and have a dream or two. I can nod off for two seconds at a red light and have a dream. I'm pretty sure I'm harboring your dreams somewhere in my subconscious. You are welcome to them, if you really want them.

The Cranky said...

Do you really want to remember giving naked speeches to Congress? Really?

Some things you can live without, like chocolate sauerkraut cake.

fmcgmccllc said...

Not missing a thing, you either wake up right before the good part or with some crazed maniace chasing you with a spear.

Stick to the skipping, I also lost mine.

joeh said...

I lost my skip aroung the same time I lost my tickle.

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute!!!!! I thought Odumbo gave all the Yankee's Hope and Change? Or was it that HE had a dream, or did he give you a dream, or the illegals. Oh well, it seems like everybody was dreaming. AT THE WHEEL!

vanilla said...

I'd trade my dreams for your ability to make stuff up.

vanilla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jenny_o said...

My skip left about the same time as my hop and my jump. Filling in for them are amble, stumble and trip.

And, what vanilla said!

Pearl said...

map, poke! pokity poke poke poke! :-)

Very sweet, Joy -- and the same to you!

savannah, :-) I once woke up and couldn't find my way out of a room. I went around the walls, looking for the door -- and then went around the walls again! OoOoOoOo. That'll freak a gal out!

meleah, Nice! Glad to meet you!

Nessa, I'm just glad they're somewhere safe. :-)

Jacquelineand, actually, a dream of naked speech-giving before Congress IS one I'd want to remember. :-) Hey. I don't get out much, you know? Get it while you can, I always say...

fmc..., I'm tempted now to check out my skipper this afternoon. I'm pretty sure it's still there!

joeh, oh, I got yer tickle right here, Joe! :-)

BamaTrav, what's that? Speak up!

vanilla, :-)

Pearl said...

jenny-O, oh, I like that. :-)

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

As long as you can make stuff up, you don't need your dreams. After all, they might be night-mares.

Geo. said...

I've found dreaming a nebulous and surprising enigma. Don't rule out waking up in Golden Gate Park back in '67 exclaiming, "Oh wow!" It happens.

Anonymous said...

I dreamed just read a post about someone who doesn't dream--oh, never mind!!

TexWisGirl said...

i wish i remembered more of them. my subconscious mind is always trying to tell me something - but i'm not always listening.

Suldog said...

I could get all trippy on you and suggest that your entire life is a dream and you'll wake up one day and go, "What in hell was that all about?"

But, I won't. I dream, vividly, which is a good thing when it comes to some dreams and not so good when it comes to others. I find all of them fascinating, though, so I take the bad with the good (like I have a choice.)

Anonymous said...

You are a day dreaming kind of gal Pearl...your brain needs a rest at night.

esbboston said...

I wiLL make a veRy concerted effort to include you in one of my dreams. I wiLL try to make it be eXciting, like fighting terrorists or pirates, but don't be surprised if we just wind up groc shopping or sitting on a porch knitting something for a cat.

Damon Peter Rallis said...

I am a firm believer that everyone dreams and even those who do not remember their dreams benefit from them. But what do I know? I lost my skip years ago... I'm still searching for it though. That's something.

Belle said...

You don't know how lucky you are. Most of my dreams are horrible. When I wake up I'm either terrified or depressed. They say dreams are from unresolved issues in your life. Obviously, I don't resolve my issues!

Bodacious Boomer said...

I don't know that you should be all that upset by not dreaming. I dream every night; and for the most part they're usually unwonderful.

I wish I could just close my eyes and wake up the next morning. That sounds really great to me.

Zig said...

how do you know this isn't a dream?

Christian at Point Counter-Point Point Point said...

I love the dreams I have where I'm skipping.

Gigi said...

I rarely dream and when I do it's usually about something I'd rather not have dreamt about.

Anonymous said...

My 82 year old mother swears she doesn't dream. Hah, we have hilarious proof otherwise, but she skips, oh Lord can she skip.

Of course you adore your mother Pearl, that's one of the reasons why I like you.

Al Penwasser said...

Naked speeches before Congress? That'd make me watch the State of the Union.
If the President was Jessica Alba.

Elephant's Child said...

Sadly I am with jenny_o. Except that I wobble too.
I dream in conversations. No pictures, just words. Except for one recurring nightmare.
And I think that far too many of us would trade a lot of things for your imagination and the power to share it. Thank you. Lots.

sage said...

Just today, on NPR, there was an interview with an actor who says that when filming he rarely dreams, but does at other times... Do you listen to NPR and did that story inspire you? Probably not, but... I love most of my dreams and they are all mixed up and I can't tell you how many speeches I've given with my birthday suit (or the bottom half of it) showing.

Unknown said...

I suspect that when you sleep, you're just too exhausted to remember your dreams.

stephen Hayes said...

Perhaps you're just a deep sleeper. We only remember dreams when we're in REM, which is the lightest level of sleep. I think you do dream but you just don't remember.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

Your imagination is so wild and wonderful that you don't have to dream - and we are all the better for it.

Raymond Alexander Kukkee said...

Pearl, if you want to remember your dreams, in the process of dreaming, as part of the dream, you must remember to tell yourself to remember the details of your dream when you awaken. Works every time.

Jocelyn said...

If you don't remember your dreams, then you're freed from that pretentiousness that accompanies dream analysis. GAWD, but I want to shove the people who think images of water and flying can be construed into something that will unlock their psyche.

When we all know, all it takes to unlock the psyche is a couple mojitos and a cheek full of Copenhagen.

Skoots1moM said...

http://skootsonemom.blogspot.com/2012/09/why.html
:)

Rose L said...

I used to dream in series installments when I was younger. Now I sometimes have odd dreams. I am told most people do not remember their dreams. I usually do. Most are either strange and funny, or like being in a movie!

Pat said...

My theory is that you do your dreaming in day time - as do many writers. By the time you hit the sack you're all dreamed out.
I know how your mother feels - I used to sing - whilst running dowmn hill.

Linda Starr said...

I dream and make stuff up, my dreams work out my fears and stresses, what's normal anyway?

River said...

I have periods where I'll dream every night for weeks, then they'll dry up and I won't dream for months or years. I rarely remember them, I just know that I dreamed and was happy, or I dreamed and was unsettled. There's probably a dozen I've remembered in my whole life.

the walking man said...

Nope I was tested the same way with the same result an extremely quick pass throu R.E.M. sleep to deep out of it sleep. All I ever remember is darkness, black black nothing but I do hear voices in my sleep.

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Probably because you live in a persistent dream state, Pearl... it's the only explanation!

Sextant said...

When I was still working I would cease to exist for about 2 or 3 hours, then proceed to a worry / dream state in which I had very realistic dreams of everything turning to pooh in hand basket. Sometimes I would get up just to relax and get the hell away from work.

Since I retired, I still do the cease to exist and then I have a period of weird dreams that I never remember. I can't sleep longer than 5 hours, and often 4 is the limit.

I have read that our dreams are nothing more than random thoughts and images that we try to piece together as a story. Although I do think that recurring dreams are often some unresolved conflict that we are working on in our unconscious. Dreams are probably much like our waking state, some of it is profound but much of it is like channel surfing on TV and then trying to convince ourselves that we have just had this great intuition.

Anonymous said...

It is very likely you're not missing much by not remembering your dreams. When I remember my dreams it's not usually a pleasant thing. Making things up is much more fun!