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Dear Reader ~
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Mark Twain wrote, "In our dreams - I know it! - we do make the journeys we seem to make: we do see the things we seem to see; the people, the horses, the cats, the dogs, the birds, the whales, are real, not chimeras; they are living spirits, not shadows; and they are immortal and indestructible."
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Perhaps so. But what about the dreams that our dreams have? Are they real, too?
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My fascination with dreams began with a recurring nightmare I experienced when I was in third or fourth grade. Several times I found myself alone on the schoolyard playground at night, when I saw the Bogeyman running toward me. In total terror, I would run away, toward the school buildings, but could always hear him getting closer and closer behind me! I would run and run until, thoroughly exhausted, I would manage to wake up, still feeling the Bogeyman's hot breath on my neck.
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Then somehow - either by unexplainable intuition or by secretly receiving information from a mysterious Source - a day arrived when I KNEW that I was able to awaken from a dream at any moment I chose. That night, the Bogeyman came for me again. This time I ran only as far as the nearest schoolyard water fountain, and that's where I decided to take my stand.
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Mark Twain wrote, "In our dreams - I know it! - we do make the journeys we seem to make: we do see the things we seem to see; the people, the horses, the cats, the dogs, the birds, the whales, are real, not chimeras; they are living spirits, not shadows; and they are immortal and indestructible."
.
Perhaps so. But what about the dreams that our dreams have? Are they real, too?
.
My fascination with dreams began with a recurring nightmare I experienced when I was in third or fourth grade. Several times I found myself alone on the schoolyard playground at night, when I saw the Bogeyman running toward me. In total terror, I would run away, toward the school buildings, but could always hear him getting closer and closer behind me! I would run and run until, thoroughly exhausted, I would manage to wake up, still feeling the Bogeyman's hot breath on my neck.
.
Then somehow - either by unexplainable intuition or by secretly receiving information from a mysterious Source - a day arrived when I KNEW that I was able to awaken from a dream at any moment I chose. That night, the Bogeyman came for me again. This time I ran only as far as the nearest schoolyard water fountain, and that's where I decided to take my stand.
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I stopped at the water fountain, turned around to face the quickly approaching Bogeyman, and I stuck out my tongue and started blowing 'raspberries' at him. I waited until the moment he reached me, stopped, extended his arms and attempted to grasp my neck with his hands. AT THAT VERY MOMENT, my eyes popped open and I found myself lying on my back, in my bed, staring at my bedroom ceiling above me. The Bogeyman was gone. That was my first 'lucid dream' experience (i.e., when the dreamer is conscious of the fact that he or she is dreaming). And soon, the Bogeyman stopped pestering me in my dreams. He was smart enough to know that he could not terrorize a child capable of awakening at will.
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Fast-forward about 26 years. An adult now, I was on a Spiritual journey and had begun daily meditation sessions. While meditating one day in April of 1997, a still small voice in my mind said, "We have fallen asleep in God's embrace, having a nightmare that we are elsewhere". From that day forward, this has been my personal Spiritual slogan, which has been a mighty help in my life.
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In 2018, The Spirit led me to move from Reno to a place I call Willoughberry, which is the friendliest place I've ever lived and the hometown of my dreams.
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These days, I have extremely vivid dreams on a regular basis. Fortunately, I rarely have what I would categorize as "nightmares". However, unfortunately, I also rarely have what I would call "pleasant" dreams.
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My subconscious mind creates dreams as if it's writing a story or a screenplay; and any story must always have some sort of conflict which the protagonist is required to face and attempt to overcome. That's where the "drama" is; that's what keeps driving a story forward to some sort of denouement. And that's how most of my dreams are; there's nearly always some sort of tension, something I'm struggling to deal with.
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Two of my all-time favorite dreams occurred recently, while I was asleep here in Willoughberry. On January 4 of this year (2023), I dreamed that I was chasing after my dog, Muddy, who was chasing a cat that was chasing a rat that ate the cheese that lay in the house that Jack built (or something like that). So I was running down stairs, climbing over fences, and jumping over hedges. After awhile I began to notice that I was seeing everything from a unique perspective. I was perceiving things at interesting angles and seeing buildings, cars, and people framed between trees and archways in a uniquely creative way. Suddenly, I mentally said to myself (my subconscious mind speaking to itself), "Wow! This is the best cinematography I've ever had in a dream!"
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Questions: If my dreams are being produced and directed by my subconscious mind, why was my subconscious mind so surprised and impressed by what IT had created? And why doesn't it provide me with such artistically "filmed" views in ALL of my dreams? Why isn’t my mind fashioning dreams with this level of creative imagery on a nightly basis?
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Late last year, I had an even more unusual dream. This one was quite extraordinary!
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I don't recall all of the specific details, but I was experiencing a tremendous amount of stress; a pressure that felt as though the weight of the world was upon me. It felt like a life or death situation with the degree of angst cranked "up to eleven". I was sweating and gasping for air!
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Suddenly, my eyes popped open and I found myself lying on my back, in my bed, staring at my bedroom ceiling above me, and realizing that the whole thing had been nothing but a bad dream. Feeling an instantaneous sense of great relief, I mentally said to myself, "Whew! Oh, thank God that was just a dream!"
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I continued to lie in bed for a minute or two, just enjoying this feeling of relief and deep peace. Then I yawned, stretched, and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Upon entering the kitchen to brew a cup of coffee, suddenly my eyes popped open and I found myself lying on my back, in my bed, staring at my bedroom ceiling above me! I instantly understood that EVERYTHING had been a dream!
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I'd had a dream that I had a nightmare, from which I awoke. In other words, my dream had been dreaming!
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This 'dream within a dream' scenario has me considering how it might apply to my long-standing Spiritual slogan. Maybe I don't have the slogan quite right. Perhaps it needs to go something more like this:
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We Have Fallen Asleep In God's Embrace,
Having A Dream That We Are Having A Nightmare
That We Are Elsewhere.
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Are dreams real, as Mark Twain proposed? Or are they just dreams of dreams?
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Yours Dreamily,
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
Fast-forward about 26 years. An adult now, I was on a Spiritual journey and had begun daily meditation sessions. While meditating one day in April of 1997, a still small voice in my mind said, "We have fallen asleep in God's embrace, having a nightmare that we are elsewhere". From that day forward, this has been my personal Spiritual slogan, which has been a mighty help in my life.
.
In 2018, The Spirit led me to move from Reno to a place I call Willoughberry, which is the friendliest place I've ever lived and the hometown of my dreams.
.
These days, I have extremely vivid dreams on a regular basis. Fortunately, I rarely have what I would categorize as "nightmares". However, unfortunately, I also rarely have what I would call "pleasant" dreams.
.
My subconscious mind creates dreams as if it's writing a story or a screenplay; and any story must always have some sort of conflict which the protagonist is required to face and attempt to overcome. That's where the "drama" is; that's what keeps driving a story forward to some sort of denouement. And that's how most of my dreams are; there's nearly always some sort of tension, something I'm struggling to deal with.
.
Two of my all-time favorite dreams occurred recently, while I was asleep here in Willoughberry. On January 4 of this year (2023), I dreamed that I was chasing after my dog, Muddy, who was chasing a cat that was chasing a rat that ate the cheese that lay in the house that Jack built (or something like that). So I was running down stairs, climbing over fences, and jumping over hedges. After awhile I began to notice that I was seeing everything from a unique perspective. I was perceiving things at interesting angles and seeing buildings, cars, and people framed between trees and archways in a uniquely creative way. Suddenly, I mentally said to myself (my subconscious mind speaking to itself), "Wow! This is the best cinematography I've ever had in a dream!"
.
Questions: If my dreams are being produced and directed by my subconscious mind, why was my subconscious mind so surprised and impressed by what IT had created? And why doesn't it provide me with such artistically "filmed" views in ALL of my dreams? Why isn’t my mind fashioning dreams with this level of creative imagery on a nightly basis?
.
Late last year, I had an even more unusual dream. This one was quite extraordinary!
.
I don't recall all of the specific details, but I was experiencing a tremendous amount of stress; a pressure that felt as though the weight of the world was upon me. It felt like a life or death situation with the degree of angst cranked "up to eleven". I was sweating and gasping for air!
.
Suddenly, my eyes popped open and I found myself lying on my back, in my bed, staring at my bedroom ceiling above me, and realizing that the whole thing had been nothing but a bad dream. Feeling an instantaneous sense of great relief, I mentally said to myself, "Whew! Oh, thank God that was just a dream!"
.
I continued to lie in bed for a minute or two, just enjoying this feeling of relief and deep peace. Then I yawned, stretched, and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth. Upon entering the kitchen to brew a cup of coffee, suddenly my eyes popped open and I found myself lying on my back, in my bed, staring at my bedroom ceiling above me! I instantly understood that EVERYTHING had been a dream!
.
I'd had a dream that I had a nightmare, from which I awoke. In other words, my dream had been dreaming!
.
This 'dream within a dream' scenario has me considering how it might apply to my long-standing Spiritual slogan. Maybe I don't have the slogan quite right. Perhaps it needs to go something more like this:
.
We Have Fallen Asleep In God's Embrace,
Having A Dream That We Are Having A Nightmare
That We Are Elsewhere.
.
Are dreams real, as Mark Twain proposed? Or are they just dreams of dreams?
.
Yours Dreamily,
~ Stephen T. McCarthy
