I think most if not all of you guys know that I have a pretty active dream life. One recurring dream I've had ever since I can remember is flying. When I was a really little kid, I just flew around the house. When I got a little older, I could fly across the street (although without much altitude - maybe six to eight feet.) The older I got, the further I would go. Distance in my dreams usually corresponded with how far I was allowed to venture in my waking life. By the time I was in high school, I was flying over rooftops citywide. I distinctly remember one time flying over to Swany's house.
What's most interesting in these dreams is that often, at least as I've gotten older, I have to remember first that I can fly. I mope around, earth bound, until I remember and smack my forehead with my palm, thinking "Oh yeah! I can fly. Duuuhhhh." And then I take off, no longer encumbered by the rules of gravity. I fly over other people, who look up at me and point in amazement, and I try to tell them, "it's not hard, really, once you get the hang of it." I don't remember though, if anyone ever heeds my words. Yet even if I can't convince others to follow me, at least I still remember for myself.
And that seems to be the challenge in my waking life, the one I keep avoiding. I have to remember that I can trascend the rules and gravity that keep me cemented on solid ground.
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Dreams of flight
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5 comments:
Man, I rarely dream at all anymore. I'm sure that's an indication of something bad.
Just don't go (literally) jumping off buildings in your waking life. Then we'd be down a blog writer, and what fun would the Kool-Aid Gang be then?
What? I know better than to take anything in my dreams literally. Nah, I believe flight in my dreams is spiritual freedom. I have to remember that I have the ability to put myself in a more fulfilling place.
And actually, you do still dream. I'm guessing that you already know that, and what you meant was, "I don't remember my dreams." If you want to remember your dreams, tell yourself to remember them and keep paper and pen by your bed. When you wake up from a dream, jot it down. Do this a few times and you will have no trouble remember your dreams.
In terms of it being "something bad," maybe and maybe not. Some people just don't remember their dreams that much and that's fine for them. Others who used to remember their quite a bit but no longer do, I would guess that's a symptom of one cutting themselves off from communication with their unconscious on purpose, which I would say is indicative of some sort of spiritual (emotional) unhealth.
Does that make any sense?
I dream occasionally, but I'm really serious about this being a rare occurence lately. I'm not sure that my brain is spending optimal time in REM sleep. Probably has something to do with my poor sleep hygeine and the fact that I stay up till the wee hours of the night to surf the 'Net and write on this blog. That and the fact that I'm overweight, snoring, and probably have obstructive sleep apnea sydrome. :-(
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
Pick a nice day, it suggests, and try it. The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt. That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground.
Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.
Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties. One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.
It is notoriously difficult to prise your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.
If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinity, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.
I have trouble with the second part.
Yeah, if he's dreaming then, it could be about flying down a tunnel of light...
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