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To Dream The Impossible Dream |
There's a feeling some people have, that they are looking at their life, as if from the perspective of someone “looking back” rather than actually being here. They feel as if they're experiencing waking life as an observer of a dream, or a nightmare. I think it was the Aztec that said “we do not die, we awake from the dream of life”. It's certainly hard to prove that it isn't the case.
When we have our dreams, there is hardly any difference in the brain between experiencing a dream, and experiencing something real. Our bodies are paralysed so that we don't act out our dreams, but we can incorporate sounds outside of our dream, into it. What is unusual, is that quite often the dream itself will lead up to the introduction of the sound. Many people report dreaming that they are waiting for the phone to ring, only for it to ring outside of the dream. Or that they were dreaming, that they walked toward a car, and it's alarm went off (alarm clock sound) etc.
Doesn't this then beg the question, how would you know those things were going to happen whilst dreaming? Body clock in sync with alarm clocks ? Possibly, but how about those times that it's unexpected, like the telephone etc? Some have suggested that it could be that “dream time” and non dream time are wildly different. So a minute in a dream, may be seconds in non dream time? Given that, any sound would be heard and slowly incorporated into the dream in minutes whilst it only played for seconds. It's possible I guess. I've had whole dreams for what seemed like a long time result in something happening outside of the dream, occurring much later.
Another thing that intrigues me about dreams, is that we have an over-ride switch. Sometimes when we dream, if it becomes too unpleasant, we can wake ourselves. Which implies to me, that there's a “dream monitor” of sorts. There's an explanation that the chemicals (neurotransmitters) in the brain are regulated, too much of a type increased in stressful dreaming, and they trigger the waking. If that is the case, then why do we “feel” like we need to wake. I get an inner voice saying “nope, don't like this, need to wake up”. That's not indicative of an automatic response. Sometimes I've feared I may not be able to wake from particularly bad ones. I don't think I'm alone, I think many people experience this too.
So who is the “inner voice” ? What part of you is waking you up out of safety reasons? I can understand the neurotransmitters are produced to do the waking, but it's a conscious decision beforehand. That no doubt causes the chemical changes, but the chemical changes aren't what creates the inner voice, the part of you that is monitoring the dream.
So we have a mechanism for recreating reality without all of the usual inputs needed, totally fabricated in your mind. Fabricated, but immensely believable. At times, too real, we've all experienced those too no doubt. Very clever mechanism for that alone, but then we have something that “tells the story”. Let's face it, it not only has great special effects (very real), but there's a script too.
Only thing is, to get your act together, the story is usually symbolic, and drags all kinds of things into it from your waking moments. Sometimes the story has a moral to it. Sometimes it doesn't, or doesn't appear to more likely.
So after the show, the mind starts to shift perspective. It decides enough is enough, lessons have been taught, and it's time to wake up. Sometimes you remember the dream long enough to recount later. Quite often you've no idea what you dreamed of, because the mind likes to keep the dreams for your subconscious mind only.
Interestingly, I've heard that it's impossible to dream certain things. One of those is the ability to see yourself in a mirror. Another is that you can't adjust light levels, I.e. You can't alter the amount of light in a dream with a dimmer switch or similar. You can't read digital clock displays ? There is a list, and in all honesty, I don't know if they are just “urban myths” , but I don't recall being able to see myself in a mirror in a dream, or alter lighting. I'm sure I've seen digital clock displays though.
So, the dream experience is very realistic, has a story of it's own, and decides when the show is over. Pretty amazing, although if the effects are that good, how come you can't see yourself in a mirror? Is it because you're already looking through one kind of mirror? A mirror in the mind of the waking life?
Seems a bit unreasonable to be able to dream that you can fly, or do pretty much anything, why would there be limitations ? Why is it that some dreams can really give you the sensation you can soar above buildings, when you've never experienced it?
It's almost as if there's another “you”, the wise one, the somewhat separate you. The one that sits above, and watches the other go about daily life. The other you has full control in an Out of Body Experience. This other you, has a better understanding of “reality” than you normally think you have. The normal you employs dozens of automatic filters to thought. We have to, otherwise we'd not cope with total focus on every sound and item in our environment. We're auto-selective, we paint a picture as it were based on filtered inputs. The other you “sees” far more than you're consciously aware of and stores it.
It sounds like schizophrenia, but that isn't what I describe. Although, there are plenty of interesting elements of schizophrenia. I'll maybe look at those in another article. I'll be looking more into this side to ourselves, and many before me have done so.
Many report feeling “guidance” from their inner selves, either via dreams, or instinct or hunches etc.Some of the intellectual nobles of recent times, claimed that they were either “guided” or had the “inner voice”. In ancient times they were named and given personalities. Quite often then categorised as a god, or gods speaking through, or to us. Some religions have this as their origin in fact. Is there a commonality to the "inner voice". I don't mean the one reading the words out loud now in your head. I mean the other one silently taking note.
I've a feeling that some dreams are connections to what we'll experience when we can no longer dream. Sort of an afterlife kindergarten preperation, and we're effectively babies in this regard. This is probably why some dreams remain unfathomable, or alien to our normal experience. It also explains why a lot of "connections" are during the dream period. It's more than the conscious mind could cope with ordinarily.
I've also a feeling that when we are no longer taking up these bodies , we can influence those with bodies to varying degrees. Dependent of course on the ability of the communicator and receiver. It's probably where hunches and “sudden ideas” come from. Our conscious mind would reject direct communication from anywhere else, so we adapt them as our “gut feeling” etc.
We're too used to thinking of ourselves as constructs of nature only. Or of the cosmos, of that which is inherently measurable. To be able to step back a bit and see the bigger picture, is what we all need to do regularly. I often see the way that people are. They remind me of cells, or molecules. Cars ferrying the cells down the veins and arteries (roads and motor/highways), countries becoming organs and the body being the Earth. It's personality traits determined by different societies. It's an analogy for something else of course, but it helps shape a healthy sense of perspective.
How is this "body" developing ? Well, it's almost finishing it's adolescence, still too much attitude, and thinking that violence can solve a major problem. On the whole though, it's maturing.It's still a glorious world, full of real magic and wonder whether real or perceived. I still think the earth and all it's lifeforms, even us, together with nature are pretty spectacular. But the best, is still to come.
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