Special Edition #7: Dreams

I just had a dream about Key West and, of course, in the dream Key West was not the real Key West. But when I woke up, I was certain that I had dreamt about real places, a hotel and an outdoor bar that really existed even though I dreamt of them in my dreamworld Key West. It honestly took me quite a while to realize that these were not real places . . . But that's because I have dreamt off and on about the Florida Keys since maybe 1979 and in that dreamworld, that alternate Keys-world, there are different highways and islands and buildings, there are hotels and bars and even people and I've dreamt about it enough to have created this second place in my mind and my mind remembers, even if I do not recall the dreams directly, my inner mind still does so that now it has become difficult on sleepy mornings, now it takes a few moments of direct thinking to separate the Key West of my dream from the Key West of reality.

And this is true of other places I have dreamt of. Missoula has its own dream construction in my mind. Grayton Beach for sure. New York and Alaska for some reasons also show up in multiple dreams, as do other places and people. I do not dream the same dreams but it's not unusual for me to dream about the same places, for some of the same mind-constructed sets and characters to come back into other dreams. That's how--I think--they become so deeply ingrained in me, in my unconscious or subconscious mind. Indeed, they are like the stage sets, they are the stock players or character actors who show up in all my midnight movies. Who reprise their roles and the settings compounded upon in my dream sequels: Missoula IV--Dream About Searching for a Job.

I have always had vivid dreams, memorable dreams.

I recall as a child--the first dream I can really remember--I had a recurring one about my mother being chained in a dungeon and some very evil man who would not let me see her and I would cry and cry. It was more of a nightmare--I was maybe three years old or five at best--and I would dream this dream and cry and be disturbed by it, which is why I can still recall snippets of it to this day. But I've mainly had enjoyable dreams. Dreams of adventure and of humor, dreams that were like the plots of novels or the filming of a movie, where I was aware of plot construction and character development and visuals while at the same time I was in the story or production. I've had dreams of great agony and of great sex. Dreams that were a joy to have, of subtle travel, of interaction with old friends or family members, dreams of seeing my old pets that I loved, of seeing my father who has been gone for almost ten years now. I like my dreams. I like those repeating worlds where they often take place.

So. You'll have to excuse me as I get older and continue to dream my dreams, excuse me if I get a little confused about the real places and the unreal.

Excuse me if, sometimes, I'm in no hurry to clear my head.