I wish I was this creative when awake...

Dreaming...

I am on vacation at a ski resort town with my family. I have seen some images, perhaps on television, of the end of the earth, which portray incredible icy cliffs thousands of feet high that fall into an oblivion that is space. I inherently know that this is the most remote place on the earth; so much so that I have the sense that no one has ever been there and that the images have been captured by spacecrafts or satellites. The cliffs aren’t on the earth per se because in this place, the earth ends in an archipelago, as if a long and treacherous finger reaches into space composed entirely on rock and ice. Somehow, in this place, space, sky, and planet are combined into a strange and dramatic formation thousands of kilometers long, and thousands of feet high.

Aside: As I recalled this dream I remembered another in which I have an entirely new image of the planet earth on a map in front of me. Even though I was looking over this map as if it was spread in front of me, the view was more as if I was in a satellite observing the earth. In this vision, the earth is far more massive and sparsely populated – as if there are entire uncharted and unexplored continents on “the other side”. Distances are vast, and the terrain is uncharted save for what can be seen from above. I know innately that this land is far less forgiving then the earth we know.

I forgo skiing to get on a simulator that allows one to observe the end of the earth (as described above) using images that I know are taken from an unmanned drone. It’s one of these simulators where a group of people sit and the entire thing jostles on hydraulic pistons. The experience of this simulation is far more immersive and allows me to feel as if I am flying above the end of the earth. As I experience the simulation I see footprints in the snow atop the massive cliffs and I begin to wonder if the drones that send these images really are unmanned, and suddenly it become unclear weather or not I am still in a simulator or actually there. I feel the snow as I fly by which is wet, and the sky above is clear and bright.

My next memory is of being on a chair lift, which I am sitting on without restraint. I start to shift around wanting to drop the safety bar and am somehow now, hanging onto the chair with only one hand. I am not frightened but realize that this is not a good situation. As I continue to try and situate myself I realize that I am hanging on below the chairlift with one hand and that the safety bar is already down, making climbing up with skis on, insurmountably complicated. At that point the chairlift is only a couple of metres off the ground and so I decide to drop off it, rather than continue to struggle to get back on it. I do so nonchalantly trying to convey to those around me that it is what I had intended all along.

Later I dream that I am driving through what I know is Burbank, California (though it looks different than real life – almost an over-commercialized caricature of itself ) looking for a way to get to the LA airport. I know I should be looking at a map but instead am looking for street signs in heavy traffic. I am having trouble seeing signs around me and realize that it is because I am lying on the back seat of the car (in which I am alone). I see that there is a left hand turn onto the freeway coming up and I try to jump over the seats into the front. I don’t have time and can not brake, but I can reach the wheel and veer away from a car slowing in my lane. I am able to carry through the intersection but the car is not slowing and I can not get over the seats.

end

dream dream dream

I remember this one from the ten minutes between hitting snooze and the next time my alarm went off this morning...

I am watching a movie from within the scene, as it unfolds around me. A large crowd is inside a courtroom which is very grand in an antiquated way. All the surroundings are dark wood, but have a weathered look that suggests the room is well used. The configuration of the room is less like a courtroom and more like an old bank, in that there seems to be no judge's stand, and all the people seem to be very close to each other among the various dividers and tables in the room. There is a line of people standing behind a low wooden divider and I have the sense that disappointing verdict is being read – the crowd murmurs in recognition of an upset of some sort. At this point, a well dressed, young looking person who stands out in the crowd makes an announcement. I have the sense that I know what is unfolding at this point, as if I have seen it before, or perhaps know what to expect from a preview, and what unfolds before me is not as clear as my recognition of what it all means. The man has announced that he has chosen to defend the person that has been delivered the upset verdict. Ignorant of what procedures are taking place, and the technical legalities of the proceedings, the net of it is that this person, once in opposition to the defendant, was now switching his loyalties to help him.

The next scene is some kind of ad hoc ceremony that takes place in the courtroom, that serves as a closing scene, and appears to be either to close the proceedings that took place, or to swear in somehow, the young lawyer as the defendant’s council. What is clear is that this closing scene also signifies a ‘new beginning’ and represents a happy ending for the protagonist character (the defendant). This scene was actually remarkably touching for something that happened in my brain. The ceremony involves the reading of the Lord’s Prayer, and the officiate of the ceremony (who is an old, southern, African American man with poor teeth and simple farmers clothes) initiates it while sitting at a desk reading from a book. The defendant is standing a meter in front of the officiate and is now revealed to be a very large, African American man with the mind of a child. His face wears an expression of abject happiness as if he has hope and excitement for the first time in a long time. As the prayer is started the room falls silent as the defendant mouths the words in sync with the officiate speaking them. A feeling that the right thing was done washes over everyone in the room.