NOVEMBER 25, 2019 – All my life I’ve experienced vivid dreams. Many reflect anxieties in life. Other dreams are fun or interesting. Some provide ideas.
Saturday night I dreamt I was with three close (real-life) associates in a strategy session regarding a big (real-life) project. Having the floor, I described a formal, illustrated presentation for “selling” our ideas. Yesterday, in reality, I spent a couple of hours creating the presentation I’d “described” in my dream and emailed it to my colleagues.
Several nights ago I dreamt someone dared me to trigger several hazards. They consisted of a wolf, a crocodile, a poisonous octopus, a man with a gun, and an electric box covered with live wires. All of these hazards were crowded onto a 10-by-10-foot square piece of plastic. Lying amidst the hazards was a police baton, which I could use to poke the hazards. The point was to test my reactions. I decided to pass on the dare.
I’ve traveled far in my dreams, including places I’ve never seen in reality—for example, Tirane, Albania; Novgorod, Russia; Pyongyang, North Korea; even an asteroid.
Then there are the “famous people” dreams. One of these featured Fidel Castro, a fellow passenger on a long taxi ride in Houston (another place I’ve never actually visited). During the ride I tried to convince Fidel that he’d win eternal applause if he’d simply renounce communism. He wasn’t buying.
In one dream I worked as an assistant national security advisor in the basement of the White House. Asked for ideas about how to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (during a spate of terror attacks), I suggested giving every Palestinian a C-note if 30 days passed without an attack; then two C-notes if another 60 days passed, and so on.
I’ve met—and actually shot!—Hitler, and I’ve heard and seen Jascha Heifetz play the violin.
I often dream I’m playing (or trying to play) my violin with an ensemble. Unfortunately, I’m often in a spot—I’m missing the music, popping a string, or sitting for a concert after having skipped all the rehearsals. Once in awhile, however, I’m playing a solo just fine, either a piece I’ve studied extensively or a brand-new composition never before performed.
Then there’s the common school dream, in which I’m late for an exam or sitting for one after not having attended a single class or read a single assignment. A variation is being late to court or unprepared for a hearing.
During the year after my dad died, I dreamed about him every night. Those dreams were especially realistic. After the year expired, he stopped “appearing” nightly, but almost a decade later, Dad “guest stars” periodically. He’s joined by my deceased mother, late uncle, long-dead grandparents, and my most influential violin teacher, who died in the fall of 1971.
For fun, I ski a lot in dreamland—in excellent conditions in exotic mountains with commanding vistas. I also run marathons, but always I’m wearing heavy boots.
If only I could video my dreams.
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© 2019 Eric Nilsson
