Blog Dis
Tuesday morning gum
2025-02-11
For some 17 years I've been writing down my dreams in a tiny hardcover book that I picked up at the National Gallery in Ottawa. This wee book has a lovely image on the front cover of a painting by Tom Thompson of The Group of Seven. The book is actually designed for painters because each page is thick, off-white and suitable for sketching or painting, so that an artist can rip out a single page without destroying the other pages.
I write only on the right-hand side, never on the left-hand side. So, when I made it to the end of the book, having filled up the pages with chicken-scratch as I'd jot down my dreams, half-asleep, writing only on the right-hand side, I then flipped the book upside down in order that I may write once again only on the right-hand side. Hey, if I want to be eccentric with my dream book and how I write, I get to be. I've filled one full side and half of the other side. Needless to say, I'm often perplexed and frightened by my dreams. I can scarcely make heads or tails of them. Usually, I'm in search of something or I've lost something, or I'm visited by my deceased pets. Many times I'm traveling in countries and fluent in the native language. At times, I'm often convinced that these dreams are holdovers from past lives, either that or our brains are able to tap into the knowledge of the Universe which conceivably should be able to retain every neuron and thought since the beginning of time.
Or, I could be wrong. 😅Or, my imagination is having a good go with me, getting a kick out of f*cking with my brain. And this brings me to the reality that as much as we each may believe that we're the ones in control of our minds, of our subconscious, of our imaginations, perhaps we all should re-think this rigid belief.
Well, this morning's dream was a doosey. I dreamt I was back in high school receiving my diploma and a friend, with whom I haven't spoken in several years was sitting beside me. I noticed her hair had been dyed an unusual colour and yet she had splotches of bald spots. Curious what our brains get up to when we're supposedly meant to be relaxing and idle. But the brain never, ever sleeps even when it sleeps. So, when you record your dreams, patterns will emerge, if you take the time to review these dreams periodically. You will laugh your a** off despite these patterns, as the content is often wild and unpredictable. Over all, it's been my experience, based on interpreting my dreams, that dreams preceding the work week are filled with confusing messages and anxiety. Work is good for all of us, I tell myself, because work forces you to focus, to get up, to get moving and pull your proverbial act together. On the other hand, work is also a detriment to being a bum and relaxing. I shake off the residue of the work week on Fridays, barely managing to wind down my brain and body, only to have to charge my brain back up again for the morning slog of work come Monday.
Gum is the answer. Chewing gum in the morning as you prepare yourself helps to activate glands which release hormones that feed the body and brain. I have no shame. I like crutches, particularly if they assist me in coping with the daily grind of living. To be sure, this is a grand life and I wouldn't trade it for all the cattle in Alberta, but some time in my short life span I'd like to be able to afford to take a full year off, and not have to worry about setting an alarm clock, and wonder what shenanigan's my brain will get up to if it has oodles of time to meander in dreams. I last had a six-month break in 2008 when the American firm where I worked at the time laid off all the staff, and closed its offices in Canada - owing to the stock market crash of the mortgage backed securities fiasco. I lost money when I was laid off. The American company invoked Chapter 11 which is bankruptcy protection, but not before the Executives paid themselves handsome packages, while those who were entitled to their severance and pension packages were sent packing with nothing. Did I wish bad luck on them at the time? Hell no. I've stated this time and again that I don't wish bad luck on people. I dusted myself off, and took the time off to re-charge, to release a new novel, after which I landed new employment.
I did, however, hope that the dreams of these greedy Executives would be plagued with anxiety for their pre-emptive behaviour, knowing that the company was knee-deep in debt, and about to be shutdown, and this isn't really wishing bad luck on someone, more like playing with the fantasy that some form of justice would be meted out by the Universe, or by their very own brains, their subconscious.
As we evolve in life, and move forward, there are less periods of anxiety-dreams, and more wakefulness at night, rather than sleeping thru the night and enduring crazy dreams. But you just never know, you know?
Maybe it's time for me to put some new energy into directed dreaming, or lucid dreaming, as some call this brand of dreaming - a cognitive skill that can be enhanced through specific techniques, one of which is recording your dreams. This means I'm already half way there.
Time for some chewing gum!
I write only on the right-hand side, never on the left-hand side. So, when I made it to the end of the book, having filled up the pages with chicken-scratch as I'd jot down my dreams, half-asleep, writing only on the right-hand side, I then flipped the book upside down in order that I may write once again only on the right-hand side. Hey, if I want to be eccentric with my dream book and how I write, I get to be. I've filled one full side and half of the other side. Needless to say, I'm often perplexed and frightened by my dreams. I can scarcely make heads or tails of them. Usually, I'm in search of something or I've lost something, or I'm visited by my deceased pets. Many times I'm traveling in countries and fluent in the native language. At times, I'm often convinced that these dreams are holdovers from past lives, either that or our brains are able to tap into the knowledge of the Universe which conceivably should be able to retain every neuron and thought since the beginning of time.
Or, I could be wrong. 😅Or, my imagination is having a good go with me, getting a kick out of f*cking with my brain. And this brings me to the reality that as much as we each may believe that we're the ones in control of our minds, of our subconscious, of our imaginations, perhaps we all should re-think this rigid belief.
Well, this morning's dream was a doosey. I dreamt I was back in high school receiving my diploma and a friend, with whom I haven't spoken in several years was sitting beside me. I noticed her hair had been dyed an unusual colour and yet she had splotches of bald spots. Curious what our brains get up to when we're supposedly meant to be relaxing and idle. But the brain never, ever sleeps even when it sleeps. So, when you record your dreams, patterns will emerge, if you take the time to review these dreams periodically. You will laugh your a** off despite these patterns, as the content is often wild and unpredictable. Over all, it's been my experience, based on interpreting my dreams, that dreams preceding the work week are filled with confusing messages and anxiety. Work is good for all of us, I tell myself, because work forces you to focus, to get up, to get moving and pull your proverbial act together. On the other hand, work is also a detriment to being a bum and relaxing. I shake off the residue of the work week on Fridays, barely managing to wind down my brain and body, only to have to charge my brain back up again for the morning slog of work come Monday.
Gum is the answer. Chewing gum in the morning as you prepare yourself helps to activate glands which release hormones that feed the body and brain. I have no shame. I like crutches, particularly if they assist me in coping with the daily grind of living. To be sure, this is a grand life and I wouldn't trade it for all the cattle in Alberta, but some time in my short life span I'd like to be able to afford to take a full year off, and not have to worry about setting an alarm clock, and wonder what shenanigan's my brain will get up to if it has oodles of time to meander in dreams. I last had a six-month break in 2008 when the American firm where I worked at the time laid off all the staff, and closed its offices in Canada - owing to the stock market crash of the mortgage backed securities fiasco. I lost money when I was laid off. The American company invoked Chapter 11 which is bankruptcy protection, but not before the Executives paid themselves handsome packages, while those who were entitled to their severance and pension packages were sent packing with nothing. Did I wish bad luck on them at the time? Hell no. I've stated this time and again that I don't wish bad luck on people. I dusted myself off, and took the time off to re-charge, to release a new novel, after which I landed new employment.
I did, however, hope that the dreams of these greedy Executives would be plagued with anxiety for their pre-emptive behaviour, knowing that the company was knee-deep in debt, and about to be shutdown, and this isn't really wishing bad luck on someone, more like playing with the fantasy that some form of justice would be meted out by the Universe, or by their very own brains, their subconscious.
As we evolve in life, and move forward, there are less periods of anxiety-dreams, and more wakefulness at night, rather than sleeping thru the night and enduring crazy dreams. But you just never know, you know?
Maybe it's time for me to put some new energy into directed dreaming, or lucid dreaming, as some call this brand of dreaming - a cognitive skill that can be enhanced through specific techniques, one of which is recording your dreams. This means I'm already half way there.
Time for some chewing gum!
