I walked slowly onto the soft sandy earth, my feet cushioned with every step and warm to the touch. It was as if I was floating out into a cosmic abyss. Brilliant constellations swirled in rhythmic patterns around me with luminescent purples, oranges, and golds. Small firefly like beings glided freely around entrancing me in their radiant sway. One danced around the tip of my nose, attempting to capture my attention but scurried away as I made a poor attempt to touch it. The air was clean and fresh with no breeze to disturb the sandy terrain. However, I hugged my arms to escape the chill creeping from within. Immobilized I allowed my breathing to return to its normal pace. Breathtaking was the scenery, but where the hell was I?
I screamed for help, as loud as my voice could project, but no sound escaped my mouth. I was muted. My heart quickened its beat, echoing loudly within my ears. My hands clenched the ruffled lacing of my nightgown and then it dawned on me. I looked down at my apparel smoothing out its wrinkles, ignoring the firefly hovering by my ear. I don’t wear nightgowns, ever. I glanced up at the brilliant cosmos shimmering at my gaze, as if it was smiling at my discovery. This is a dream I mouthed. The fireflies fluttered around me and a soft giggling lingered in my mind. The words “follow me” interrupted my thoughts before I can process what I just heard. It was them, these glowing things talking to me in my mind. If it’s a dream, no harm in following them right?
I was led to a randomly manifested staircase of sand; its long path intrigued me. Where did this lead to? Before my foot touched the first step, the fireflies around me stopped their dance and dropped to the sand, motionless and their beautiful light was turned off. I stopped my foot midair and took a step back from the staircase. Everything suddenly got darker and the harmonious vibration switched to hostility. I was confused. This is supposed to be a good dream, not a bad one. The darkness was almost an ebony shroud and I took off running into the sandy desert without evening thinking. If it’s a dream I’ll wake up, if it’s a dream, everything will be fine. I was suddenly slowing down; I could no longer run from the approaching darkness. It swallowed me and the dimming lights of a constellation faded before me. I tightly shut my eyes, and then quickly opened them to find myself not in a black atmosphere, but in the bright light of my room.
It was amazing to realize that I was dreaming, which is a rare occurrence. I was also able to control my dream and move away from what I felt was endangering me. This dream instantly reminded me of the film Inception. The concept of lucid dreaming, where you are aware that you are dreaming and can manipulate and participate in your dream is evident in the film. It is astonishing to conclude that we possess the ability to control what is in our dreams but as in the film we must do so with caution. It seems important to be cautious and let the dream continue, than to disrupt it and change its entire purpose.
There are many theories as to why we dream. Some researchers suggest that dreams are natural and serve no purpose to us. Others, including myself, believe that dreams are essential to mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Are dreams disguised expressions of our inner most desires and wishes and do they represent hidden psychological meaning? The character Cobb in Inception uses dreams as a means of coping with trauma. Dreaming allows him to revisit manifested images of his deceased wife which helps him deal with the guilt of her death in reality. If we think about it, some of our dreams are similar and we can agree that on occasion, a dream is a reflection of a recent incident or concern. Upon awakening from the dream we either feel better or are rekindled with those stressful and overbearing emotions.
I have always believed that dreams are important and bear even the slightest amount of a purpose. In keeping a dream journal, I find it interesting to record my dreams and research its symbolism and clues ranging from animal symbolism to color representation. In doing so, I have found interesting discoveries about myself which have helped my well-being. If you take a second and analyze a recent dream, you too may acquire a discovery.
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