Friday, March 21, 2008

Southbound dreams



Last night a friend told me about a dream he had.

It was a convoluted dream with many twists and turns, and there's nothing out of the ordinary if you look at it from the dreamer's point of view. From a wakeful point of view, however, it was entirely weird. One of the highly entertaining parts of his dream involved Jesus driving a silver Chevrolet sedan with a decal that said "Do it." We laughed ourselves silly trying to decipher his dream, and we came up with a few good logical-sounding interpretations. They sound logical to us, at least, since we know about this friend's life situation, his goals and aspirations. But if we tell other people about our hypotheses, they'd think we were cuckoo.

**********

Summer has arrived here in the Philippines. That means muggy afternoons, when taking a cool shower helps only marginally since you start feeling hot again even as you towel off. Warm afternoons, like the one I had today, make me want to take a nap (come to think of it, so do rainy and cold afternoons; I guess naptime for me is non-climate-dependent). So I took a nap.

And had a dream.

I was walking along a beach with another dear friend. Nothing unusual in that, my country has a gazillion beaches. What was unusual was that the waves weren't dashing up onto sand from the ocean. No, the sea foam rushed up to dissolve on snow. I was scrunching snow in between my toes, instead of sand. Let me tell you, I've never known snow, never had a 3-D experience with it. I know I could probably approximate it with the frosty gunk that accumulates in some old-fashioned fridges, but it isn't the same. Snow is as alien to me as cunnilingus is to my friend who had the Jesus-driving-a-car dream (he's gay). Sure, I know about snow (the way he knows about cunny) - from reading about it or seeing it on TV or in the movies. But I have no first-person experience with snow (just like he doesn't have any personal experiences with pleasing a female orally). One of the differences between us is that I'd like to get to know snow up close and personal; he doesn't have the same sentiment about the female anatomy.

Anyway.

What struck me after waking up was how normal it felt, that feeling of walking-on-the-beach-in-the-snow thing in dreamworld. Never mind that it wasn't real - inasmuch as how we define reality anyway. In that moment, in that world in my subconscious, everything felt real. More than that, it felt right.

Would that this feeling of rightness is always present in the real world, our world of wakefulness, where shit happens - stuff that's out of our control. Reality sucks sometimes. My gay friend may never see Jesus navigating the streets of Manila in a Chevrolet sedan during rush hour. I may never experience making snowcastles on a beach. But as long as we have those feelings of normalcy (even about the outrageous) inside us - and have people close to our hearts to whom we can bare our souls, who will listen, who we can be ourselves with, no holds barred, who somehow help us transcend the colorlessness of many aspects of everyday life, with whom we can cry and laugh at all the doodoo that befalls us - then I have no complaints. Not too much, anyway.

17 comments:

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

I call them sparks of Insanity and they are important to who we are as a person

Daddy Papersurfer said...

So, when it snows here and I start giggling, I hope no-one asks me for an explanation..........

Lizza said...

Bond: Maybe those sparks of insanity are what help keep us sane.

DaddyP: Even if someone does ask for an explanation, I'm sure you'll come up with a hilarious one.

Though the thought of you giggling is a tad perturbing...

Schmoop said...

Ah dreams...The pressure valve of life. It's nice to dream and get away from reality for awhile. Cheers Lizza!!

whirls said...

dreams...when i have them they are so detailed that many people think i make them up. and i can always tell where the idea for the dream came from...either a movie, conversation, or something else that triggered something in my head. so when i awake i always wonder what my head is trying to tell me concerning those topics. sometimes i can actually figure it out. sometimes the alternate reality is a nice vacation from my actual reality.

Mimi Lenox said...

You know, you sound so centered and wise lately. I love the snow dream and your contemplative, evaluative side. It's always mixed with raw reality. That's honest.

Odat said...

What a wonderful way of seeing things!
Peace

Lizza said...

Matt-man: Would that my dreams were filled with your bratwurst. Or maybe not. Cheers!

Whirls: Ohh, do you always remember your dreams? If so, I envy you. Lots of times I wake up knowing I had a fantastic dream, but I remember nothing of it. Just tantalizing cobwebs. Glad to see you here, thanks for dropping in.

Odat: My dearest online dancing buddy! Thanks, my dear.

Lizza said...

Mimi: Centered and wise, I'm glad you think so - though I hardly feel that way. Maybe I'm growing up, though I'm resisting.

You, on the other hand, have some stories to tell. Can't wait to read about them!

Anonymous said...

Got nothing to say about your Southbound dreams, You really got an awesome informative blog, would you mind if i ask you for a link exchange? Regards...

H said...

ummm. weird dreams feel so familiar to my head.
hahaha.
Lovely dreams - both of them. though I can't for the life in my head think of what it could mean - the snow, that is.

perhaps you're looking to pull together two completely different things - perhaps someone in or something about a cold euopean/ american [you get the drift] place, and home - ie manila/ philippines/ boracay. perhaps in an attempt to reconsile the pleasures to be had from both as not being entirely antithetical - ie beach and snow.

Lizza said...

Filipina: Thanks for visiting. Ang gaganda ng mga Pinay sa blog mo ha! Nice info too. Dagdag kita sa blogroll ko.

H: You are the voice of wisdom. Your analysis does make sense. Never quite looked at it that way.

Travis Cody said...

Now that was a post that made me go hmmmmmm.

Dean said...

Nice. I'm Pinoy, too...I like how your blog centers around not your life, but your life as a PINOY. I like, like, like it! =) *bookmarks blog*

Doesn't the Philippines' snowlessness just suck?

-dean
www.qwertyconfessions.co.nr

Lizza said...

Trav: I'll take that as a compliment. Thanks!

Dean: Welcome, and thanks. Glad you like my mental flotsam. I'll hie over to your part of blogworld; it's good to make new (cyber)acquaintances, and a fellow Pinoy at that.

Yes, snowlessness sucks...but some have said it's a good thing we don't have it!

Frank Sirianni said...

You weren't actually dreaming during in your nap. What you were experiencing was involuntarily-channeled-astral-projection guided by yours truly, I think.

I've been hearing so much about the beauty of the beaches in the Philippines from all my Filipino staff that have come over that I needed to experience it for myself. Knowing that I couldn't book a flight, I thought I'd try projecting (I do meditate from time to time). When you channel project, someone in a receptive state is needed as an experiential guide. It's kind of like non-intrusive long distance Vulcan mind melding, but the meldee and melder connecting is pure luck. Any meldee that is in a receptive state will pick up on it, although completely unaware of it happening. The melder is also unaware of who the meldee is, but the experience has similar motifs and images throughout the meld.

I've tried a couple of times lately and was quite surprised to find myself driving a vehicle for I don't drive at all. That would be a miracle, hence the Jesus on the dashboard. Both of us were probably praying for our lives if I was at the wheel.
Hope you enjoyed the snow.
Was the water the right aquamarine colour?
Maybe, through channeled progection, and if I could get so cunning, your friend might experience the wonders of--Uhmm--Nevermind.

ttfn
GGG

Lizza said...

You are a god, Frank.

The water was just right, no worries. Channel your cunningness, help my buddy! (And me too)