Friday, February 29, 2008

Sunday Scribblings - "Time Machine"

It’s a somewhat whimsical thought – and therefore open to gagging noises from the less fanciful folks out there – but I cant help feeling that dreams are the time machines used by our sub-conscious to take us to places we’ve never been, make us do things we’ve never done, meet people whom it would be physically impossible to meet in the real world … and usually all at the same time. Time machines of the sub-conscious don’t care about logic, anachronisms, the time and space continuum or anything that makes sense when you're awake. There’s every possibility of meeting yourself coming and going while another you does something else somewhere else. That’s the thing about these journeys – anything can happen, and ALL of it seems logical. Sometimes the journey is thrilling, sometimes sad, sometimes funny, sometimes scary… but whatever it is, wherever you find yourself (or lose yourself), what you experience is always very real.

And have you noticed, you cant have boring dreams. (Note: I’m not ordering anybody to have boring dreams. If you want to be bored while asleep, feel free!). I’ve had dreams where I’ve wanted to wake up because I was scared, dreams where I’ve woken myself up laughing, dreams from which I didn’t want to wake because I knew that the people I was with weren’t alive in reality… all sorts of dreams, but I cant remember a single instance where I’ve thought “I’m bored”, or woken up feeling “Boy, that was one boring dream. I need more interesting story-lines”.

The most irritating part is that sometimes, even if it’s been an absolutely riveting dream, the moment you wake up, you cant remember what it was about. You know you were having fun, you know it was like a really GOOD movie, you even know that you wanted to remember it - but not a fragment of it can be grasped consciously. Those mental notes you make during the trip ("must remember this when I wake") are erased the moment your eyes open.


That said, though, I’ve been able to parlay a couple of dreams into actual short stories that got published… so not all those time machine journeys were a total loss.

(Previous posts about dreams – here and here)

18 comments:

World So Wide said...

"dreams are the time machines used by our sub-conscious to take us to places we’ve never been, make us do things we’ve never done" - too true!

Mare Freeborn said...

This really made sense to me. What a great way to think about dreams.

Anonymous said...

If only I could do the amazing things I do in dreams, in real life! So true about dreams never being boring!
Kamini

meerkat said...

sometimes you sense with your conscious mind that you are dreaming when you are dreaming and the process is one of externalising oneself and watching oneself dream. it is quite liberating in a way.

a truly bizarre movie about dreams is 'the science of sleep'. i loved it because of the on camera animation and it felt like you were within the mind which has a very fertile imagination. it does not make much sense but visually it is a treat

meera

Anonymous said...

I too often think dreams are a wonderful means of time traveling. What could be better than to spend a dreamy evening with someone special you've lost.

Thanks for sharing!

Crafty Green Poet said...

Oh this was a great post to read, I was nodding my head all the way through it from dreams as time machines to the impossibility of boring dreams to the annoyance of forgotten dreams. Thanks for sharing

Radha said...

Shyam - just last night I was dreaming that I was chatting with Appa... All the time I was chatting with him, I knew he was long dead, that it was a dream - and I desperately did NOT want to wake up, because then Appa would be gone again. But what were we talking about? I haven't the faintest clue!

Then this morning I opened up my computer, and you had this post up.

UL said...

have you had a 'commercial break' kind of a dream...where you break off during a dream, physically break off for a glass of water or a visit to the loo and then return to pick it where you left off? recently a fellow blogger had one and i was nodding my head...i have them all the time..

Anonymous said...

I wanna read about the dreams that got published!

Anonymous said...

Dreams do take us back and forth and to places hitherto unknown.

timely intervention

Anonymous said...

Leonard: Thank you. I'm glad you didnt laugh at that! :)

Mare: Thank you too.

Kamini: I know what you mean. I even rode a horse once, and I wouldnt dream of doing that in real life... wait, I DID dream of it! :D

Meera: Gosh, that happens to me too! And thanks for the movie tip, I'll try and watch it.

Javacurls: Yep, glad you agree.

Crafty green poet: Guess I wasnt too gaggingly whimsical then! :)

Radi: I've had that dream too. More than once.

ul: Yes, and also the kind where you have the same dream a few days or weeks or even months later, and you instantly know it's a replay!

CW: Those were published in Target magazine (are you old enough to remember Target?) when I was in college! :) They arent online.

Gautami: Good to know you feel the same :)


- Shyam

Anonymous said...

I appreciated your reading your entry for Sunday Scribblings. I'm a new contributor there myself, and am looking forward to my next prompt. I liked your interpretation of "time machines", because I can truly relate to everything that you stated. In more ways than one, actually! Now... if I could parlay my stories that stemmed from dreams, I'd say we've shared quite similiar circumstances! Thanks for this beautiful interuptation!

Anonymous said...

Too bad. I do remember Target..haven't read it much tho.If it was only recently in college u should be able to recollect the articles in their entirety, no? ;-)

Anonymous said...

You are so correct, never have I had a 'boring' dream or on ethat could be classified as such. I have to tell you that I read somewhere if you wake up with a lot of muscular activity (like startled by an alarmclock) you will tend to forget portions of your dreams. However, they said if you wake somewhat slowly, naturally and with little muscular activity you will retain the memory more clearly and vividly. It could be just that I bought into this idea but it seems to be true for me. Try to notice in the future and I hope that we'll get to read some of all the great stories that will come from your time travelin' dreams!!

Anonymous said...

I am an avid dreamer and I have never thought of dreams in this sense. What a lovely, eye-opening post.

paisley said...

for quite some time i have thought of the dream scape as "the final frontier"... it was excellent to see it written about in such a simple fashion,, i wondered if i was alone ... thank you....

Anonymous said...

That was the excellent interpretation of the Idea of Dreams i ve ever read.

Now I am happy.

Teesu (very very Indian, very very good) said...

Oh My! You said it all. Amazing.(You wonlee):)