Image via Wikipedia I am on a road tour with a show and arriving at a new motel. A man attempts to abduct my wife and I, but sometime during that event I kill him and hide his body.After parking the man's car in the motel lot I realize that there are some things I have left in it, but I can't go back to it since it is now evidence for a crime. Yet somehow I am able to retrieve a metal cash box in which I see many coins. Later I am putting the box in my van when some other people from the show start questioning me.
Then, we are driving. Our caravan of vehicles must cross a large bridge where we are required to have a police escort. I balance a large stack of broken down cardboard boxes on the cab of a truck that I am driving. I precariously perch myself on top of these boxes and somehow manage to start driving the truck without being in the cab. The boxes begin to shift and slide from under me falling off the truck. As I get off the truck cab to gather the boxes, I see a large semi truck approaching rapidly from behind me. It manages to avoid collision and passes. There are now many vehicles driving by and my stopped truck has become a hazard. My police escort starts becoming impatient and I quickly toss the boxes in the back of the truck.
Image via WikipediaI begin driving again but now I'm in an older model car. We are passing through an area where there seem to be many businesses. I am surprised that my car radio is picking up KFI, a Los Angeles station that I often listen to, even though I'm over a thousand miles from L.A.. I decide it must be online radio. They are playing beautiful classical music and I am surprised since it is normally a talk station. I wonder why they don't play this music on the air in L.A.
The above account does not even begin to include everything that happened in this dream, but this is as much as I can remember in any specific detail. The events of this dream happen in a motel room, in a warehouse type environment, in a performance venue, on the highway, and other places involving many different people from my past and others whom I don't recognize.
Upon awakening I begin pondering my dream and wonder how exactly the dream was constructed. Was it a very long dream with many components? I look at the clock and notice that during the dream I had only dozed for a few minutes since the last time I had been awake. Still the dream seemed to have lasted hours and over a period of more than one day.
Then a thought comes to me. Perhaps I was having many dreams occurring at once? If this were the case I wonder how does our dream mind process the information? Is it coming all at once on different mental levels? Or is the dream actually as long as it seems, but sped up with rapidly assimilated information bombarding our brains and remembered as though having occurred in real time?
Our dream perception may come in the same way as when we are awake. During consciousness we experience our environment on many levels of sensation based on all of our senses as well as the layers of memory and recall which involve literal and symbolic interpretation.
Think about this for a moment. During any period of time you are thinking and sensing many different things at once. All of the five senses (or the senses you are capable of receiving) are at work and you are aware of all of them, either consciously or subconsciously. You are cognizant of conversations and events happening around you and still may be daydreaming or thinking of something unrelated to your present surroundings at the same time the rest of this is occurring. If every single bit of information received by the brain at any one second were separated into single sensory moments, each second could conceivably have the equivalency of an hour or more worth of data if compiled in linear time.
This could be the reason that there are moments when "our life passes before our eyes". All memory is piled up at once and the mind reads and organizes the entire bank of data. The mind interprets the compilation of stacked up memories into a timeline which is easier for us to understand.
Perhaps this is the way dreams work. In a few minutes or seconds of dream time we sense many things at once, but the mind subdivides the dream events and sensations into a time perception that seems more reasonable to us upon recall.
Have you had what seemed to be long complex dreams in a very short span of real time? Have you ever stopped to concentrate on your thoughts and senses to see how many things you were aware of and performing at one time? Isn't the human brain an amazing instrument?
That was some dream Lee. I had a weird dream, I dreamt I was in Arab country on holiday, Why I don't know. I woke up arose went outside to put the garbage in the bin , tripped and fell flat on my face, Got a lovely bruised cheekbone a good way to herald the beginning of December.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
I couldn't even begin to remember all of that!
ReplyDeleteThey say we dream in short spurts. I guess our brain somehow connects all of them together.
The brain is a bit like a work horse. During our waking hours it is bridled and has a bit in its mouth. At night, when the body rests, the brain slips quietly out of its stall, spits out its bit and takes off on its own showing us what it is capable of if we would just let it be. I think this is why I like writing so much...I let the bridle and bit go and just follow the brain on its wandering path.
ReplyDelete'Then a thought comes to me. Perhaps I was having many dreams occurring at once? If this were the case I wonder how does our dream mind process the information? Is it coming all at once on different mental levels? Or is the dream actually as long as it seems, but sped up with rapidly assimilated information bombarding our brains and remembered as though having occurred in real time?'
ReplyDeleteOkay, Lee, this is excellent. This entire post is so on topic to what I have been spending a lot of 'time' thinking about and the truth is I'm not coming on any definite answers, but the journey is almost overwhelming me.
I've a particular interest in the corpus callosum, at the moment-- the reconciler. There is so much information processing going on at a non-sensory level.
Fantastic post.
>> . . . Isn't the human brain an amazing instrument?
ReplyDeleteYeah! And, given enough time, isn’t it amazing what an amazing instrument can evolve from a primordial soup?
>> . . . Perhaps this is the way dreams work. In a few minutes or seconds of dream time we sense many things at once, but the mind subdivides the dream events and sensations into a time perception that seems more reasonable to us upon recall.
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
~ 2 Peter 3:8
Say, why is the text of this blog bit so-oooo tiny? And do you suppose there’s anything you could do to fix that, Mr. BlogworldExpoBoy?
~ D-FensDogg
‘Loyal American Underground’
Oops! Looks like I spoke too soon - you HAVE fixed it. Good work, BlogworldExpoBoy!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember KFI. I used to listen to that station also when I lived out L.A.-way.
But... best station in Los Angeles? Try 88.1 FM - the city's great Jazz station. I listened to that station for years (back when their call letters were KLON) and I tune it in everytime I'm in town.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Yvonne -- Spain was once invaded my the Moors and still has Moorish influence. Maybe you were dreaming about your upcoming trip? Be careful taking out the trash. At least you didn't wake up having fallen out of bed.
ReplyDeleteAlex -- Until dream recorders are available I guess we won't absolutely know how these fantastical images come to us.
Delores -- I like the analogy. And I agree that dreaming and writing are closely related mental functions.
Suze -- Our brains certainly beat any computer that's on the market. Thanks for you kind comment. It means a lot to me coming from you.
StMc --The verse you quote is another example of us being created in the image of God--I didn't think of it that way. Good point!
As far as the font size I don't know what to say. Could it be your computer? The font looks normal on my screen. Is anyone else seeing the text tiny as Stephen does? It's weird because when I compare this page to my other blog pages the text looks the same size.
Lee
StMc -- Oops! I was responding as you were commenting back. Weird--I didn't do anything. When was your last visit to the optometrist?
ReplyDeleteI didn't say KFI was the best station. I listen to it in the early morning then shut it off when loud-mouth Limbaugh comes on and then I might listen to John and Ken for a while until they start getting on my nerves. Music? I do listen to 88.1 sometimes, especially on Saturday mornings when they play the old big band stuff. Otherwise, if I'm listening to music on the radio it's usually the classical station 91.whatever-it-is. Sometimes maybe classic rock. But radio music is only when I'm driving. If I listen to music at home then it's CDs.
Now if KFI played classical music like in my dream.......
Lee
BOIDMAN ~
ReplyDeleteIt was strange because when I first read your post the text was quite small. Then I posted my first comment and went back to the blog bit immediately afterwards and suddenly the text was normal sized and readable. I just assumed you had been enlarging it while I was composing my comment.
Well, you know how goofy my computer is - it's always coming up with new and imaginative ways to frustrate me. (I STILL can't see the avatars of my blog's so-called "Followers"!)
>>...I didn't say KFI was the best station.
No, I know you didn't. Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you HAD, nor had I inferred that it was your favorite based on what you wrote.
I was simply going to mention 88.1 FM as the station I always did (and do) tune in, and seeing as how it's also my FAVORITE station, I figured I might was well say so.
But me saying 88.1 is MY favorite was not meant to imply that KFI is YOURS.
>>...I listen to it in the early morning then shut it off when loud-mouth Limbaugh comes on
Good man!
>>...I do listen to 88.1 sometimes, especially on Saturday mornings when they play the old big band stuff.
Back in my day (late '80s/early '90s - when the call letters were KLON) on Saturday or Sunday mornings (can't remember which now) they used to have a great program called "Nothin' But The Blues" hosted by Bubba _____ (something). I listened to that show regularly.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
The human brain is an amazing organ!
ReplyDeleteI can't specifically remember having a dream as complex as yours Lee, but I have noticed that when I dream time seems suspended. Fascinating indeed!
Regarding your first question, Lee- yes many times. I've dozed off for a second or two yet the dream seemed as if it had been hours. As I was reading your story- It caused me to think about- a producer making a movie which can sometimes take months or years and then when the movie comes out it shows in two - three hour runs. A lot of time and detail went into making that movie and when it all comes together- the movie is only and hour or two.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your second question- yes I think about it all the time. As a person that has practiced meditation since the age of 10- and being and introvert- I am very intune with my senses and the aspects of me. There is a lot that goes on during the course of the day and the mind very well can be recording all that information and it gets played out in our dreams as a college of images - that are played back differently than the actual way that the events actually happened.
Lastely- yes the mind is a fascinating instrument- however, I do think that there is more at play than just the mind- a person can be very much intouch with their soul, spirit and mind- the conscious, subconsious and any other aspect or state of being.
To me none of the aspect of me hold mystery- what causes there to seem to be mystery is the fact that we aren't disciplined enough to know ourselves well enough to control them- therefor they control us.
There is a story on my journal blog- that talks about upon waking how my focus was on my physical body- I wasn't thinking about anything- my focus was my body- it felt like a weight- dead weight- one would think that after a good nights rest that a person would arise feeling rested however that wasn't the case- after I meditated, I felt light as a feather. I ponder the whys of that. and it intriqued me to pay more attention to the other aspects of me.
Thanks for sharing this story,Lee!!
I'm very intriqued by the subject matter! and it does give me a lot to think about!!
Look forward to more!!
I just found this blog and while I don't have time to elaborate much on my dreams, this is fascinating. I also have what I call "seven layer dreams," but those are unpleasant.
ReplyDeleteMy close friends are often amazed at the details I can recall from my dreams and also shake their heads at how weird they get.