Why is everyone so obsessed with dreaming? And what is it about dreaming that intrigues us anyway? Is it that our dreams are wrapped with endless impossible thoughts we wouldn't dare to think in our waking lives, or just the fact that we can never know what they are or why they occur?
"Follow your dreams." The most frequently spoken inspirational phrase in existence.
Dreams take us away from the usual monotonous droning of our lives into places we know can't exist. Even if it's to a dark forest where wood nymphs are mauled by the cubs of a hungry carnivore on the prowl, dreams are a welcomed escape. Your life is boring, so instead of fixing it straight away you sleep more so that you can get that escape; get away from the world without lifting a finger or making an effort.
But dreams come to an end. All dreams end eventually.
You spend a few hours or a few years wrapped in this magical fantasy world where everything can be perfect and your loved ones will live forever. Then reality comes back to get you and you're whisked away to wake in a cold sweat on your frayed and broken bed sheets in your run-down bottom floor apartment. You're left to face it all and your escape won’t be back until the day has messed up your life and disappeared again.
You'll lose your perfect job, the perfect lover will get away, your best friend will die and then you'll bury your own children. Then if you wake up you'll realize it wasn't just a nightmare but all the time you spent with them is all you'll ever have. You could dream that they're with you; holding your hand, keeping your secrets and lighting up your life. But that lasts a night. No more than a passing moment in the endless whirl of the colors and lights of modern society. A small patch of iron on the outer surface of a loaded time bomb that will some day blow up in your face and take you back to the depths of your subconscious existence.
But if dreams are so fleeting, why is everyone so obsessed with "following their dreams"? Why are they so intent on following all of the right and wrong paths when their perfect world won’t last forever anyway? Why are our hopes and aspirations even called dreams when most dreams are so dissatisfying and so absurd that no-one with a sane mind could make left or right of them in the first place? Dreaming is a figment of the imagination and yet lives are built and destroyed on top of the cloudy peaks and dusty surfaces of the other reality of insanity and seclusion, all to the knowledge of the poor soul who risks it all.
Nothing stays perfect forever. Flowers wilt, summer fades, snow melts and age never stands still. What’s the point of dreaming if your serene escape turns into a new horrific reality?
Whatever it is, I say it’s worthless.
I say dreams are over-rated.
3 comments:
That's deep, dude.
But I believe that dreams can be reality, despite the harsh situations that life splatters in your face. Maybe I just believe that 'cause I tend to be a positive thinker. I don't know.
Enjoy the good dreams while they're there. Cherish their memories and be thankful that, even for a moment, you can see the ones you love and lost again.
"Follow your dreams" is a cliche meant to inspire children to make their dreams come true. I believe if the dream is realistic, maybe even not realistic, they can come true with enough ambition to succeed. Franklin D. Roosevelt dreamed of being president and on his way to his dreams he contracted polio and was paralyzed from the waist down. During the era Roosevelt lived in a cripple was seen as incapable of doing any thing but lie in bed. The doctors told him he could never walk again, and indeed he never did walk again without a steady hand. He became one of the greatest presidents that America had, instituting the first social reforms.
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