I like the dreams in the realm of “I have a dream”--intentions in life to be fulfilled. The daily dreams are interesting--I dream in vivid detail--but not sure what value they hold to the world. My husband, who can’t recall a dream for anything, is always fascinated I recall mine so vividly. He is currently my only (forced) audience;)
I think in terms of meaningfulness in actions and outlook in life at any given point in life, and adjusting accordingly, as opposed to dreams. In that sense, my blog platform is an effort to share that take on life by sharing what I believe in! Meaningful actions can give rise to aspirations—like I can say aspire to spend a few weeks every quarter in my native India and I don’t mind sharing that.
Terry, that was very interesting. I dream alot, sometimes when I'm asleep! Yes, footnote 2. How do you really feel?! 😅 When I manage to conjure a coherent sentence, I'm pretty jazzed! But stringing bunches of those things together that don't get you beaten, well, respect!
Another night I had a different dream about a segregated city with very strict rules of when to be indoors or outdoors. In that dream I was a character that somehow got a stolen permit to enter this city and I was getting used to the rules. In the evening I barely managed to find where the sleeping capsule associated with my permit was located before the curfew hour. The last image on my dream was that I had 11 out of 12 warnings on my permit for breaking the curfew. One day I might write the story.
How about you, Terry, any dreams turned or waiting to be turned into stories?
Thanks, Claudia. I've saved that link so I can read the story when I'm feeling more sensible. I am in the difficult position of not liking cli fi very much, because most of what I've read feels like being bashed over the head with a climate change report, but finding your writing quite beautiful. If anyone can change my opinion of that genre it is you, so I look forward to reading it.
Your dream story sounds brilliant, so please do write the story, not "one day" but this week!
My dreams fall into two main categories: nightmares that I don't want to put any energy into, and lovely situations that I don't want to wake up from. I'm not sure how I could turn either kind into stories to be honest.
What a brilliant reflection.I like the ideas about scientific observation especially. A dream written - yes - is something new. Something inspired by the dream, sure, just like fiction is inspired by 'real life.' You give us a lot to think about and I also really like the rant. As in, I agree with it and have had this happen so many times. On the flip side, occasionally, I'll meet someone who says, 'Oh, I really wish I could write. i want to say xyz...' and I encourage them because I truly think writing is for everyone. But publishing a book is a different story, and sure, anybody can do it, but they should also know that it is a ton of work on top of inspiration and - like you said - is many years of trial and error.
Thanks Kathleen. I also encourage people who want to write, it's important. I don't fully agree that writing a book is different, except in a quantitative way. For example, it may not seem like it because I churn out articles so rapidly, but I spend LOADS of time thinking about what I'm going to write and how I'm going to express it, plus fact checking. In fact, your writing strikes me as the result of hard work. Isn't book writing just more of the same?
Yes, yes, this is true. I guess I mean moving from writing for oneself to writing a single published thing to writing either a book or series of something that is like a book only in the sense that it all kind of fits together or is extended over time and considers audience, etc. Actually the designation probably doesn't matter. But going from journaling, say, one needs to gain confidence and also consider whatever project it is they want to do. I think anyone can do this; it's just the offhand 'I'll write a book' or 'I'll start a Substack' *might* not consider all the implications this has in terms of thought and time. Or maybe they are just very nervous about it and so they say it in a nonchalant way because commitment or publication are scary. It's still scary after! Ha. But I sometimes like to do what scares me.
Ok, you're being very charitable so I'll let you off, chortle. The people I've encountered seem to think that all writing involves is picking up a pen or a keyboard and loafing about in a hammock while the royalties roll in. But you could be right about being nervous. I always respect your opinion
Oh I’m trying to be charitable to “them” as well...but it could be a good retort! “Ah I see, yes it is a scary undertaking.” Although this may sound condescending. I’m confusing myself now.
Sep 2, 2023·edited Sep 3, 2023Liked by Terry Freedman
"...if I ever dream a novel, a character, or a wonderful premise for a series of articles or a nonfiction book, you may be certain that I will be putting pen to paper straight away!" Yes! I often find in my dreams just a flash - a name, a song, a face, a setting, a smell that belongs in a story - and often it fits in the story I am working on. I may not have thought of it during waking hours, so it had to be revealed in a dream. Let's not worry where it comes from or when! It all arises in the same head. Great article, Terry.
Thanks Sharron. I've had the experience of having a solution revealed in a dream, or after a good night's sleep. It's great that you're so plugged into your dreams to be able to draw on them like that.
At least once a month I have a vivid dream, that can be an inspiration or even an almost complete story. Only rarely do I retain it on waking, even rarer long enough to draft a brief. Those that do make it to paper are, more often than not, related to military services, ex wives, railways. And most of them are Nightmares. They are, I believe, a purging of past traumas, as is the committing to paper. Some will be published in future stacks, warts et al. Aaaah Peace, Maurice
Some nightmare's are repeated. One in particular, military, manyfold; and no - not enjoyable. It's so wierd, not about the violence of desert warfare 1964-6, but about the agonies of requesting demob in 1967. The veterans pension process pushed me to write about it in 2020, which had me cracking up, and then again in 2017, which brought a kind of catharsis. Peace, Maurice
Thanks for liking, Sharron. Much about those experiences were journeys of wonder and education, unfortunately they all encompassed trauma too. The humor in the sentence reflects the post WW2 "instilled during childhood" attitude of laughing in the face of adversity.... Another purging device. Peace, Maurice
That's the opening line of a horror film right there 😅
Always fascinated by dreams. I've also noticed big fluctuations in dream intensity and recollection this year, but I have enjoyed keeping my own journal of them, if only to try to grasp at them before they fade. It's amazing how quickly that happens. Often the walk from the bedroom to the kitchen to boil the kettle can be enough time to allow something that was so readily there to fade to obscurity and total memory-loss.
Lovely piece, Terry. Some good points about the worth (if any) of sharing such dreams and where you draw the line on altering them for the sake of writing them up.
How curious you should publish this now. Just talking to a friend over breakfast about dreams, what they mean, how they evaporate like shreds of morning mist the moment you are pulled back into consciousness. There is a great deal of meaning in dreams... the more heart space you give them, the more they tell you.
I've had extraordinary dreams... keep a dream journal as well. Would I publish them, publicly? Not so sure. But they're definitely worth writing down. Perhaps not every shred, but the ones more fully formed, the deeper, more intense ones, yes absolutely. They're a door into your inner soul, a rabbit hole to the subconscious. Why tiptoe around the pool when you can soak in the minerals with your entire body?
Thanks, Birgitte. Well, I think I am pretty adept at deciphering what my dreams are trying to tell me, if anything, and I like being awake so much that I don't want to invest loads of time and energy on my dreams. I love the way you have expressed your views, but I remain unmoved by your argument 😉
Haha all good Terry, no gloves have been flung down at your feet! If you'd rather let your dreams evaporate into the breath of the sun, by all means :)
Your final point is well put. I have always said everyone has a book in them, and I've also said next to nobody will ever write that book because it's so gol-darn hard!
Not harsh. Wish I could sit down with you and talk about this. It reminds me of people who know I have an eBay shop. They say, "I got this [ thing]. I was wondering if you could just toss it up on eBay for me." Toss it up? Right. You mean clean it, photograph it, enhance the photos, research it, write it up, find an appropriate price, list it, store it, address inquiries, package it up, take it to the post, etc etc etc. It annoys me when my work is belittled, too. Same deal with my writing. ( End of MY rant. Thanks)
As always, you struck the perfect tone. If I were less pressed for time, I'd reply with the cousin of "someday I'll write a book" which is, "Oh, you're a writer. So what do you do for money, though?"
Yes, I find it fascinating that the mind continues to grapple with a problem during sleep. Agree about 1 star conversation: when people have related their dreams to me in minute detail I have experienced it as a sort of background drone, so I definitely agree with your point about self indulgence
"On the other hand, painstakingly leading your readers through an unedited episode of your mindscape risks smacking of self-indulgence." Exactly so, Mitchell. To me that is anathema and about as thrilling as hearing a detailed description of what my vegan friends had for dinner. I find solutions in my dreams, too. Often when I just can't figure out how to end a story, I will wake up with the elusive solution fresh from a dream.
I like the dreams in the realm of “I have a dream”--intentions in life to be fulfilled. The daily dreams are interesting--I dream in vivid detail--but not sure what value they hold to the world. My husband, who can’t recall a dream for anything, is always fascinated I recall mine so vividly. He is currently my only (forced) audience;)
I like dreams as in intentions as well. But I never share mine publicly, so you?
I think in terms of meaningfulness in actions and outlook in life at any given point in life, and adjusting accordingly, as opposed to dreams. In that sense, my blog platform is an effort to share that take on life by sharing what I believe in! Meaningful actions can give rise to aspirations—like I can say aspire to spend a few weeks every quarter in my native India and I don’t mind sharing that.
Well I agree with you there, Anu, but dreams, the sort we have while asleep, seem more revealing. I like to control what I share.
Poor bloke!😂
Yes, and for close to 30 years now🤞🏼😉
When I tell people that I've been married for over thirty years it's usually followed by a comment like "You get longer for murder" 😂
Marriage is a form of murder too;)--of leading a vagabond lifestyle--but it has its appeal for sure if you find the right one.
Very true 😄
Yes, why else have them if not to hold them spellbound in our idiosyncrasies?😂
Quite! 😁
Terry, that was very interesting. I dream alot, sometimes when I'm asleep! Yes, footnote 2. How do you really feel?! 😅 When I manage to conjure a coherent sentence, I'm pretty jazzed! But stringing bunches of those things together that don't get you beaten, well, respect!
😂 I know, I should get off the fence, right? Lol 're dreaming while asleep; I still daydream, a lot!
Keep it going, my friend.
Loved this, Terry! Your second footnote needs printing and laminating so it can be pulled out and shown to everyone who comes out with that guff! 🤣
Thanks, Rebecca. Yes I agree. As I have clearly touched a nerve here, I might in effect expand that footnote into a full blown article 😀
Go Terry!
😁
Sounds like an EXCELLENT idea!
One day I'd like to write a post about those people who say to Jim 'You're a photographer - well, I have a camera.....'
'Well, I have a pair of really excellent scissors - shall I cut your hair for you?'
🤣
Great analogy, Becks. 😂
Sometimes dreams are a good material for fiction writing. One of my cli-fi stories is based on a dream: https://www.storyvoyager.com/p/human-island-part-i
Another night I had a different dream about a segregated city with very strict rules of when to be indoors or outdoors. In that dream I was a character that somehow got a stolen permit to enter this city and I was getting used to the rules. In the evening I barely managed to find where the sleeping capsule associated with my permit was located before the curfew hour. The last image on my dream was that I had 11 out of 12 warnings on my permit for breaking the curfew. One day I might write the story.
How about you, Terry, any dreams turned or waiting to be turned into stories?
Thanks, Claudia. I've saved that link so I can read the story when I'm feeling more sensible. I am in the difficult position of not liking cli fi very much, because most of what I've read feels like being bashed over the head with a climate change report, but finding your writing quite beautiful. If anyone can change my opinion of that genre it is you, so I look forward to reading it.
Your dream story sounds brilliant, so please do write the story, not "one day" but this week!
My dreams fall into two main categories: nightmares that I don't want to put any energy into, and lovely situations that I don't want to wake up from. I'm not sure how I could turn either kind into stories to be honest.
What a brilliant reflection.I like the ideas about scientific observation especially. A dream written - yes - is something new. Something inspired by the dream, sure, just like fiction is inspired by 'real life.' You give us a lot to think about and I also really like the rant. As in, I agree with it and have had this happen so many times. On the flip side, occasionally, I'll meet someone who says, 'Oh, I really wish I could write. i want to say xyz...' and I encourage them because I truly think writing is for everyone. But publishing a book is a different story, and sure, anybody can do it, but they should also know that it is a ton of work on top of inspiration and - like you said - is many years of trial and error.
Thanks Kathleen. I also encourage people who want to write, it's important. I don't fully agree that writing a book is different, except in a quantitative way. For example, it may not seem like it because I churn out articles so rapidly, but I spend LOADS of time thinking about what I'm going to write and how I'm going to express it, plus fact checking. In fact, your writing strikes me as the result of hard work. Isn't book writing just more of the same?
Yes, yes, this is true. I guess I mean moving from writing for oneself to writing a single published thing to writing either a book or series of something that is like a book only in the sense that it all kind of fits together or is extended over time and considers audience, etc. Actually the designation probably doesn't matter. But going from journaling, say, one needs to gain confidence and also consider whatever project it is they want to do. I think anyone can do this; it's just the offhand 'I'll write a book' or 'I'll start a Substack' *might* not consider all the implications this has in terms of thought and time. Or maybe they are just very nervous about it and so they say it in a nonchalant way because commitment or publication are scary. It's still scary after! Ha. But I sometimes like to do what scares me.
Ok, you're being very charitable so I'll let you off, chortle. The people I've encountered seem to think that all writing involves is picking up a pen or a keyboard and loafing about in a hammock while the royalties roll in. But you could be right about being nervous. I always respect your opinion
Oh I’m trying to be charitable to “them” as well...but it could be a good retort! “Ah I see, yes it is a scary undertaking.” Although this may sound condescending. I’m confusing myself now.
I'm confused too, Kathleen! Just think: we could probably clear this up in 5 minutes over a cup of coffee 😂
"...if I ever dream a novel, a character, or a wonderful premise for a series of articles or a nonfiction book, you may be certain that I will be putting pen to paper straight away!" Yes! I often find in my dreams just a flash - a name, a song, a face, a setting, a smell that belongs in a story - and often it fits in the story I am working on. I may not have thought of it during waking hours, so it had to be revealed in a dream. Let's not worry where it comes from or when! It all arises in the same head. Great article, Terry.
Thanks Sharron. I've had the experience of having a solution revealed in a dream, or after a good night's sleep. It's great that you're so plugged into your dreams to be able to draw on them like that.
Very true, Mitch. I hadn't thought of it like that 😀
At least once a month I have a vivid dream, that can be an inspiration or even an almost complete story. Only rarely do I retain it on waking, even rarer long enough to draft a brief. Those that do make it to paper are, more often than not, related to military services, ex wives, railways. And most of them are Nightmares. They are, I believe, a purging of past traumas, as is the committing to paper. Some will be published in future stacks, warts et al. Aaaah Peace, Maurice
Purging of past traumas does not sound enjoyable, though better out than in I suppose.
Some nightmare's are repeated. One in particular, military, manyfold; and no - not enjoyable. It's so wierd, not about the violence of desert warfare 1964-6, but about the agonies of requesting demob in 1967. The veterans pension process pushed me to write about it in 2020, which had me cracking up, and then again in 2017, which brought a kind of catharsis. Peace, Maurice
It must have been terrible if it gives you nightmares. Peace to you too, Maurice
"...related to military services, ex wives, railways. And most of them are Nightmares...." Now that is funny, Bisby!
😁
Thanks for liking, Sharron. Much about those experiences were journeys of wonder and education, unfortunately they all encompassed trauma too. The humor in the sentence reflects the post WW2 "instilled during childhood" attitude of laughing in the face of adversity.... Another purging device. Peace, Maurice
Laughing in the face of adversity: that's what keeps people sane.
"Maybe we’re not meant to remember dreams."
That's the opening line of a horror film right there 😅
Always fascinated by dreams. I've also noticed big fluctuations in dream intensity and recollection this year, but I have enjoyed keeping my own journal of them, if only to try to grasp at them before they fade. It's amazing how quickly that happens. Often the walk from the bedroom to the kitchen to boil the kettle can be enough time to allow something that was so readily there to fade to obscurity and total memory-loss.
Lovely piece, Terry. Some good points about the worth (if any) of sharing such dreams and where you draw the line on altering them for the sake of writing them up.
Thanks, Nathan. I don't and won't keep a dream journal. But you're right about how quickly they fade.
Regarding first line: you're right, that IS a great first line. Would you like to use it as a starting point of a couple of paragraphs of a story? 😁
😄😉 I see what you did there. Hmm, now yes, maybe I will ...
If you prefer, I'm happy to go first, I am not trying to lumber you! 😂
How curious you should publish this now. Just talking to a friend over breakfast about dreams, what they mean, how they evaporate like shreds of morning mist the moment you are pulled back into consciousness. There is a great deal of meaning in dreams... the more heart space you give them, the more they tell you.
I've had extraordinary dreams... keep a dream journal as well. Would I publish them, publicly? Not so sure. But they're definitely worth writing down. Perhaps not every shred, but the ones more fully formed, the deeper, more intense ones, yes absolutely. They're a door into your inner soul, a rabbit hole to the subconscious. Why tiptoe around the pool when you can soak in the minerals with your entire body?
Thanks, Birgitte. Well, I think I am pretty adept at deciphering what my dreams are trying to tell me, if anything, and I like being awake so much that I don't want to invest loads of time and energy on my dreams. I love the way you have expressed your views, but I remain unmoved by your argument 😉
Haha all good Terry, no gloves have been flung down at your feet! If you'd rather let your dreams evaporate into the breath of the sun, by all means :)
i'm a coward!
Face the ephemeral my friend...
😁 happy to face it, just don't wish to share it!
On that am with you. I'd never share mine publicly either. Some are pretty epic tho... hmm maybe if I change the names to protect the guilty...
Your final point is well put. I have always said everyone has a book in them, and I've also said next to nobody will ever write that book because it's so gol-darn hard!
Exactly! Thanks, Jody. I hope I didn't come across as too harsh, but it just annoys me!
Not harsh. Wish I could sit down with you and talk about this. It reminds me of people who know I have an eBay shop. They say, "I got this [ thing]. I was wondering if you could just toss it up on eBay for me." Toss it up? Right. You mean clean it, photograph it, enhance the photos, research it, write it up, find an appropriate price, list it, store it, address inquiries, package it up, take it to the post, etc etc etc. It annoys me when my work is belittled, too. Same deal with my writing. ( End of MY rant. Thanks)
Crazy, Sharron!
I've lost count of the number of times that Jim has been asked 'You've got a camera: could you just....?'.
Yeah, because all he needs to do is press a button, right?! 🙄
I thought he just used a box brownie. What's the problem?
🤣 I'll just go and ask him, Terry.
Thank you, Rebecca. It's an important issue
Right! I mean how hard can it be? ha ha ha
🤣
Exactly, Sharron. I used to use a Kodak instamatic. I can't see what all the fuss is about
Of course. What was I thinking? Doh.
🤣
It is an irksome thing to have somebody say to you.
Irksome? It's bloody insulting! OMG you've got me off on a rant again. I'm going off to take some Rescue Remedy
Ha! You're right. Irksome is a vast understatement.
As always, you struck the perfect tone. If I were less pressed for time, I'd reply with the cousin of "someday I'll write a book" which is, "Oh, you're a writer. So what do you do for money, though?"
Well actually I think that's a fairly reasonable question! 🤣
Yes, I find it fascinating that the mind continues to grapple with a problem during sleep. Agree about 1 star conversation: when people have related their dreams to me in minute detail I have experienced it as a sort of background drone, so I definitely agree with your point about self indulgence
"On the other hand, painstakingly leading your readers through an unedited episode of your mindscape risks smacking of self-indulgence." Exactly so, Mitchell. To me that is anathema and about as thrilling as hearing a detailed description of what my vegan friends had for dinner. I find solutions in my dreams, too. Often when I just can't figure out how to end a story, I will wake up with the elusive solution fresh from a dream.
"about as thrilling as hearing a detailed description of what my vegan friends had for dinner" 😂
😂
hahaha! Now we're talking!