waking up is hard to do

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alarm, alarm clock, dreams, energy, health, hopes and dreams, ideas, Lady and the Tramp, love, power resources, random, reality, rooster, size siz, sleep, thoughts, unrealistic idea, waking-up

This morning when my alarm-clock tore me out of my dreams with its rooster cry, waking up was hard to do. My bed was so warm and cosy that I found it very hard to get up, so I pressed snooze a few times. As I was lying in bed, hovering somewhere between dreams and reality, I couldn’t help but wonder: why is it that I find it hard to get to sleep at night but when the new day calls I try to ignore it with every fiber of my being?

At some point between the second and third snooze it occurred to me that life can be like that too. Letting go of ideas, hopes and dreams can be hard, we hang on to them and fight anyone or anything that tries to persuade us to open our eyes and see reality. And no matter how loud the rooster cry we just keep following them, ignoring what could even be in our best interest.

Maybe giving-up on dreams and goals isn’t really the issue, maybe it’s that we have become so use to following them, that we can’t imagine it any other way. A bit like that crush we have on a someone we will never date, we know we will never have a  Lady and the Tramp moment with them, yet not pining seems so empty. So we keep our un-reciprocated love alive and nurture it, instead of going on a date with a real possibility.

Around the fourth barnyard call I realised that by not getting up I was actually wasting quite a lot of energy by just staying put and trying to keep on dreaming. Instead of using my depleted power-resources to get moving and start the day, make some tea to help with my alertness, I was lingering in a state of tiredness, yet not really sleeping to overcome it. So like that unrealistic idea of wearing a size six dress or becoming a superstar I was frittering away time and exerting myself for something that wasn’t doing me any good and felt quite frustrating.

When I finally gave in to Mr Cock-a-doodle-do, I let go of the idea of sleep and let my dreams evaporate into nothingness, focusing on a new day and what it may bring. Luckily with sleep we know a new night will come with Mr Sandman and his sack full of dreams in its wake, in life it’s not quite so easy.  When we give up on a dream we need to feel good about it, we need to be happy with the decision, and sometimes new dreams and ideas aren’t in the wings ready and waiting. So while it isn’t a good idea to keep following something that will never happen, letting go should only be done with a happy heart leaving us free and energized for something new.

For now I will hold on to my cup of tea and sort through my bag of dreams later, I need all my energy to just make some toast, get through the day and dream of a good nights sleep.

dreaming reality

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cinderella, dreams, Goethe, miscellaneous, psychology, random, reality, stories, thoughts, Updike

Confusion was the the main feeling I had when my eyes popped open this morning, I was having a dream (and no not THAT kind of dream) that was so real, so vivid that I felt lost when I awoke. The feeling was so strong that I it took me a few moments to sort my thoughts and not feel the loss of what I had just experienced.

I am not a good sleeper, I find it hard to shut down and let the world drift on without me, but I am an excellent dreamer. Ever since I was a little girl if I found it hard to fall asleep I would start telling myself stories in my head, me mostly in the lead, and eventually I would drift off into a world I created and continue on the adventures I made up. And every now and then I will have a dream that belies what it really is, a phantasy that only exist within myself. I remember waking up one morning with the taste of strawberries in my mouth because I had dreamt I was at a pick-nick, or having a sore foot because I had been walking for so long in my fictional world and once I nearly felt sick with rage because of what someone had done in my dream. The funny thing is that because these dreams feel so real they have left traces of experiences that feels like memories even though they never really happened.

I know that physiologist and scientist struggle to understand why we dream, although many have come up with some answers over the years. Freud created the idea that we dream what we sexually desire, we just dress it up in different clothes. But studies show that there is so much more to what happens in our minds at night. Some say that dreaming is just a way to keep our minds occupied while we reboot, rest and process but the levels of dopamine released in our brains while we dream suggest something else.

Dopamine is important for reward-driven learning, it makes us feel good and can be highly addictive. And interestingly enough the hallucinations of schizophrenia and dreaming have the same chemical background, both release dopamine in the same area of the brain making it hard for minds to see reality.

Philosophers, writers and creative minds see dreams as a source of unlimited possibility. German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said “Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” and American writer John Updike wrote “Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them“. No matter where you look everyone seems to have their own opinion on dreams and why we have them.

So as the day begins with my body and mind still tingling with a feeling and a memory of a unreal reality and ABBA sings of having a dream I think I will follow Cinderella in her idea that  A dream is a wish your heart makes.

Why we dream