Yesterday, a long time friend posted a video on Instagram. It was touching and I could see her anxiety. The normal anxiety with the added anxiety of the current state of the world during the Corona pandemic. My big take away from her video was to take the time and be grateful for something every day during these uncertain days. It doesn’t have to be a big thing, but a reminder that there is good things in life too.
So yesterday I posted back that I was grateful for the social media and other methods of communication we have available. I can keep in touch with both my brother in Montana and watch his children grow up but I can also keep in touch with my parents who are only one town away from me. I am grateful for the communication methods (even when I didn’t use them) to keep in touch with my family and friends and even more so now that we are on “lock-down”. Heck, I can even work from home.
Today, I am grateful that my dreams have returned. I’m talking about the kind of dreams when you sleep – not the goal-oriented ones. I used to have dreams that would help me start or build onto the stories I write. They went away for several years, but now, they are coming back. Even the weird or the upsetting dreams I am grateful for. I am grateful that I am remembering them, again.
Now that I am getting re-acquainted with my dreams, I am finding myself also looking at them a bit differently. Instead of letting the dreams play out for my entertainment, I feel that they are there to remind me of something or to reinforce a lesson. Sure, some of them are fun and pure inspiration for a novel, but others seem more personal.
They don’t come every night and I’m okay with that. Having a big dream every night would be too much for me as I feel I still have my dreaming training wheels on. When I remember them it is like a special treat from a four-plus year drought. Sleep is no longer an escape but a time to recharge. I guess that’s all part of the healing process.
