Dreams should be greater than memories

I heard a piece of a message from Chuck Swindoll on the radio today. I don't remember anything except this quote, "dreams should be greater than memories".

For some reason, I have once again been immersed in thoughts about dreaming. I know that I have lamented the lack of dreaming on my part and the paucity of dreamers that are somewhat rational.  I believe that thoughts come for a reason. Within me lies a dreamer who has become afraid to dream. I am pushed to the limit by the lack of authenticity in my life because I seem to just be filling roles for the sake of making time count.

If my dreams are to be greater than my memories then what can i dream about? What is there out there or in there for me to dream and hopefully go beyond dreaming and put it into action. I am still working on "Into the Wild" and trying to learn from Chris McCandless and the other dreamers who gave up normalcy to accomplish their dreams.

I have to first allow myself to dream and I have to move the dreams from their present hidden place in my consciousness and bring them to the fore. Exactly how I do that is a lingering question. If I accomplish that, what happens then? I immediately began to think and write from a negative perspective I " can't" do that because ............... just came to my mind.

Where does this leave me now? I have great memories and I want dreams that are greater than these, why? They will create even greater memories and then the dreams will be substantially greater again. This is becoming like the song that doesn't end.

Somehow, I think this dream question is starting to become formed into something more than a frustrating idea. it is beginning to form itself into a practical application that might become real. I do hope so because it is frustrating to say the least.

What is your Alaska?

Chris McCandless of "Into the Wild" infamy planned and executed his great Alaska odyssey. This was his dream and it stuck with him and unfortunately killed him too. He has been lauded as a hero and as a reckless person who was unwise at best.

I'll let each of you draw your own conclusions. I am presently reading Krakauer's book about Chris and will make my own determination when I finish the book and any other material I can get my hands on.

Here's my thought. Do you have an "Alaska" that's sitting there in the recesses of your mind? Do I have one? Is there something waiting to be fulfilled? What is it that drives you crazy thinking? Is there a destination, a place, a person or just some life long hidden goal that you would love to achieve?

I wonder if behind the cage of society lie dreams that have been dormant for many years. What will it take for you or I to rise against this sense of society and push beyond these man made borders and work to achieve your personal Alaska, or mine? I wonder what it would be like to push away from the stall and just walk. To become lost on purpose in order to find what I am looking for, I'm sure there's a U2 reference there somehow.

I would do it, but not like Chris. I would be released from society but not totally absent from it. I would contact family and friends, somehow. They deserve to know...........a little. I wonder what it would be like, don't you? Is everyone so afraid that there is no dreaming left? The road does go on and on and where it leads I do not know, but I want to know......................... and soon.

Talkin' about dreaming....... (no spoilers)

I posted about dreams the other day and wondered aloud about what has happened to dreams and dreamers. And then I went to see "Inception". There are no spoilers in this post.

The tradition in our house is that at least once each summer when both my kids (young adults) are home that they go to a movie with Dad. We delayed this years instalment as long as possible because I am still in recovery mode. We didn't want to mess with tradition (who does?), so last Saturday (yesterday) I sat way too long watching a movie. Enough about bad decisions, the good one was going to see "Inception".

All three of us loved the movie. What a great flick. The story reminded me of some of the studies I researched in the early 1980's in my experiential psychology courses at Brock University. One set of studies was regarding "lucid" dreams. One of my professor's (Dr. Harry Hunt) and I planned to do some replication studies about the relationship between lucid dreams and migraine headaches. Unfortunately, my career got in the way and I quickly completed my degree and joined the rest of the working world. If I remember correctly we were going to try to replicate the work of Oliver Sacks (yes, he of "Awakenings" fame and so much more) including sleep studies etc. Oh well, that never happened. I wonder how Dr. Hunt is by the way?

Back to the movie; having been directed not to watch previews by my children, I was nervous about what I was going to see, I asked my daughter about parts that might make me jump (not good for the recovery), I laughed out loud, I was amazed, shocked, rarely scared, but did jump once (just a little one, more pane than pain). There is no political mumbo jumbo, no attacks on Bush, or Obama (although that might be fun for a change). There are tons of reviews out there, but the best review is the people. Are we all lead astray like a flock of sheep on this one? I don't know, you'll just have to decide for yourself. But, it will be very baaaaaaaaaad if you miss this one.

Immediately following the film while driving home, I said to the kids that I might not go and see this movie again, and then within ten minutes I announced to them that in fact I do want to go and see it again, and soon. That's my review, in ten minutes I realized that there was probably so much that I missed that I just might want to see it again. I think I'll wait for a few more weeks before I go, I'm still sore from yesterday.

That was a dream that lasted 128 minutes.