Dreams

So in this blog I will be talking about…you guessed it!  Dreams.  Why do we have them?  How do we have them?  What would life be like without them?

First of all, if you want answers to these questions I am NOT the person to ask, simply because I have no idea.  I am, however, pretty good at interpreting dreams.  They basically represent your fears and desires.  I heard from somewhere, maybe Doctor Oz on Oprah, that dreams are your brain’s way of sorting through what happened to you during the day and your thoughts on these events.  I guess it stores stuff away for later and discards what you believe you won’t need.  God only knows how they actually get to be in color and so freaking real looking. 

The reason I am writing this is because I had a really horrible nightmare last night.  I seriously haven’t had one that bad since I dreamt my mom died after a car accident.  So last night’s dream could only mean that I dreamt my dad died.  Only, he died so that I could live.  Basically we were trying to get away from something, like an organization (now that I think about it, seeing the Hunger Games this weekend probably inspired this dream!).  We were stopped by some people, and in order to distract them, he sacrificed himself so that I would have time to run.  The worst part was that the rest of the dream was me going about my daily life at UT knowing he was gone.  It was the worst feeling in the world.  I give all you people who have lost a parent a ton of cool points because you people are so brave.

I can give you guys some advice on how to stop your dream if you are having a nightmare.  The first thing you need to teach yourself to do is realize that you are dreaming.  I know that it is easier said than done.  Once you realize this, then all you have to do is squeeze your eyes shut really hard.  Just keep doing this, and I promise that after several practices, you will actually begin squeezing your eyes shut instead of just in the dream.

I’m just terribly curious about some of the dreams other people have.  Maybe it’s because I have considered studying sleep and such because I think I have insomnia.  Are everyone’s dreams as crazy as mine?  Mine range from tasting the skittles coming from a rainbow, being shot at by a terrorist, and running away from a stuffed quacking duck gone wild.  Can they remember dreams all the way back from kindergarten like I can?  Are they vivid and unforgiving?  

Oh, and I promised that I would post that poem I wrote about Singer Island, so here it is.  Please don't be too harsh on me, because I am not a poet and I wrote it over a year ago.

                         Singer Island

Surrounding bliss.

You stand facing open air on a high balcony

With stars and black skies above.

Gusts of wind and waves crashing in harmony

Fill your ears with a music oceans love.

On the edge of the world there is no fear;

Only calm, for the future before you is spread.

The right is the mainland holding stress and lights growing near,

But the left is the navy blanket, a more comforting choice in your head.

You long for that warm water, for it whispers

All your dreams, your secrets and reassures an unsure heart.

Alas, both of you know the side to be considered.

Those lights, that society waits for you to depart.

It is time now; Lights call, time crawls

Decisions made will change everything, so you must go with strife.

The ocean's slowing music eases your path's calls

But it never ceases, it will be with you all this life.

Choose now.

 

Awake My Soul

So this weekend I literally got only 5 hours of sleep.  Yeah, I’m dead serious.  On Friday night I got 3 hours and on Saturday night I got 2 hours (thanks a lot time change).  It wasn’t exactly my fault because I went on only the best church retreat you could ever go on: AWAKENING!!!  I’m not going to go into too many details, just because it would take too incredibly long, but I will describe how it made me feel.  

This was the second retreat that I have been on since I got here and both have been nothing short of incredible.  Whenever it is time to drive back to campus once the retreat is over, I literally feel as if I need to be dragged back kicking and screaming.  It is so depressing to have to come back to the reality that is life when you feel as if you have all you would ever need being around others that share the same love for God that you have.  There were around 40 of us all stuck in the same cabin for a whole weekend.  It was really nice to be able to just relax, talk, and be away from the stress of college and real life.  One thing that was pretty sweet was that the only real “meal” we had was chili.  The rest of the food consisted of soda, chocolate, nutella, cheese puffs, and any other type of junk food imaginable.  I got so little sleep because we hardly had any time to complete any of our activities.  If I had gone one more day on such little sleep, I probably would have had to have been hospitalized for exhaustion and dehydration.  But all in all, it was an amazing weekend full of many spiritual highs.  I do not regret going one bit….even though I just got done taking a 9 chapter stats test that I wasn’t able to study for over the weekend.

UT at night

We all mosey around campus.  We all head to class on the hill, avoid the Fort, and fast-walk to make it to the cafeteria while it is still considered lunch time.  However, most of these activities are done while the sun is still up.  With the sun in the sky, the buildings gleam orange and you can pick out all the blades of grass around you.  Life on campus is busy during the day.  This weekend on Saturday I had the chance to go walking around 9 at night.  Don’t worry my boyfriend was walking with me because it definitely would not be a good idea to go walk around alone….I don’t care whether you are a guy or a girl, DON’T DO IT!  But yeah, anyways we went by the Hill which is so pretty because they light it up at night and when you are standing at the bottom of the Hill you see a dark mass which is grass and stairs (though it is hard to tell which is which).  Then you look up at what looks like an ancient glowing castle.

Another stop we made was the very edge of campus.  We sat on a bench on that weird strip in between Dougherty and Ferris and just watched the city.  It is so calming to see the lights and sounds of a city from a distance.  The greens and purples and reds all blur together.  Some lights twinkle at you.  It makes all of your stresses melt away.

I am definitely NOT advising anyone to go walk around alone, but by all means go if you can find a buddy.  You can barely recognize anything.  It was so quiet and there were no people walking around where we were.  In a way, it made campus rather creepy, but you could also see its peaceful side too.