My dream last night

I had an incredibly vivid dream last night. This is the second time that I have posted about a dream that I had and I may keep them coming from time to time when I have one that really stands out. This was my first dream post, this is my second. I also used this picture of street art from Brazil on my last one as I felt the art was as crazy as dreams can be. Crazy and limitless in potential.

I actually had two dreams, but I have managed to forget one before being able to blog about it. The one I remember was incredibly real. I was so present in the dream, it wasn’t a lucid dream but I felt I was making the thoughts that I was thinking and not just being a passenger or an audience member to the dialogue.

I was at work in the hotel. Now our hotel has both temporary guests and permanent residents, the top four floors are owned by residents. This was also true in the dream, however the layout of the hotel differed slightly. I was made aware of this in the dream after some temporary guests were unable to get to their floor. It turned out that the guests got into the wrong elevator- the one dedicated to permanent residents- so their key card would not work. This is factually true, the keys wouldn’t work. However the guests would not have been able to access the elevator at all as they need a pass to get through a glass door. This door wasn’t in the dream and I asked myself why. This is what is so fascinating about dreams, they are a completely new world that we find ourselves in but don’t often realise until we wake. Sometimes we do realise whilst in the dream. We realise we are experiencing a reality that isn’t reality. Very Matrix like, and I imagine that I was pulling the face that DiCaprio’s character did in Inception.

I then remembered that I left my desk unattended to assist these guests. My run back to the front desk had me jumping over chairs and around tables that would not be there if I was to run in my real job. There was a kids party going on also, so it seems like my brain installed a restaurant or some kind of venue in the middle of the hotel for whatever reason. Whilst I was running I remember truly feeling like I was running. I could feel the plastic of the chairs I was pushing out the way. I could feel the world and it wasn’t hazy. I could hear the kids laughing as I was dodging them playing. It was all very present as were my senses.

Once I got back, this is when the dream really showed a dreams true potential. The weird section that can only really take place in a mind whilst asleep or under the influence of hallucinogens. Actually this is pretty tame for someone that has just taken mushrooms I would imagine, please let me know if you can confirm this. I would love to say I have tried them but I haven’t.

The automatic doors into the lobby from outside were swapped with one single, black door that resembled a door that should be on the front of a house. There were some loud bangs on this door. I couldn’t see outside, and it wasn’t too long before I realised what the bangs were. A guy burst in using a wheelbarrow. Of all things, a wheelbarrow. Immediately I knew it was a robbery and conveniently I had the till drawer right in front of me. To make the situation even more strange, he didn’t have a gun. He had a drill. This drill was held to my head and I handed him the money. He took the money, however he didn’t take the drill from my head. The dilemma here was that he kept shouting demands, however I could not understand what he was saying. He kept shouting louder and with increasing anger, not helping the fact that I couldn’t understand what he was saying. It was then that I decided to fight back and take the drill. I was able to grab it from his hands and he backed off slightly. He maintained eye contact and looked like he was still willing to fight.

And just like the end of an episode, it ended there.

I woke up and have no idea how the rest of this dream would play out. Did I wake up because my adrenaline was pumping? Does adrenaline flow during a dream? Maybe my brain was becoming too active to remain in a sleeping state. I don’t know. What I do know is dreams are too fascinating to not think about or speak of. It is another mystery in life that just begs for our curiosity and an increase in knowledge.

If I can remember a dream, I will easily spend the whole day thinking about it. Life is too short and there are too many mysteries. Our brain, the thing that tries to evaluate mysteries, contains many mysteries. We are a mystery trying to analyse itself, and that is incredible.

 

In honour of Princess

This post is dedicated to someone I see every Friday at 2pm. I don’t ask to see her, but she is there. I don’t know why she is there, nor what is going through her mind when she arrives. It is a weekly reminder for me that the mind is one hell of a crazy place to be and despite sounding like something you would read in a novel, is entirely true.

After searching ‘lady’ on Unsplash, this is the image that I found to be most fitting to the post. I wouldn’t want to take an actual photo of the person I am about to write about, nor take photos of my workplace. The image above is very similar to what I see weekly and I am really eager to share this particular experience with my readers.

I started work exactly two months ago on September 11th. A place of work with fantastic views of Sydney Harbour. It is no surprise that we get many people walking by that pause for a moment for a photo opportunity or a little reflection. This is when I first met Princess, doing just that. She was standing there wearing a hat, gazing out of the window just above the stairs leading down to the quay. Wearing a red dress and showing no signs of distress or needing any kind of assistance, her back straight with good posture, gazing straight out to sea. Nothing strange about it, until the duty manager told me that this is what she does every Friday at 2pm. This is one part of her routine. I have since learned that every Friday she comes in from east side of the building (if you were viewing Sydney from a map) and stares out the window, a little further up from where I first saw her. She looks out over the harbour for about ten minutes, before moving down towards the staircase that takes you to the waterfront on the west side of the building. At this point she doesn’t immediately make a move downstairs, instead she gazes for another ten minutes out to the ocean. She then proceeds to make her way down the stairs and up towards the Opera House. What she does after this is unknown.

It might be a good time to tell you how we know her name. We don’t. It was a name that just stuck after some colleagues attempted to talk to her. If you try to talk to her, she walks away. She won’t leave the premises, she will just leave your presence. She doesn’t say a word during the 20-30 minute visit, however it is guaranteed she will be there again on Friday as she was yesterday. This visit is for some reason necessary for her. The same duty manager followed her one day out of the hotel, with a little distance as he was curious as to where she goes. This is how we found out the Opera House is her next destination. Unfortunately DM duties include being at the property at all times, meaning his time outside was very limited. This and the fact that it would be disrespectful to stalk someone that is seemingly of no harm. As far as I am aware no one else has tried to gain more answers, and despite it not being a big deal for most staff that know of her I would love to find out more with each and every Friday I am in the building.

How crazy. In her mind, she wakes up and then makes her way to our building. She then sticks to the same routine without fail and carries out her silent duties. Are we the first part of her journey? Is her whole day planned like this? Is the rest of her week spent with the same rituals in different establishments? So many questions can be asked here and it is a shame that I probably won’t be able to find out if she remains so reluctant to speak.

No matter where we go in life, the mind is probably the craziest place to be. Each and every one of our heads contains different logic and reasoning. We all have interests and desires, different daily rituals and routines. Then, there are people that vary much more in their behaviours, people that act in ways that we cannot understand despite trying our hardest. How many people lead similar lives in a city the size of Sydney? I am sure this one example is the tip of the iceberg.

As big as the bunch of keys is that is strapped to the waist of the duty manager, the one key we don’t have is the one to unlock such a mind. The most crazy and mysterious door of all.

Featured Image: Photo by Evan Kirby on Unsplash

Second Photo by Alessio Lin on Unsplash