I Acknowledge

Do you dream? I don't mean 'dream' in the same way that Martin Luther King Jr. had meant, when he famously said 'I have a dream'. Nope. I am asking about the more humble and commonly occurring variety that makes its presence known when we sleep. Or when we take that power nap!

There used to be a time when I proudly said that I never had dreams in my sleep. That, in my mind, was the sign of an untroubled sleep. But that was a long time back. Over the years, I have realized that my so-called 'untroubled sleep' was not proof of a dreamless sleep. Rather it was just proof that I couldn't remember my own dreams! This realization has been a little slow to dawn on me. But dawn it did. All those times, when I was fast asleep and in the belief that I was doing only that but suddenly realized that I was actually sitting up, wide-awake, have finally made me a believer.

I also realized something else. The dreams that woke me up are the only ones I remember. That’s such a pity. Because these are the dreams that nightmares are made of. Imagine dreaming about going for your final exam with no pen, an hour late and then realizing you had studied for the wrong subject the previous day. Definite nightmare material. It took me a couple of seconds to calm and re-assure myself: I was in my bed, it was 2 am in the morning, it was just a bad dream and more importantly, I was not in school any more. Phew! And that's just a sample theme behind my 'break-into-a-sweat-and-wake-up-from-a-deep-slumber' dreams.

In light of these realizations, I am happy to announce that I am happy to join the ranks of the dreamy. I don't remember any of the dreams that I sleep through and I don't want to remember those I do. But I have always been a dreamer and now I know it.