Dreaming

"I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was..."
Bottom, Dream IV.i.

After rehearsal last Friday night, I had a dream.

I dream a lot. Nightmares, constantly. Life-like scenarios when you wake up thinking "that actually happened," all the time. Naked dreams, flying dreams, speaking-in-a-foreign language dreams -- yup, all of the above, frequently.

No wonder then that since we've embarked on Dream my sleeping hours have been as hyperactive as ever.

Here was last Friday night's scenario:

Myself (female, married, with children), a co-worker (also female, married, with children), and a fellow actor (male, and actually a monk) were moving in together, into a very small but lovely suite -- 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a closet. It was a glorious day, and the sun was streaming through the windows -- white walls, light wood floors. The center of the biggest bedroom, which happened to be the adjoining room, also featured a large indoor plot of grass. This grass was picture-perfect blue grass -- the kind you want to lay down in and fall asleep. We immediately set to work figuring out the best sleeping arrangements. She and I would share the smaller room, since we all know he gets up earlier than us and goes to bed later -- so there would be no awkwardness of crossing paths, or conflict with use of the bathroom. Then we got to work on our perfect little indoor garden.

I don't remember much else about the dream, except that all of this seemed 100% rational. No one at any time said, "This is insane," or "What the hell is going on here," or anything like that. We weren't in the least bit upset about it.

Analyze this however you want -- it's probably more revealing than I'd like it to be. But the next day, I couldn't wait to tell my friends about this dream, for the sheer joy and smile it brought to my face when I woke up in the morning. Suddenly, I felt a lot like Bottom.

In that barely-awake moment at the end of IV.i. when Bottom relives the "rare vision" he has just experienced, I get choked up. I always feel like that dream is the thing that gives Bottom the oomph to go on, and when he returns to his fellow Mechanicals, his zeal is infectious and spurs them all on to their moment of greatness.

Sometimes dreamers scare me. Their ideas are so big, and usually require a lot of work, major risk, and 100% dedication, and the outcome is never certain. 

But what if I was more like Bottom? An ass with a dream, who's not afraid to share it, or to take others along for the glorious ride. Something about that seems oddly appealing.