The Category of Smashing Your Own Dreams

I mean the title of this post quite literally, and it comes from a strange experience I had this morning. For some reason last night I was overcome with exhaustion and went to bed by 10pm. Usually I am going to bed by 1am, so this was strange. However, it also meant I woke up much earlier than usual. I was regaining consciousness by about 7am, and this is when the strangest thing happened to me in my own head.

I had been dreaming, and it seemed that today I was coming out of the dream world slowly. I was slowly gaining control of my senses, and though my eyes were closed, I began an internal dialogue with myself. It was as if one part of me was convinced that the objects of my dream were still real and relevant, and my waking side was showing me why this was a mistake. Now, this being a dream, it seems I only remember 2 parts that I held to, and that I had to convince myself were simply dreams. It was a little like this...

Dream Me (DM): Well now that I have been at my place of work for a significant amount of time, and explained to Jake exactly where it is located, I am certain that I know where it is.

Waking Me (WM): Oh yeah? Where did you tell him it was near?

DM: I told him that the Pier 1 I work at is located in Waterloo, in the plaza that has Zehrs on its left, and the Beer Store that Mark used to work at on the right. I remember the Beer Store because earlier Matt Prestwich stopped there to buy some booze!

WM: That's funny, I clearly remember that Mark works at the Beer Store on Victoria St. He has not worked at any other locations. I also know Waterloo, and there is no Beer Store near Conestoga Mall, though there is a Zehrs attached. I also know your logic is flawed because Matt Prestwich doesn't drink beer. He would not have gone to a Beer Store there. I am picturing the area of Waterloo that Pier 1 is in; can you see it? Everything you describe is not reality.

DM: ...

WM: What are you holding?

DM: This is a book I'm still reading. I can't wake up, I'm not done reading it. I know it has something to do with blizzards.

WM: *snatches book out of hand, slams it down on the ground, closed*

DM: *stares gaping in shock at Waking Me*

WM: I know what you're thinking. You are thinking I lost your page. But you know what? You weren't really reading that book. I didn't lose your page because you weren't on a page. Look at that book; do you remember what you had last read? Do you know what part of the book approximately you were in? No, and if you try to look at the pages of the book now, they will be nonsense or blank. There is no way for me to lose your spot in that book, because there is no book.

DM: ... *stares at the book realizing I'm right. I know the book has no content*

WM: I guess I'm going to have to wake up now. I have no dreams left.

So this may seem like a strange way to share this story, but this is how it happened. I felt divided somehow, the logic stamping out the creative imagination. I am glad it was just in order to wake up, and not my personality as a whole. It's good though; we should not let our creativity keep us from totally understanding reality. I guess my brain is good at that. Maybe this sort of thing happens when you wake up more suddenly, it just happens much quicker. I'm not sure. It was just strange to have these epiphanies of things I already knew about the way things are. I know that this is how I remain calm after waking from a nightmare. The following seconds are filled with me reminding myself of reality, and that the danger was just a dream. This is why I don't panic whenever I am running from hordes of undead, and then suddenly am not.