And, not, today's challenge is not about porn. While I can't say I'm for or against it, (depends on my mood. hahaha. What!? I'm just saying what everybody thinks.) it doesn't mean as much to me as the following!!!.....
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
....... I have a bipolar relationship with sleep.
You see, don't hate me for my Aries moon, but I have boundless energy. And when I get excited about a project.... well.... I just can't sleep. Last night I was so excited about something I've discovered, I had to put myself to bed, finally, at 2 am. And then I relied upon my discipline in meditation to get myself to sleep.
And quite honestly, there are only two reasons I really understand WHY I need to sleep as much as possible every day:
1. As a singer, it makes ALL the difference in the world with my voice. I have overcome so pretty nasty vocal nodes and bad habits and am just NOT uncovering some of the habits I developed early on in singing that have really caused mis-health (I cannot quite say dis-ease) in my voice. But that said, it's a sensitive instrument and proper rest makes a BILLION times difference.
But.
Reason Number Two....
2. To sleep, perchance to dream.....
I mean this singularly here, not the way Hamlet meant it... although, that, too.
You see, my dreams are magical, fantastical, vivid, healing. They are not separate from my waking life but like two sides of the mobius strip, they turn out to actually be one continuous highway of life experience.
And I Love Them.
I have long had some amazing dreams. I have serial dreams... I have one -offs that are incredible. I often blog about my dreams because they are amazing adventures. My favorites are the serial dreams about the pirate ship (In one dream life, I am a pirate Queen who, urged by Sting [it's my dream life. Shush.] stopped pirating souls for selling in Tripoli and started healing dolphins.) How that informs my waking [sic] life? a. Sting, in my dreams, gives me lots of advice as a singer and songwriter. b. I have had a number of song ideas and story ideas from these pirate dreams. c. they're AMAZING fun not just for me but to share at dinner parties, etc. I mean, come ON! Pirate Queen!
My favorite dreams are usually about my grandmothers, who have both LONG since passed from this earth. These days they come rarely to my dreams, but sometimes. Always they are guides for me, generally towards wisdom. With my mother's Mother, Grandma Winnick, she guides me also in the direction of FUN.
My friend Rebecca, renowned psychic, told me that whenever I see dimes on the street or randomly anywhere, it's a sign from that Grandmother that she's with me, she's supporting me. Well, I just realized last week, two years after she said that, in conversation with a friend abut the Game Show Wheel of Fortune, that when I was a little girl, Grandma and I used to play Wheel of Fortune and we'd place bets, of course. We'd play for DIMES.
p.s. I never did beat her. She was tough.
One of my all time favorite dreams is about my sister. I had this dream when I was probably about 21, I think....
Laura and I were walking through an endless desert. We were at once in ancient dunes as well as we were in modern times, i.e., we were in timelessness. The sun was high above our heads and before us lay the ebbs and tides of sand in various shades of camel and ecru.
Deep silence, only the resounding ring between our ears, and a strange wind that would pick up from our feet and bend the wave of sand from tidal to valley.
Then, from nowhere, a BOOM and a screech. A shadow just to our right, coming from behind. We turned to look.
A trail of six dragons, connected nose to tail, flew in a line in the sky, at first bending and waving like a squiggle but once they smelled our blood, they became focused as one system. Some were strictly dragons, and some where gryphons. They were not benign creatures. They were headed straight for us, hawk-eyed and fast.
I turned to Laura but suddenly she was far, far away from me. I looked back to the creatures in the sky, hungry for our hearts, and I knew I had to get to her before they did. With all the might I could muster, I ran as fast as I could and just as they were about to devour Laura, I reached her. I threw myself in front of her and threw my arms out wide to my sides. As each dragon hit my heart, he turned into a beautiful man in a suit, and, smiling toward heaven, ascended to the deep blue sky. One, two, three, four, five, six.
Then I awoke.
That is one of my favorite dreams of all time and I remember every moment, every grain of sand, every whisper beneath the earth.
That is why sleep means so much to me, even if it's a discipline for me, even if, at times, it is hard to come by.........
I'll leave you with a few lines from a new song.
Nighttime dreaming, softly we... I awakened from a dream-
to a shade of moonlight drawn on your face.
Gently, your eyes opening.
"Oh, I was just dreaming...
...I was stranded on the beach, yet here on bed within your reach-
somehow I was in both places at once:
The World of Dreams,
an this sweet moment here
you and me.
...And at the sea:
the sea tide was low and the water was warm
like that day last year in Carlsbad- do you recall?
A thousand miles away you were,
and I couldn't get to you,
yet I felt your heart.
...In a flash, you were here:
Your eyes! The light-
Your lips On mine...
...breathing you in me....
...."
Morning dreaming, softly me.
All alone but for the dream,
and a ray of sunlight upon my face.
Gently, my eyes opening-
awakening
from the dream.
