Feeling an Idea
Nov 11, 2024 | 297 words | General Interest
Last night my dream had an unusual quality that will be difficult to describe. Whenever anyone said or did something in this dream it would register with me in the usual way, but then it would reverberate, for lack of a better way of saying it. I literally felt the ramification of the behavior or the comment just made. The sensation was that of fully understanding the other person: what they really meant, and why they did or said what they did. I had a deep visceral sense of understanding the full context of everything around me.
I cannot stress enough that this was a visceral experience. It unfolded rather slowly. I was conscious of what was happening and remember wanting to continue, anticipating the next exchange or encounter. I felt no ill will, felt no frustration with anyone or anything. There was a sense of perfect resolution at every turn. The empathy with my surroundings was overwhelming. I remember thinking this might be a form of epiphany or enlightenment. Or maybe what might be described as a visitation, or perhaps even an hallucination.
Along those lines I remember thinking during the dream if this affect is a by-product of psychotropic drugs, I see the appeal. Whatever subject my mind turned to, apart from any sort of encounter with another person, I remember feeling a rush of insight. I remember not wanting to wake up, wanting to keep dreaming, to keep feeling ideas in this special, sort of 3-D way.
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This description is not doing my dream justice. I am having trouble capturing the experience in words. In the end it is not naming the thing that matters, only being able to feel ideas in this unique way. Even if I was asleep when it happened.
Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.
bobcavjr@gmail.com