2/22/2023

My first session was okay. Basically a 'getting to know you' and I feel like I just scratched the surface. I return next week.

old dream from 2/22/2015

Wifey is struggling with a head cold, which meant her snores shook the walls. Hoping to get some decent shut-eye, I crapped out in the guest room.

The guest room is a small affair, with the queen sized bed making up most of the real estate. To the left, at the foot of the bed, is a wardrobe and to the right is a small bench currently occupied by a comforter, and two pillows. Two windows look north, across the street at our neighbors, while the opposite wall is decorated with music posters, souvenir photos from the boardwalk, and other miscellany outlining my wife's single life. As a bonus, it's the tidiest room of the house since it's verboten to our feline companions.

With a closed door between myself, and my wife's snoring, I was able to finally sleep.

I awoke in a dream where the wall full of posters and crap now hosted a solid, white door with a brass doorknob. Fastened underneath the knob was a simple padlock. Its lock had a crescent shape, and I was able to pop it with the awl on my Swiss army knife. On the other side was a brick walled corridor with potted plants leading into a very bright light. Squinting, I spied a silhouette which was becoming more substantial, making me think someone was coming my way.

Quickly, and quietly, I shut the door, fumbled for the padlock, replaced it with a solid click before bracing my shoulder against the door for good measure. Out of anxiety I peeked through the peephole, seeing someone resembling Denzel Washington in a mall cop uniform, before blocking the hole with my forehead. The door shook once or twice, like the guard was ensuring it was firmly locked, but I didn't dare make a peep.

Why? I have no idea. Just a feeling of dread should I come face to face with this person.

I could hear him walking away, and I ducked down beside the bed waiting for the coast to clear. At this point, a window manifested next to the door but I was able to stay out of sight.

When I woke, thanks to my black cat Dorp meowing for attention from the other side of the real door, everything about the dream stuck with me. The wall had the same old art, no sign of a door anywhere. If there had been a door, it would've opened into my office.

My thoughts on the dream? The bright corridor put me in mind of a near-death experience. Since the beginning of February, I've been trying to right by myself in hopes of seeing out 2015. Got my bloodwork back, and my numbers were good, but the doctor said with my recent weight gain (20 pounds in six months) those numbers indicated I was about to develop some Very Bad Things. I've always been a big guy, and much to my wife's frustration I've been healthy as a horse despite my bulk. This year has plenty in store, with the Dawn spacecraft getting up close and personal with the dwarf planet Ceres, July heralds New Horizons's flyby of Pluto and Charon, followed by NecronomiCon in August, then Paradigm Symposium in Minneapolis 'round October. On top of that, I've been dabbling with writing again.

For once, I have a full plate.

On the other hand, its vividness, and potential lucidity, might be due to focusing on my hands. One trick for lucid dreaming has the dreamer look at their hands. Somehow this grants greater control over the dream, unsurprising considering the importance of the hands with the cortical homunculus.