The next day we all heard about the horrendous earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. It made me wonder if perhaps some of us felt something terrible coming.
I am finding it difficult to write anything cute or light-hearted today after seeing all those videos on the news. My heart and prayers go out to all the victims and their families. I cannot even begin to fathom the terror and devastation they've gone through, nor the extreme hardships they will face in the coming months.
God be with the people of Japan.
I am curious about how many others feel that dreams are sometimes given to us to prepare us for things to come, or perhaps even to spark creative ideas. Whether you believe it's God speaking to your inner spirit, or your own mind working over-time, we all have those dreams that make us wonder.
Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if it were available in waking, would make every man a Dante or Shakespeare. ~H.F. Hedge~
A dream which is not interpreted is like a letter which is not read.
~The Talmud~
Both of my novels were triggered by dreams. Ravenswynd was sparked by the most vivid and realistic dream I had had in ages. I woke up at 2 a.m. and jotted down the highlights immediately. The following day I composed the first three chapters before I even got to the dream sequence and, when I finally wrote that scene, it was some of the easiest writing I had ever done - simply because the dream had been so tangible.
Where do you think your creative sparks comes from? Do you ever have dreams that you've turned into novel ideas? What are your thoughts on dreams in general?
As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments!
Sharon
Dreams are a fascinating way to tap into the collective unconscious. I find them useful as a writer, but I can't really see any other use for them. Can you? Dream on!
ReplyDeleteDreams have inspired a lot of my ideas. I prefer to think it is my subconcious and that is the easiest time for it to communicate with me. I have a pretty good relationship with my subconcious.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts go out to Japan too. :(
Julie/J.A. Campbell
Dreams have everything to do with my writing. I think its because you dont worry about everything that needs to be done, and you are you, meaning you are thinking about what you want to think about, not what you have to think about. I day dream a lot too when I write.
ReplyDeleteDreams are soo interesting I look a lot of mine up just to see if they really make sense in my life, most of the time they do.
My dreams never tell me much of anything, but for some reason this reminded me of the movie The Mothman Prophecies, where this mothman kept showing up and it foretold a major disaster that was going to happen. Very eerie, to think of that calm before the storm and what some people might sense.
ReplyDeleteJessica:I suppose another use then could be for our night-time entertainment!
ReplyDeleteJulie:Does having a "good relationship" with your subconscious mean you never have any of those scary nightmares? :)
XchylerConn: I love trying to figure out my dreams too...though sometimes they are nothing more than crazy jumbles of scenes that go nowhere.
Stephanie: I find that the more tired I am, the less I dream. I loved the Mothman Prophecies! Did you know it was loosely based on a true story? OOOOHH--even eerier!! :)
Well when I get swamped with things and i feel like I am in over my head it never fails that I dream of water, thats one of my most common. Have any of you seen Inception? Thats a dream movie too.
ReplyDeleteYes, Mary! *XchylerConn*
ReplyDeleteI have seen that movie...it was awesome! And just like some of my dreams, very confusing!
I have had many dreams of water too...usually there is a flood, and it is coming right up to my house. (yikes! for the people in Japan it wasn't only a dream)
I guess I will have to reexamine what is going on in my life the next time I dream of water.
How about flying? I used to dream of flying when I was a kid...wonder why those dreams ended?!? They were kinda fun!
Sharon :)
I think some dreams are just dreams, but others are a way of telling ourselves something we need to change, and sometimes they can be a warning of things to come (less often thank goodness)
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with you Lynda. Most dreams are probably just dreams...but now and then...we get a doozie of a dream that simply HAS to mean something. I do not like the warning ones... :(
ReplyDeleteWell as Freud would say, dreams are unconscious wishes. He is right and wrong. But for those of us who dream crazy, i think it's a way of showing that we'd rather be somewhere else, doing something else, and not within reality.
ReplyDeleteLeahcar: It can be said of writing too: we'd rather be somewhere else...
ReplyDeleteIn writing, we can get our people to do whatever it is WE desire! ha
Thanks for reading and commenting.
Sharon :)