Dream a Little Dream

What happens when your head hits the pillow and you fall asleep? Do you dream? Do you remember those dreams? I do. At least, most of them.

My nighttime journeys have taken me to faraway places, dropped me into some bizarre scenarios, and introduced me to a lot of very interesting people. Where does this stuff come from? I don’t know. And I’m not about to delve into psychological dream analysis in an attempt to find out. I simply accept that I have these very vivid dreams . . . and then I use them in my stories. An excellent source of original material, don’t you think?

I’ve always been a dreamer. But it frustrated me when I’d be in the middle of an absolutely brilliant story only to lose it the moment the alarm went off. So I trained myself to remember. Okay, maybe that sounds a little flaky, but I’ve managed to salvage some great stuff by simply taking a few minutes to think. Then I write it down. Maybe I’ll use it and maybe I won’t, but at least I have something to jog my memory.

I daydream too. Ask my mother, who can verify. I’m pretty sure there were also comments on many of my elementary school report cards to confirm that little habit of mine. And more than one boss has startled me out of fanciful musings during some Very Important Meeting that wasn’t really all that important but I should have been paying attention anyway. I can’t help it. Or maybe I don’t want to, because I need to daydream.

I once read that some of the world’s great universities actually schedule time for their professors to daydream. They’ve found that this enhances their ability to teach creatively. Imagine that.

So next time you see me staring off into space, come dream a little dream with me.