It all seemed to start with dreams of big headed, small bodied people I had as a kid. They felt strange and unmentionable. What could I say? I never heard of anyone else having these dreams, seeing these odd figures. So was I odd? What did their dreams look like?
Now days and years and moments take shape in my head, fill m…
It all seemed to start with dreams of big headed, small bodied people I had as a kid. They felt strange and unmentionable. What could I say? I never heard of anyone else having these dreams, seeing these odd figures. So was I odd? What did their dreams look like?
Now days and years and moments take shape in my head, fill my thoughts. They float in or tumble around.
When writing in my diary I always put the day at the top of the page, not just because you did that at school on a Monday when you wrote your “news”, but because it reminds me of the feel of the time, a little flag of the possible mood.
I run and I measure the time by the feel of a night shift. The ones I work through as a children’s nurse. The first part of the run matches the busy section of the night, the beginning where you meet the patients and their family. You meet their fear, their joy at recovery or their deep despair at life changing diagnoses.
Then there’s the middle section-you’ve travelled some distance, you have a rhythm know where you’re heading. But home and sleep feels far away. Will you make it in one piece?
At last there’s an uplift, it’s 5.30 and you can begin to feel the end of the night, the start of the day. You can almost smell the freshness of the next shift, the perfume, the recently showered and the clear heads ready to problem solve, to send the well home. The run is nearly over.
So is this size and shape of time universal? Did those odd people walking in my dreams ever visit anyone else? I don’t mind sharing so much now, in fact I’m intrigued by others head spaces , not scared of my own or theirs anymore.
Wow. This is a beautiful contribution, Louise. I'm fascinated by those dream visitors of yours and wouldn't it be wonderful/strange if any other subscribers on here see this and say they had similar...
I have always had a host of unknown people appear before my eyes just before sleep. They are very real, and are usually having a conversation with another person present. Only rarely do they turn to look at me and that is the only alarming aspect of it. Otherwise, it is simply fascinating. They are from all eras and sometimes speaking in languages I don't myself understand. When they speak in English it is so clear that I could, if I woke, write down their conversations. I always felt myself alone in this until I read a piece by the late John Berger: he had this too from earliest childhood, and was straightforwardly sure that they were real people & not produced by his imagination (being outside his own experience). He came to believe that they were the dead visiting. And he found this reassuring and exciting I think.
Here is your link to your piece on the book website:
Thanks Tan! It was a bit of a contribution to this topic but I was captivated by the aspects of shape ,size and time altogether and the writing flowed. I’ve been unwell but this has been going over in my mind. I’m so loving the inspiration to write and your feedback too. It’s important I think that we pay attention to our dreams. Your visitors have a very particular behaviour don’t they? I’ll look up what John Berger had to say too .
Size and shape
It all seemed to start with dreams of big headed, small bodied people I had as a kid. They felt strange and unmentionable. What could I say? I never heard of anyone else having these dreams, seeing these odd figures. So was I odd? What did their dreams look like?
Now days and years and moments take shape in my head, fill my thoughts. They float in or tumble around.
When writing in my diary I always put the day at the top of the page, not just because you did that at school on a Monday when you wrote your “news”, but because it reminds me of the feel of the time, a little flag of the possible mood.
I run and I measure the time by the feel of a night shift. The ones I work through as a children’s nurse. The first part of the run matches the busy section of the night, the beginning where you meet the patients and their family. You meet their fear, their joy at recovery or their deep despair at life changing diagnoses.
Then there’s the middle section-you’ve travelled some distance, you have a rhythm know where you’re heading. But home and sleep feels far away. Will you make it in one piece?
At last there’s an uplift, it’s 5.30 and you can begin to feel the end of the night, the start of the day. You can almost smell the freshness of the next shift, the perfume, the recently showered and the clear heads ready to problem solve, to send the well home. The run is nearly over.
So is this size and shape of time universal? Did those odd people walking in my dreams ever visit anyone else? I don’t mind sharing so much now, in fact I’m intrigued by others head spaces , not scared of my own or theirs anymore.
Wow. This is a beautiful contribution, Louise. I'm fascinated by those dream visitors of yours and wouldn't it be wonderful/strange if any other subscribers on here see this and say they had similar...
I have always had a host of unknown people appear before my eyes just before sleep. They are very real, and are usually having a conversation with another person present. Only rarely do they turn to look at me and that is the only alarming aspect of it. Otherwise, it is simply fascinating. They are from all eras and sometimes speaking in languages I don't myself understand. When they speak in English it is so clear that I could, if I woke, write down their conversations. I always felt myself alone in this until I read a piece by the late John Berger: he had this too from earliest childhood, and was straightforwardly sure that they were real people & not produced by his imagination (being outside his own experience). He came to believe that they were the dead visiting. And he found this reassuring and exciting I think.
Here is your link to your piece on the book website:
https://thecureforsleep.com/august-issue-sizeshape/#louisestead
Do remind me if you have a website or social media account you'd like me to link to from your name.
Tan x
Thanks Tan! It was a bit of a contribution to this topic but I was captivated by the aspects of shape ,size and time altogether and the writing flowed. I’ve been unwell but this has been going over in my mind. I’m so loving the inspiration to write and your feedback too. It’s important I think that we pay attention to our dreams. Your visitors have a very particular behaviour don’t they? I’ll look up what John Berger had to say too .