Musing
Dreams often act as outlets to perhaps provide creativity that might have been otherwise missing. This can be exemplified by one of my favorite poets, Edgar Allan Poe. Most of his poems were derived from dreams and often nightmares. He had the ability to turn the negativity within his nightmares to something positive; his dreams acted as direct links to his poems.
In "A Dream Within a Dream," Poe contemplated the conflict between reality and fantasy. In the poem, the narrator comes to the realization that his entire life might have been nothing but a dream. The entirety of the poem is replete with tones of regret and hopelessness. However, when rereading the poem just now, I do not get that sense of desolation I used to, before. Though the narrator seems to be in the midst of an existential crisis, there's also comprehension that while some may discredit life because of the dream-like quality, there exists the argument that everything in a sense is "a dream within a dream." Yet, despite everything being a dream within a dream, reality does not elude because the assumption cannot be made that dreams are not real and so why discredit them? Those who accept that, who realize that life does contain a certain lack of control, will become happier.
Poe might be commenting on the fact that some people do live life in a manner that they have no grasp of reality, but regardless, those individuals might be the ones actually owning life. There are no limits or boundaries within their minds.
A couple weeks ago, I had a similar discussion regarding the nature of ideas without binds, one that very deeply resonated within me. A friend thought of a title for a song before beginning to compose the track and music for it. I don't exactly know why but I was vehemently opposed to that; I was of the belief that the title cannot determine the entirety of the music because it creates boundaries. I reasoned it in my head that the title being determined before the song, creates limits within which, one has to remain. The subject cannot be bound like that.
But that's actually very untrue. In attempting to limit limits, I was, in actuality, limiting myself. That makes sense, right? What I intend is that my rationale of the struggle between the title and the subject created more problems. Who am I to say what can inspire? I was wrong in assuming that the subject has to be the muse in every situation. I had the preconceived notion that there exists a specific source of inspiration. Inspiration can come in various forms- actually any form. In fact, I was driven to write this journal by that two minute argument with my friend.
Similarly, dreams exist to provide creativity and positive inspiration. However, it's extremely easy to disregard those ideas because they seem unreal or frivolous. Most of us are quick to discredit any idea derived from dreams because it was just that, a dream. However, the importance of those dreams knows no bound and Edgar Allan Poe saw that. He noticed and urged to free those ideas caged within dreams. It's easy to lose grasp of reality; it's easier to lose grasp of dreams and all they might offer, and so it must be understood just how important they are in cultivating ideas and thoughts.
In the story I recounted about the argument with my friend, I was the cynical narrator having the existential crisis, preventing my own ideas from flourishing. I did not believe in the power of inspiration, derived from anything. For a mere second, I forgot that everything is how you want it to be. Next time I have a dream I remember, I will attempt to gain inspiration from it, to help it make my own ideas grow.
