MacGougan at Large

Notes on Dreams - 6

Sweet Dreams

Most of this series has been devoted to dreams that are scary or annoying or simply boring. However, from time to time I do experience a dream that brings me joy.

Today I want to single out two particular good dreams: the Overdue Contact Dream and the Flying Dream.

In the Overdue Contact Dream, I get a phone call from my Mom or my Dad or my sister. I am really glad to hear from them. It’s been too long since I’ve heard their voice. There’s so much to catch them up on. I feel a sense of relief. I soak it in like a rain after a long drought.

At some point, after the end of the dream and before I’m fully awake, it occurs to me that they’re dead. And I wonder: How did that work?

It turns out that, in a sufficiently sweet dream, a loved one can place a phone call to you from the afterlife.

In the Flying Dream, as you might guess, I can fly. My wife, Linda, tells me that she sometimes has a dream where she can fly by flapping her arms like bird wings. In my flying dreams, I can levitate by tightening my stomach. This, of course, is a much more plausible way for a person to fly than arm flapping.

However you become airborne, the feeling is joyful and exhilarating. It’s a very pleasant sensory experience, but it also brings a strong feeling of agency. I can move wherever I want to go - including straight up.

In my novel Newspaper Boy (currently ranked 16,702 in Amazon sales for Children’s Humorous Literature) the 11 year-old protagonist has flying dreams. The boy and his world, including the dreams, were loosely based on the young me.

Throughout my life, I’ve always thought of flying dreams like butterflies: little moments of magic to savor. You can’t make them appear, but when they do you can lean into them.