This Writing Life: Stress and How to Read Dreamscapes

It's been quiet around these parts lately, hasn't it? About two weeks ago I had this terrifying nightmare involving Bill Cosby, take-away sushi and zombies made out of chocolate cake filled with ganache. Describing dreams is almost always an exercise in futility, but let me tell you: the theme song titled 'Kebab-i Man' is still playing in my head and it's terrible. Think tinky "parisian' accordion meets repeat loop from hell with only one line of lyric. 

Anxiety dreams, eh? My very first ones involved the devil (thanks, Catholicism!) and then progressed to ghosts (thanks Catholicism!) and finally settled on some reasonable fears. Nightmares about flying and the ocean, both horrifically thrilling experiences and understandably challenging for the landbound. But when Bill Cosby is trying to kill you on the side of a hill and you can't even sever his head because he grows a new one out of a thick sweet emulsion? You need a break to get yourself together. 

As so many have pointed out to me over the years- what's the point of being a near-destitute writer if you can't drop out from time to time to indulge the need for rest/adventure/whatever? They're right. 

So, been reading real physical books with real dust and real time-stained bookmarks. Took a 24+ hour offline break just a couple of days ago to curl up around a few things I had been meaning to get to, items of cultural conversation that will soon be repatriated. Been watching hours of free documentaries on the tube, learning about life from misfits like cooks and stand-up comedians and astrophysicists and sexologists. Coasting. Resting. Thinking. Taking refuge from modernity and it's 'always on' discontents.

If you don't mind, this pace is going to continue for a little while since I have to replenish the reservoir. It takes me time to visit new ideas, get my vocabulary refreshed and expanded, sniff the political winds. I have to fallow and fertilize the old mind-garden again, see if new varieties of thought might be interested in taking root sometime. 

In the meantime the Weekly Sneak format will continue and hopefully I will have a few non-EA posts to share as well. And for the record, the food dreams have improved. These days it's all shrimp and roasted tomatoes, fresh breads, curried goat and golden syrup. Happier times. Hope you're dreaming healthy.