No, this won’t be a nice speech. I’ve just had loads of weird dreams lately. Nice but weird, not the kind I usually have when I’m stressed. I wonder why. :)
Anjasaurus
Daydreaming
Not too long ago I read an article on the Boston Globe, about daydreaming and creativity, Daydream achiever.
The article talks about famous people like Einstein and Fry, famous for being scatter minded and still coming up with genious ideas. But the writer also mentions studies done on “normal people”, which shows that daydreaming is an important part of being creative. He even goes as far as to say that daydreaming is crucial, you can’t be creative if you don’t let your mind wander once in a while. I agree with that, it seems logical to me when I read it. If I just focus on what is at hand, how can I imagine what is beyond that? Dreaming allows us to fantasize, improve and use our imagination and experiences to create new situations and scenarios, and solve them. Without risking anything.
Related to that, the writer also discusses how this works in school. We demand focus from the kids, constantly, and we also demand creative work. The studies he points to seems to show that this is a really bad combination. The children never get a chance to practice being creative, to practice imagining and using their fantasy for something else than playing and games, because we demand them to not stray off. I think it is inevitable that children will stray off, and that it is needed to let them learn how to control it and make it productive.
My favourite past time while traveling is, and always has been, to work on my current fantasy world. Make it better, relive things in it, make the characters and their lives nicer and more perfect. In this I probably practiced a lot of thinking strategies and I let my mind wander to create new things I didn’t really know could exist in that context. These worlds change, from time to time, but they’re always there to help me feel less bored, and keep my mind alert and in a good form.
Don’t stop dreaming. :) And with that, me and teddy are going to bed!
Kittens
I dreamt about kittens, and something else amazing. Not sure what, but I was happy when I woke up.
I woke up to a beautiful sunrise. Pink and purple clouds, still lake, frost.
This might just be a good day :)
Romanticise
I’m dreaming of a white christmas..
Nah. But I’m dreaming.
Of dark, mysterious fairytale woods, fairies, nymphs and trolls, magic and myths. Early morning sun, shining over a still, misty lake, with its secrets and history. Green plains, wild horses. Snowy mountains with hidden caves. 
Standing on a hilltop, looking out over the autumn-colored landscape, with the feeling of a long and happy journey ahead. The green light in a wood where the sun shines through a thick roof of leaves. Squirrels, snakes and mice, hiding in the shadows. Hearing a storm run through the woods, thunder, wind and rain.
That’s what I’m dreaming of. Mysterious beautiful things :)
Picture credits to AstridPhotography, Josephine Wall
Gimme..
Tonight I’ve dreamt dreams of things I can’t have.
I’m a bit sad.
Hunger and dreams
I think I was hungry tonight. Dreamt about buying sandwiches from Sub&Co, asking if they have butter on their sandwiches. :/
Weather, dreams and weird things
Sitter och väntar på att regnet och åskan skall komma, har sett mörkt ut sen sju ungefär. En urladdning vore riktigt skönt, inte bara för att det varit varmt och kvavt. Det är nåt särskilt med åska :)
Det har varit en filosofisk dag, kommit på mig själv med att stanna upp och bara fundera mest hela tiden. En sån dag inleds ofta med en väldigt stark och minnesrik dröm, så även idag. Jag minns inte exakt detaljerna längre, jag har inte lagt någon större möda på att minnas, men känslan finns kvar. Minnen av vad jag kände och tänkte i drömmen. Jag vet att det var en scoutledare med, och flera vänner som visade sig vara andra än vad jag först trodde. Och så den där hemliga, spännande Någon. Jag vet inte längre vem han är, vad han skall föreställa, jag minns bara den pirrande glada känslan och förväntningarna. Besvikelserna. Att det gör lite ont. Sånt där som hör ihop med speciella människor. Vi var på en lekplats, och i ett kök eller i alla fall vid en bänk av något slag. Någonstans stod vi trångt och skulle utföra något arbete, men då var Någon fortfarande någon annan.. Ja, inte är det logiskt inte.
Jag väntar med spänning på att den nya terminen ska börja. Men innan dess ska det bli många fler intressanta drömmar.
Translation »
On repeat
Seeems all I do is watching movies, huh? Well, tonight we went to the movies to see the new Narnia. It was brilliant! I’m a bit sad they skipped the first and third book (see edit) and only concentrate on the four “main” children, because I absolutely love The Horse and His Boy, but I can understand it from a storytelling point of view. I got quite confused by reading about other countries and stories in between.
The scenery was dreamlike (at least that’s how my dreams look like!) and the story is really well told. I think they have skipped quite alot and also changed some details, some things felt a bit wrong although it was years ago I read that book. You might think it’s a children’s movie, but I don’t think so. Grown-ups can definitely enjoy it, with the subtle jokes and good play. I recommend it :)
Did I mention the weather is just stunning and I’m happy too?
Edit: It seems I’m a bit misinformed. The Narnia series in Swedish I have read were published in a chronological order from a story point-of-view, rather than in the order they were written. Which means “The Wizard’s Nephew” and “The Horse and His Boy” is the first and third book respectively. And I had no idea they weren’t actually published as such originally! So the two films are actually no 1 and 2, but I have read them as no 2 and 4. Sorry for the confusion :)
I have a dream
Every summer between mid June and mid August, the Swedish Radio (public service radio) lets more or less famous Swedes talk for 1-2 hours about a topic and play music of their choice. Usually the “talkers” are chosen from very different groups, from musicians and writers to politicians and famous TV people.
This year they started off with one of my favourite famous Swedes, Fredrik Lindström. He’s a linguist and an entertainer, which makes his talks a great match to my interests. As I wanted to listen to him, I got interested in the programme in general, and happened to listen to today’s talker, Fredrik Härén. (I like Fredriks, it seems?)
Since I haven’t had time to listen to Lindström yet, and Härén was awesome, I’ll talk some about him first. The first time I ever heard Härén talking was in an online version of a TV recording of a presentation/speech he did at “Kunskapens dag” (The Knowledge Day) a couple of years ago. As you can imagine, the quality wasn’t overwhelming and it didn’t seem to be a major thing, quite hidden. It turned out to be a great eye opener, while he was talking he showed why Sweden are going to crash from being a developed country. We consider ourselves finished and don’t develop anymore, which is devastating as the developing countries and moving past us in a frightening speed. I didn’t agree with everything he said, but he did make me feel a bit uncomfortable and open my eyes.
His talk today was on the same topic, but more philosophical. He started off with three statements, or sentences.
- Livet är vackert (Life is beautiful)
- Gör det du tror på, och tro på det du gör (Do what you believe in, and believe in what you do)
- Om hoppet är det sista som lämnar människan, vad händer med människor som slutat hoppas? (If hope is the last thing to leave a man, what happens to people with no hope?)
(These are taken from my memory and freely translated into English) Then he explained what he meant with them, and why they were to important to him. The first one didn’t affect me as much and the second and third.
With the second, Härén talked about dreams and goals. How people have stopped having life dreams and life goals of the big kind. We no longer wish to walk on the moon, or bring black and white people together (two examples he used), because we have done it already. He had asked people all over the world if they thought their country would be a better place to live in tomorrow. In the developing countries, most people answered a clear “Yes!”. In Sweden, 70% said no. We don’t think Sweden will be a better place tomorrow. He said “It can’t be better than this”, but I also think people are pessimists. We have quite a good country, and we don’t have a dream, or we don’t trust our leaders to make it better. Everything just gets worse now. His main point was that we don’t dream, though. We don’t set a huge goal and give everything we have for it. We should. Do what you believe in, and believe in what you do. This inspired me to think about my goals and dreams in my life, and also to aim for the bigger ones too. I think I need to make a separate post about that, this one is almost too long already ;)
Last, he talked about hope, and it’s closely related to the second point. If you have a dream, but no hope to reach it, no hope your country will be better tomorrow, you have no energy and no will to change things for the better. Hope is essential to actually give you what you hope for, if that makes sense. Without hope, dreams are nothing.
Dreams and clothes
Ok, first off, new dress!
I love it. It feels like.. summer :)
Secondly, I had the weirdest dream tonight. The subject wasn’t weird, it’s something I think about often, but what happened was. I could sense the other persons’ feelings and anticipation/nervousness, and I can still remember how things felt in my fingers and hands, although it never really happened. But there was no smell. I even remember thinking about that in the dream, I was waiting for a smell I don’t really like but it wasn’t there, just nothing. I guess the most odd thing was that I was the safe, secure one. I was excited. Not nervous. I got a “don’t worry, I will take care of you”-feeling.
Dreams scare me, but at the same time I love them. They are so intense, so clear and simple when you dream and so confused and odd when you think about them later. Since I trust my intuition a lot (even more now, when it has shown to be scaringly right a few times the last days), dreams have a big influence on me. I have a feeling about a lot of things, but I don’t dare to trust it fully, yet. The dreams leave me confused with what they are trying to tell me, what I missed that I needed to know, or what I didn’t sort out that needed to be sorted out through my dreams.
Sometimes I wish I could just trust my intuition, and not care if other people think I’m silly or stupid. :P