2024/03/25 Monday: How does one add value...?

[Richard Carl Silk]

Sorry, readers (if any) - but while the dream was *super-clear* at the time of
dreaming, and *fairly* clear after waking, it's *somewhat* muddled this much
later in the day, but I'll do what I can to repeat it as accurately as possible.

LAST EVENING, late into the night (past midnight) I watched a rather
*questionable* movie: either A) it was a fictionalized account of a TRUE story,
or B) a true representation of a fictional story. Either way, it was *thought
provoking* and to an extent, disturbing, yet entertaining at the same time.

The movie was "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (imdb.com/title/tt0270288) - the
"unauthorized autobiography" of Chuck Barris (creator of "The Dating Game," "The
Newlywed Game," and "The Gong Show," being 3 of his best-known works.)

A person would have to "watch" the movie to understand how disturbing yet
entertaining it actually is.

The point being, I'm *fairly certain* that the movie was the "cause" of the
"disturbing dream" I had before waking, around daybreak this morning. The
dreamer was as if caught within a building / structure, wherein there were
people (and things) designed to kill the dreamer, including (but not limited to)
a room where two (adjoining) walls were expanding (inverted!) *into* the room,
sort of like:
? (« where the space available to maneuver became like a very narrow hallway
along the lower- and left-facing walls.)

Somehow the dreamer escaped that room, only to find there were assassins
outside, and those had to be avoided as well. Sorry, but the dream was so
fraught with tension and "drama" that I've pretty much forgotten most of it,
sort of like "good riddance to bad vibes."

Around daybreak, I let the dog out for a few moments, then resumed my "morning
nap on the couch," where I soon had a *very clear* dream / astral experience,
nearly, *as if* a group of intellectually charged "astral entities" (aka "dream
bodies") were in a room, much like a small, college classroom (or advanced high
school something or other):

Also, as to which position the dreamer / narrative mind was "primarily
associated with" in the dream *may* be position of the headmaster of the class
(aka "the teacher") - regardless, this is about how it "unfurled," so to speak:

The instructor of the class, sort of like a lead philosopher / instructor, is
asking the class (as a whole):
"How does one add value to a person?"

The prepositional phrase of "to a person" seemed less important than the core
structure of the question, "How does

one add value...?" (to any living being or objective "thing.")

There was a clear moment of silence in the "classroom" as the students (those
people gathered there) pondered the question.

Someone (*possibly* the dreamer / narrative mind as well!) requested
clarification of the question, using only two words: "Define 'value'-"

The instructor replied directly (as if he'd been expecting the question) "That
which is greater than zero."

At this point, there was perhaps a *somewhat shorter* pause, and I (as the
person posting this dream) am unclear as to whether it was a "correct response"
*given,* or whether the instructor simply answered it for the class, yet
regardless, the answer was (is) accepted as a "correct" or "valid" answer-

"By giving it [or possibly 'him'] a name."

That is, to give a person (especially as a newborn) (or any *thing*) a "name,"
the individual (or "noun") is given "value." That value may *decrease* into a
negative range if the person becomes a "liar," whereas the individual reveals a
"positive value" when sharing / revealing that which is logically TRUE to
others, to the world. A value of "0" typically indicates that which was never
born.

Clarity? I suppose one could say that depends upon the perception of the reader
/ listener / viewer / receiver.

[Richard Carl Silk]

Turns out, another "perk" of getting to write up my dreams from last night on
the Windows XP system is that it *also* includes the nifty F5 button in
Notepad.exe, which provides a time stamp: 09:03 AM 3/26/2024

This helps double-check against my getting a date wrong (which is easy enough on
its own. I still have to double-check which day of the week it is.)

This morning, before waking (less than a half hour ago?) the dreamer was as if
in a large vehicle (such as an SUV or perhaps a larger van, but likely smaller
than a small tour bus) with several people (all feeling like family members) and
there's a type of "overall view" of where the vehicle is heading, *sort of* like
watching a GPS display. All the dreamer really cared about was heading
"northward" (towards the BNA airport, Barry Field, Nashville) and observes that
at a particular point, there's simply a left turn needed to go westish, into a
large parking lot (like with *several* rows available, possibly 8 to 12 (or
more?) and a width of at least 100 cars) and the "challenge" gets to be parking
as far left in the parking lot (as close to the terminal, which is farther left)
as possible.

The vehicle parks originally near the right-most (eastish) border, and there's
some foot traffic to visually examine for closer parking lots (which sort of
defeats the purpose, although the van is still packed with luggage, apparently)
and about 50% of the dream time is spent examining the various widths of the
parking spots (because they do vary in width) and the dreamer directs a female
(who was a LOT like my eldest sister, Sherry) to stand in one spot so as to
reserve it, although it was as if the dreamer was on a slightly lower level of
the parking lot, as if there may have been a foot or two difference between the
parking level / surface and the walking area just beyond the parking lot's
left-most edge.

The female is indicating that the lot in which she's standing may be too narrow,
and the dreamer gets up to the parking area beside her and views the surrounding
areas from *her* perspective, and sure enough, the *widths* of the lots appear
somewhat different than they appear from the level at which the dreamer had just
been standing.

There's a good moment or two evaluating the selection of lots, and the dreamer
is considering simply leaving the vehicle parked where it is, and simply
schlepping the luggage to the terminal on foot.

The dream ends *about* here, as the dreamer was *also* considering getting the
vehicle and simply driving it down to the leftmost edge and just scanning for a
parking lot the "olde fashioned way," by crusing along, looking for a choice
location. Clarity 9-, basically, although the section where the route being
taken was viewed as if from an arial, bird's-eye view (or an angled GPS) was
more like "Clarity: guidance."

There was another blip of a clip earlier, in which some folk were discussing
*something* that required a decision of "opinion," and the question was put to
my (recently departed) mother, who looked briefly (her blue eyes were clearly
visible) and made a *very* quick blip of a reply, which translated as
*something* akin to: "I'm dead; you figure it out."

The dreamer understood then that she would be "unavailable for comment," as they
say.

[Richard Carl Silk]

First, I'd like to say how taking a daily "super-B" vitamin *really* helps
increase the "fullness" of dreams during a night. I had at least 3 that were
basically dull, but they were likely made far more "memorable" ("evaporation
proof") — *likely* due to the intake of a super-B vitamin each morning. I got
up around day break, let the dog out for a break, then went back to sleep on the
couch, and the dreams before *and* after the break are still "with me," although
the ones from *after* the couch nap are actually the ones "fading" a bit:

Earlier dreams:
The dreamer was *following* a young boy (perhaps 5 years old?) down a hallway,
at a distance of about ~3 feet (or thereabouts) in a somewhat playful manner,
like, "I'm following you..." (and let the kid take that in whatever manner, from
"Uh oh, I'm being watched by an adult, so I'd better behave" to "Uh oh, an adult
is following me" to "catch me if you can," / horseplay, etc.) whereas the
dreamer was actually enjoying the moment of observing the kid in unassuming
anticipation of whatever the kid did, however the kid may respond to the "game,"
the act of being followed.

Surprisingly, the kid did a 180 (turned around to face the adult) and (in
whatever manner a 5-year-old could manage) somewhat *rebuked* the dreamer
(presuming the dreamer was/is an adult!)

While I'm unable to remember *exactly* what the kid said, it was likely
something akin to: "You really should mind your own business," or "Don't you
have anything better to do?" (Something "pointed" that caught the dreamer
slightly by surprise!) Dream ended, clarity 9-.

In an outdoor dream, the dreamer is in a type of field / pasture / meadow, an
area perhaps about that of a rectangular acre (rather than square) with 2 or
more adults (possibly 3 or 4?) coming along, as if they are on a mission, and
the dreamer is simply showing them where their target / destination is.

It seems that the adults were there to either "rescue the horses" or possibly to
simply exercise them, like to go riding around the countryside, what have you.

One of the adults, a female (likely under 30?) seemed concerned regarding the
quality of the creek water to which the horses had access, as if the water was
possibly "too green" (too much algae?) for the better, overall health of the
horses. While the dreamer provided a little bit of push-back (like, "Would you
rather they have no access to water whatsoever?") or possibly asking her what
she could mean by "too green" or possibly asking what might be the cause /
remedy for the overall water quality (or lack thereof)? (I *suspect* the female
was unable to come up with a reasonable solution/answer, capable instead of only
criticizing, likely a liberal / lefty.) Regardless, end of dream, clarity
9-ish.

Finally, there was this *fun* dream involving the dream out in a type of
agri-business-type lot. To describe this, think of a (small, yet successful)
construction company with heavy equipment, such as back-loaders, front-end
loaders, bull-dozers, etc., and how these mechanical beasts might be kept in a
grassy field rather than on a paved parking lot.

Now imagine that *some* areas of the field are *mashed,* as if perhaps a bucket
(or digger) may have been "parked" on a soft area (that was firm when the ground
was dry) with the bucket "lowered" so that the front feet of the machine was
*raised,* thus resting significant weight upon the digger/bucket, or possibly
one of those "steady pads" that lower down to help give the machine greater
stability, when some rain may have softened the ground, thus leaving a bit of a
*smush* in the soil.

The dreamer was watching a crew of perhaps 2 or 3 men (roughly in their 30s?)
working to "free" a few of the machines *from* the earth they had settled into,
such that the machines functioned very nearly like that of a 4-legged athelete
(with a very strong, long neck and head) crawling out of a pit, using its own
strength (and range of motions) to extricate itself from the sunken areas of
ground. Clarity 9–9+.

About the only dream I can easily recall from being on the couch involved a
scene wherein the dreamer was in a (somewhat dark background) room, in a
discussion with some other guy (perhaps a "darker version" of the dreamer?) but
the dreamer was *distracted* by the presence of a very friendly dog, *about* the
size of a Cocker Spaniel, but with straight, short hair, brownish/ginger
colored, and far less "frenetic" than a typical Spaniel: the dog (likely a
female) was submissive, and in some manner, *smiling* up at the dreamer, as if
(she'd) been waiting for someone kind enough to pet her and give her some luvin'
/ ("cuddles," etc.)

Whatever the other guy had been going on about became utterly meaningless, as
the bond between the dreamer and the dog was clearly the main focus of the
dream, clarity 9-ish (the darkness of the start of the dream, and the loss of
attention regarding the other character, both detracted just a hair from a solid
9 to 9+ clarity.)

[Richard Carl Silk]

Likely from somewhere between daybreak and 9 AM, the dreamer is showing others
to a location, similiar to how a group of botanists or naturalists might visit a
local yokel (farm boy) in order to ask if any [type X] flora had been observed
in the area.

The dreamer was the "local yokel" and the observers / scientists (whatever) were
neither counted nor observed. The dreamer was looking at the scenery along the
(very rural, country) road. It was a "bright, sunny" day, and what were seen
appeared to be *rather large* butterflys only a few feet from the road, growing
in a field, only they were "static," as if they were actually flower blooms that
*looked* like butterflys, and they were differently (brightly) colored (no
pastels, no dim hues, all reds, whites, and blues, etc.)

As the dreamer went along this road, the view shifted towards the road (ground
level) where there appeared to be a short section (perhaps 2 feet in length, ± a
few inches) where a small ecosystem of its own was forming in an area that
looked like a section of concrete curbing that had begun to deteriorate,
allowing water / moist dirt to collect, and in that area were seen small
critters, similar to voles or gerbils, possibly related to squirrels, but they
had no overt fear of the dreamer, who put forth a right hand (finger) to see if
any of them would skitter away or come investigate— the critter(s) tended to
ignore the presence of the finger, and instead minded their own business.
Clarity 9+ (the sunny road) to 8+ (the critters in the gutter, as it was "out of
direct sunlight," so to speak.

Next scene occurred on a street similar to somewhere such as one of the streets
on the north side of downtown Nashville, although it *could* have been on the
"south side," it's simply that the dreamer seemed to be facing east, and where
there *used* to be a number of discrete businesses, possibly built side-by-side
(no alley space between them) the building now appeared to be one continuous,
*dark* peach-colored wall.

The dreamer continued scanning the building wall, looking for signs of interest.
At the lower right corner (the building was at *least* 3 stories tall) was a
floor that seemed to have glass windows rather than dull brick forming the
entrance, and the interior of that area was *well* lit (likely simply by
contrast with the dullness of everywhere else.)

The dreamer entered the location with a degree of curiosity, as if wanting to
know [just what the heck happens here?] or [would you mind filling me in on just
what the nature of this business is?] (Like, some places are obvious, like a
shoe store, or sporting goods outlet, or restaurant, etc., but this place *felt*
a bit like a place to help those in need.)

There was a *hint* that it might have been a "planned parenthood" type facility,
but the dreamer's mind was *really* {hoping against} that being the case, as it
was such a well-lit, inviting location (considering the drab nature of the rest
of the street) and yet the dream ended *before* a clearly defined business
purpose was set forth. Clarity mixed, from 8- (the drabness of the solid
building face along the street) to 9+ (seeing the entrance to the glass-walled
business) back to 8- (at the lack of a clear meaning of the lit business
function.)

[Richard Carl Silk]

Last night (being "Good Friday") I sorta fell asleep on the couch, had dreams,
made it to bed, had dreams, and even letting the dog out in the morning, napping
on the couch, had dreams there as well.

Here's the thing: although I always awoke thinking, "Those were some
interesting dreams," or similar thoughts, by the time I arose for the day,
they'd all pretty much just *vanished* / evaporated, which I found a tad
curious.

Well, here it is, 11:37 AM 3/30/2024, and I was just folding laundry (amidst
also sorting things here in the home, where stuff has collected for roughly 6
decades) and *one* of the dream snippets suddenly came back to me:

A fellow of perhaps middle-to-older age (who looked a bit like me but with
darker hair and clothing, *possibly* in a tuxedo, sort of like a member of a
local community theater *or* orchestra, a tad on the "fatter" side) walked past,
with a pair of pink, micro-fiber pillow cases draped around his neck / over his
shoulders, as if he were an orchestra conductor or something, clarity 9,
although the pillow cases were clarity 10- to 10.0, as they are something the
assisted living facility has yet to return after Mom's passing. (It's sorta
been something of a running tag with them— have they found them yet? and what's
the reason for laundry getting lost anyways?)

It has occurred to me that *some* of my "better selves" (personalities I might
have been had I gone in direction X instead of Y back in my youth) *might* be
stopping by, across the quantum universe, to pay their respects / acknowleding
the passing of "our" mother.... maybe.

[Richard Carl Silk]

I'm a bit mystified as to why the "spell checker" failed to catch that "Satuday"
in the subject line, but ah well....

[Richard Carl Silk]

15:50 PM 3/31/2024 HAPPY EASTER! †
Just this afternoon, there were enough dreams *on the couch* to pretty much
replace all the ones from this morning, however, there's one "morning dream"
that still remains fairly memorable:

The dreamer was in a shaded, outdoor area, similar to a type of glen or cove
*bordering* the edge of a small pond.

And while there were *many* elements preceding this part of the dream, this is
the only part that remains "in place," unevaporated: The pond was perhaps 100'
across and round, meaning it had a circumference of roughly 2pR, the radius
being 50', or simply px100, = 314.159265...'

At any rate, a *really good* stone skipper *might* make a skip from one side to
the other. But the pond was calm, and along the ground around the pond (in the
shady area) were various *large* "giant swans" (as the narrative mind informed
the dreamer.) Each swan seemed to have along with it 2 or 3 other life forms,
but whether they were people or "baby giant swans" was never discussed or
revealed. Clarity (not evaporated yet) "peaceful" 8-ish, although I'm *fairly
certain* it was 7-symbolic.

This is a dream from a few nights ago (sometime within the past week) that just
came back to memory, although I'm uncertain whether I posted it or not, thinking
"not," so here goes:

The dreamer was on the to edge / ledge of a high wall. Down below was the
appearance of rushing water, at something like a river or creek speed, possibly
that of the spillway of a dam.

It *felt* like / seemed there were *two* other entities up on the wall with the
dreamer, both seemingly female in nature, although neither of them were actually
"looked at," merely *noted,* as the dreamer's attention was studying ("figuring
out") the water down below (like maybe 30'–40'?) and the wall had something of a
left-right (east/west) orientation to it: if the dreamer (and 2 others) on the
wall were dead center (the dreamer center, one entity on the wall to the right,
one to the left) and the dreamer's body was *basically* headed right (so that
the one to the left was basically "behind" the dreamer) and the water down below
was basically "in front" of the wall, say, to the "north," then the water was
flowing "west to east," left-to-right, and the two entities were encouraging (or
perhaps enticing?) the dreamer to "take the leap" down to the water.

Now, to be clear, I've *often* been attracted to flowing water in various
dreams. As the dreamer, I've *often* simply dropped into a flowing channel,
much like at a water fun park, but in dreams, more like water spillways, with
the current moving faster than a person can walk or swim, or in most cases,
swim— The dreamer simply "floats along for the ride."

Water in dreams *often* refers to "future opportunity," without judgment as to
"good or bad" opportunity, but choppy waters indicate emotionally fraught
situations, perfectly calm water can indicate some (generally) "good" situations
(one even led to a Christ-like moment) although water *certainly* indicates
"change," thus sometimes also "death."

So in this case, the dreamer is looking down at that water rushing by with the
two entities (females?) encouraging a leap, and the dreamer replies something to
the effect of: "Ahhh, I'm not sure— that water actually looks *pretty shallow*
for such a deep dive...." and with that, the dream ended, with the impression
that the dreamer *avoided* choosing to jump. Clarity 9-ish, although the
lighting was dark, like a medium-to-heavily overcast day.

(By the way, I recall having at least *one* dream (DECADES ago!) where a jump
led to a floating/flying follow-up rather than a total plunge to the bottom.)

So back to the one's from the couch just now....

In one scenario, the dreamer was examining what looked like trash (but more like
*product*) along the street curb, in an area similar to "across the street"
which, IRL, is/was the Bell's home (which will likely be going up for sale soon,
as both the parents are now dead, and the 2 living boys (Tommy died some years
ago) have their own places, apparently.

In the dream, whoever lived there was someone else, with a "feeling" like they'd
moved there from California, only while *some* new Tennesseans are "good"
ex-Californians, there was a feeling like this particular resident was a tad on
the "flaky" side, and that impression was due to all the "product" that was out
along the curb, as if awaiting the trash guy to come and pick it up.

As the dreamer was "fanning through" packets after packets (imagine a regular
8œx11" paper in a see-thru, plastic baggie, like a comic book) there was the
running thought like someone has when looking through an interesting catalog,
like, "Ooo! I'd like to have *that* one!" although it was never clear if these
"packets" were discarded trash, or possibly temptations to be chosen from.
Either way, when the dreamer tried to go back through them again, the one that
seemed interesting failed to be seen, and the dreamer pretty much just dissolved
away from that scene entirely. Clarity either 7, 11, or 9. Kinda reminds me of
Jesus in the Desert in Matthew chapter 4.

In a much longer dream, the action begins to "become memorable" toward the end,
where the dreamer is moving around inside a church, *similar* to most any
larger church, but with a "feel" similar to my local church, although the visual
elements, the "setting" in the dream, are *much* different.

In one area, the dreamer is waiting around to see if a conversation may be had
with a particular individual, who is seen coming and going into an area on the
other side of the place where the dreamer is waiting. (Wasn't exactly a
hallway, nor a lobby, but more like an area room adjacent to the area where the
person in question was located.)

A person asks the dreamer as to the why/what's up with being there, and the
dreamer explains how he's interested in seeing if he can get a *job* in that
area, having had experience with counting the receipts from his own church
before in years past, thinking that the area was likely the business area of the
building wherein the plate was counted after the service.

I have the impression that a job was not available at that time, although I have
no clear recollection of any dialogue.

However, what happened next was a bit more interesting: the dreamer was
wandering though the interior of the building (again, the dream set was
*nothing* like the church I attend) and ended up looking for an *exit* (whereas
the typical dream element of wandering through a building is looking for a
*restroom!*)

The dreamer comes into an area similar to a type of "company apartment," like a
small room set up for someone who actually lives *in the building,* as if in
compensation of salary, and notices that there's a view that pretty much "opens
up" to the courtyard, 3 stories below, which looks like a bit of a scary fall
hazard, then turns towards a wall with two doors, one of which seems to be a
bathroom, but the dreamer is looking for the *exit* to get out of the building,
when the dream ends, clarity 9-ish.

[Richard Carl Silk]

I wrote the "Happy Easter" message *yesterday,* on Sunday, March 31st, but was
having trouble getting the message sent. Tried a *bunch* of different things,
then finally gave up and came back today, Monday April 1st, and guess what the
problem was?
The subject line had a cross (†) (a simple ASCII character, called a "dagger")
in it, and *that* was what kept the content from posting!

So I just moved it into the body of the text, and *Presto!* the message sent.

Post by Richard Carl Silk
15:50 PM 3/31/2024 HAPPY EASTER! †

<snip>