happened to say, "Oh, sorry, I interrupted you. You were about to
post something." I know blogging has become a big part of my life in
the last 18 months, but uh-oh, heavens to murgatroyd, I am actually
starting to speak aloud in bloggese. Oh, well, I always wanted to
learn a second language.
Not only, am I speaking the language of blog, I am dreaming in blog
mode, as well. My dream conversations are typed in comment form,
complete with the characters in my dreams contained in cute little
one inch square avatars. Now, if I attach a printer to my brain, I
would have a complete dream journal, ready to go, in book form,
since I'm already dreaming in text.
Speaking of dream journals, I am fascinated with dreams and their
meanings. My daughter sparked my interest in dream interpretation
several years ago and suggested I invest in a good dream dictionary.
I must say, it has been very helpful in deciphering my own emotions
and, in turn, being able to put a healthy perspective on them.
One of the very first dreams, I was able to interpret, with the help
of my trusty new book, was a vivid dream in which I received a
postcard, with a beautiful olive tree postage stamp. In the dream, I
was extremely upset because the stamp was torn. It seems like such
a simple dream, but I woke up feeling troubled and thoughts of the
dream persisted through the day.
After looking up the elements, I found that the postage stamp
represented communication, the tree represented a family member,
and the olive represented travel. WT was traveling in a third world
country at the time, and I was worried after not hearing from him
for several days. Pretty clear, huh? It's amazing how our minds
create dreams to manage life's events and emotions. So, the dream
ended up making perfect sense, after I figured out what it meant.
It's obvious this dream was totally PB (that's pre-blog), since it
wasn't in comment form.
I guess it's really no wonder why I am dreaming, as well as speaking,
in blog mode these days. I judge most things on whether or not
they happen to be blogworthy. My new mantra is "Can I blog this?".
Maybe I need to write a blog dream dictionary.
artwork: The Dream by Henri Matisse, 1940
On a sort-of-kind-of related topic, a friend of mine stopped me mid-coversation the other day to ask me who on earth I was talking about. I'd made a reference to something a blogging friend had said, and forgotten that, of course, my "real life" friends don't know the ones I meet in the blogosphere. :) The point: don't feel bad. I think we all start to merge our blogging/"real" worlds at one point.
ReplyDeleteneat dream story - and of course i love the matisse image!!! have you been over to my dream journal blog? [can't remember if i've seen you there? - a mind is a terrible thing to lose, isn't it?] - i want to incorporate a lot more empirical info into it - i have about 6 books on dreams/interpretations,etc, sitting at my left elbow as i type - anyway - great post!
ReplyDeleteI find it troublesome when speaking with non-bloggers. I need to tuck away a large portion of my life...there is such a gap! I speak of Willow or Leslie or Jeane and then need to explain they are my blogging friends and I'm sometimes met with a blank stare as if they are my imaginary friends?! ha
ReplyDeleteOh Willow, I think you need a holiday!! Perhaps a Greek isle, secluded, and filled with delicious food and wine. But no computers!!
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't do what I did last week. Stand at your front door, resolutely punching the car key button and wondering why the darn thing wasn't opening!!!! Yikes! Do you think I might have been somewhere else in my head, or what?
Blue Sky, oh, I know, I am always explaining who my blog friends are. I am constantly talking about all of you. I'm so familiar with that same, blank, I feel so sorry for you, stare!
ReplyDeletelol. i can totally relate...my kids frequently ask how many comments they got on a story about them...i guess i should not send them to their room for not being blogworthy on those dry days? just kidding...no really. smiles.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is for sure a world unto itself and for sure it is a HUGE part of our lives. I think the only thing I don't like is the fact that at this point I'm watching what I write. I suppose I should just have a blog for myself where no one's feeling would be hurt if I express myself. Let's face it we do have feeling we need to write down, (or at least I do) just to get them out. We don't necessarily need to have someone read them. And yes I think "is this blog worthy"? I'd love to know what dream book you found so helpful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful post! I went to the library yesterday to look up a dream that I had had the night before! The number 11 clearly appeared in it and I remembered that particular part of the dream for a long time that morning. Apparently the number 11 is a 'master number' and means intense spirituality. It is assoc. with angelic being or other dimension entities bringing wisdom. How cool is that?
ReplyDeleteIrene, it's Tony Crisp's "Dream Dictionary".
ReplyDeleteI've been talking to my non-bloggy friends and mention someone from my blog world. "Oh, my bloggy friend, Elle Bee posted the funniest story the other day!"
ReplyDeleteA lot of blank stares...
And I do have weird dreams too. Especially when I was pregnant!
Clare, I am seeing 11:11 everywhere, everyday. On blog comments, the microwave, the cable box, digital clock, my cell phone. When it first started happening a few years ago, right after my beloved grandfather died, I thought I was going nuts. I've often thought they were little messages from him.
ReplyDeleteI totally know what you mean. I as well am constantly thinking about blogging and seeing things everywhere that I "must" photograph for les blog. When I have my images ready to go the night before (as I post daily at 5:30 am or so) I sleep better. After over two years I cannot imagine my life without my blog and of course the blogs of my daily haunts. xo from les Gang
ReplyDeleteI love Blue Sky's comment - thankfully my best friend is a blogger as well and we chat about Willow, Posy or Jammie Dodger as if they're old friends from college and we know them "so" well. Funny.
That dream dictionary has come in so handy. And we've had some doozies over the last couple of years! I'm always amazed how spot-on the interpretations are!
ReplyDeleteSo funny what Blue Sky Dreaming says here...non bloggers just don't get it! They actually do act like they are imaginary friends and don't believe we can feel an attachment to people we have never personally met.
wow, 1000! a very incredible blog following - always my blog inspiration here :)
ReplyDeleteOh me too. I try to always take my camera around with me now and jot down little things so I will remember. I'm going to have to get high speed out at the country house soon as it is putting a crimp in my bloggy lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteMy dreams have been unusually intense lately.
Susan, we DO know each other so well! I know my blog friends far better than my "3-D" friends, as I call them, who I've known for years. We are much more open and prolific, as far as sharing is concerned, in the blog world. We chat with our blog friends on a daily basis. The 3-D's we have lunch with now and then, at best. It's a crazy phenomena!
ReplyDeleteWillow--What a great topic you bring up today. I also agree with Mary Ann (BSD)about talking to my family and friends about all of "you". (As if you has to be in quotes!). What is exciting is that it isn't all fiction. There are real friendships, advice, recipes, ideas to think about, art work, poetry, movies, etc. that come out of these blogs. I really don't know what I would spend my time on if I wasn't doing this. It has become a part of me now. A good part.
ReplyDeleteI know, I know. I mentioned my blog friends to someone the other day and they were quite taken aback at the idea that one could have friends one has never met in person. Cute post. I read the Neck book too and found parts quite good. I do think she captures NYCity living quite nicely.
ReplyDeleteSuki, Nora Ephron is so talented. I can't wait to see the Julia & Julia movie. She's so charming, as well as down to earth. I like to pretent she is one of my 3-D friends!
ReplyDeleteI dream every night & usually remember the dreams - I should get a dream dictionary too!
ReplyDeleteThe other night I dreamed that I had apparently had twins (I don't have - or want - children) & had left them in the care of some ne'er-do-well. When I finally remembered where I had left them & went to get them I found that the person had been keeping them in the garage. They were pale & unresponsive, but otherwise ok.
I awoke VERY disturbed about this. It's my understanding that dream children often signify some change in your life, but this change sounds kind of scary!
It IS an interesting phenomenon, especially for those of us who blog daily. I'm always surprised when one of my 3-d friends refers to something I did recently and I wonder how they knew . . .till I realize they must be reading my blog.
ReplyDeleteI figure it'll be a useful tool as I get older and more forgetful -- I can look back and see what I was doing the week before.
I had to write an essay for an assessment test I did last week and I swear, I know how to write an essay, I think, but, I know my essay came out like a blog post....hope that doesn't hurt my chances!
ReplyDeleteS
have you seen this New York Times article,
ReplyDeleteDay’s First Stop: Online? The article itself is forgettable, some of the readers' comments spot on instead. ;-) Wonder why there is no mention of checking your favorite blogs. Shoddy research? *chuckle*
Re "Mostly Martha"
ReplyDeleteI love that movie.
There's an American version out there, done with Zeta-Jones (the original is German), but I have been warned away by friends who have seen both. Have you seen the Z-J movie?
Blogging has become a job to me and I don't like that. I retired at 41 years of age and promised myself not to work again. Well I still work but not like at a job.
ReplyDeleteIt is like going to work and that's too bad. It isn't that important or shouldn't be. I think you need to go outside and pull up some weeds.
I read a blog the other day of a lady who did and it changed her whole life. She is now into restoring an old Victorian flowerbed.
And she isn't blogging about it. And that isn't a dream.
'3-D' friends. OK, that made me laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteMerisi, no, haven't seen the Zeta-Jones version, but it looked incredibly cheesy. Since I loved the original German version so much, I don't care to see the American remake.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Abe, have you sent spies over here to look at my flower beds? The one in front is in terrible need of weeding. We had a heavy rain this afternoon, so that got me off the hook. And besides, I like that romantic, overgrown look. ;^)
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am running a magazine, having to edit out the bad and try to put out an interesting read! Did I ever mention that I love that little profile image of yours, it reminds me of the guy from the "Saw" Movies!
ReplyDeleteThe blogosphere is a bit all pervasive.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do feel I 'know' my blog chums and would happily have a cup of tea with them.
When the children were small I was in a Jungian dream group. Ended of being featured on 'all things considered' on PBS!
Really fascinating.
You be very careful Willow! You might get into a conversation like this...
ReplyDeleteOtin, the SAW movies?!! You're bruising my elegance.
ReplyDeleteKevin, the key, here, is to look up the meaning of your dream BEFORE you tell anyone about it!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth! "All Things Considered"??! That would be a fascinating blog post. Too cool. You always amaze me.
ReplyDeleteYes; I, too, have started looking at the world as "blog fodder." Also, I am constantly referring to "a friend" who said this or did that . . . (blog friends, all).
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of dreams: I was just reading about dreams whilst taking a bath. Apparently, dreaming is associated with good mental health. People with sleep problems tend to have dreaming problems which leads to mental processing problems . . . and sometimes emotional problems.)
MOTH & I are opposites - he has the most amazing, complex & vivid dreams every night. He can describe them in minute detail days later. I on the other hand dream very little & forget them almost instantly. This worries me!
ReplyDeleteYes, this blogging thing does take on a life of its own. Although last week MOTH, who doesn't give a hoot about it all, looked at me after we were discussing something funny that happened here at Renovation Central. Without blinking an eye he said 'Mills, there's a blog post in that!' - now that worries me even more than the dream stuff!
Millie ^_^
Goodness me, Willow - dreaming in comment form!
ReplyDeleteMy fellow giraffes often tease me because I say, 'My human bloggy friends will like this,' - sometimes I think they believe that I imagine you all!
(What is the book you are reading, 'I feel bad about my neck'? It sounds intriguing!)
Ha ha, that's just great. I think I'm beginning to blog speak too, but blog dream? Oh, maybe that's to come. Lol. I have wild and crazy dreams with persistant, repetitive actions. The worst is my legs not being able to move properly. Yuk, I hate it. A super post.
ReplyDeleteAhhh ... you are suffering from bloggitis. I just made that up. I know what you mean, though, the dreaming/speaking, etc. It's all part of this amazing phenomena we're a part of.
ReplyDeleteDreams - yes! I, too, love exploring them and trying to understand what I'm telling myself. I was part of a dream group for many years in San Francisco - that was a great experience; I learned so many techniques for understanding dreams on several levels.
Did you know there is a dream library in ... is it San Rafael? ... California. They transcribe dreams and then file them according to type. They literally have millions of dreams recorded, can you imagine?
Cool post, Willow. Sweet dreams tonight!
Dreaming in blog? I can't WAIT!!!
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to a blog that was inviting dream inerpreters, if you care to take a stab:
http://www.playazball.com/archives/003090.html
blogging- i can see how it can become all-consuming. there's a lot to do in managing the details of a blog and then there are so many details managing the blog aren't there?! i see it as a place i visit - to give and to receive. dreams are similar.
ReplyDeletei love waking up with a dream fresh in my head and then unpacking its details - first the surface narrative, and then the symbolic deep mapping. it's like a multi-dimensional puzzle. with a prize!! have a lovely evening at the manor willow. steven
I have not remembered my dreams as of late. This concerns me as I consider them little hints to let me know what my true thoughts might be.
ReplyDeleteSometimes we need a dream to tell us to watch out for a certain someone, or to let us wake in a field of flowers.
this is such an interesting and fun post, willow. i look at my life in pre-blogging and post-blogging ways as well. it's kind of like when you are a new parent and you think "what in the world did i do with all my free time before the baby was born". now i think what a boring unmotivated non-creative soul i was before i blogged AND what did i do with ALL that free time??! hee hee
ReplyDeletedreaming in blog format is a new one!!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to meditate on this before I drift off tonight and see what happens!
I love when the world collide!
Intriguing, Willow!!! I relate! And I love some of the comments, e.g., perhaps we should go un-weed a weed. Well, that's not exactly how it was written, but that's how I see it. :-)
ReplyDeletePerhaps I shall go un-weed a weed, unveil a dream or two, and make a friend I can chat with over a cup of coffee!
Blogging can be addictive ~ but again, intriguing, as was your post. ♥
That is so funny Willow! I don't know if you should be worrying about it or not! Dreaming in comment form!! What would Jung say? Well that has given me a good laugh and calling your 'real' friends your 3D friends! You have such a creative mind! I do believe in the power of dreams and it is amazing what the dream state can give you if you listen. I admit to looking at things in my life to see if I can Blog about them but I don't speak Bloggese yet! Give me time. And congratulations on 1000 friends. And you are such a good friend to have 3D or not! You always give me a chuckle! xx
ReplyDeleteI used to think in Pitman's shorthand. Both in English and Afrikaans. I sometimes still do. As for the dreams, a friend would write her dreams every single day. I thought she was quite 'kukoo' at the time, but I see the relevence in that now.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely obsession blogging is!
Alright, Willow,
ReplyDeleteyour reaction to Elizabeth's comments gives you away! *chuckle*
Regarding "Mostly Martha" and "No Reservations", I read your sidebar comment only now. I wonder why Hollywood insists on remaking shallower versions of successful foreign films instead of looking for original scripts. Martin Gedeck played a leading roll in another successful German movie, "The Lives of Others"("Das Leben der Anderen")? Check it out if you have not seen it yet! It won an Oscar for best foreign movie a couple years back.
Merisi, yes, I've seen The Lives of Others, several times, in fact. It's very good. Another excellent foreign film that comes to mind, copied by a weak American version is "Shall We Dance". I loved the Japanese version way before we made the shallow version.
ReplyDeleteHi Willow
ReplyDeleteI am sure there are already students writing theses and studies on the phenomena of blogging ...it is a fascinating social experiment.
Happy days
Yup. Do that too! Even write the damned posts in my sleep or in my half awake mode. Then promptly forget them. They are, of course, my most brilliant posts and will never be written because are forgotten. Need a notebook by my bed. Aha! Will get one today.
ReplyDeleteWith all this bloggese Willow don't forget your native tongue!!
ReplyDeleteWhat I find the most interesting about blogging is the content - the randomness and stream of thought that ends up on the blog page. I never plan what I post from week to week and I love the way that life's adventure guides my thoughts. xv
great blog post, and comments! I often take photos with my blog in mind!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 1000th follower! :-)
ReplyDeleteTalking about bloggese:
Adding a few video clips of one of my favorite movies by Italian actor-director Nanni Moretti, I could not help but think of you! Have you seen his movie "Caro Diario"?
When I start to examine everything and weigh it up as blogworthy or not, and start to feel that maybe I should post two or three times a day, then I know it is time to take a rest (like now, I am fishing in Shetland).
ReplyDeleteThen again, I don’t wish to let down the few kind souls who actually read and occasionally comment on my blog.
Isn’t blogging/the blogosphere summed up by E.M. Forster’s “Only connect”?
Interesting that the whole Twitter phenomenon is dying off, as I predicted.
"DITO..."
ReplyDeletePS...and have you met your blogger friends on the street and know them instantly, though you've never met in real time...we're hooked...but I like it!
ReplyDeleteWillow, the first part of your post has put a smile on my face while I was reading it. So very funny! :-)
ReplyDeleteI just loved this post, describing so perfectly how we get ensnared into blogland so quickly. When I shower, I'm always thinking in terms of what I can write about next that won't take forever!
ReplyDeleteDream interpretation can be delightful or frustrating, depending on the dream(s) and how important they may be to you, in my humble opinion.
Great post Willow.
Why should the "real" world and the blog world be separate? I don't really think they are. Two hundred years ago people build deep friendships by letters because distances separated them. The bloggy world lets the same thing happen. Two hundred years ago (and a lot since), people published private tomes, and the blog is simply an extension of that same idea. With a larger and more diverse potential audience of course, but the same thing. I think the fact that blogese is creeping into your other world is simply a healthy integration of life and life.
ReplyDeleteLOL, I too have caught myself dreaming about blogging, are we turning into some kind of blog-robots? I often photograph skies, adittedly I have always photographed skies, but now I think of how I can fitt all that beauty onto a blog post!
ReplyDeleteMore serious writing has taken a back seat too.
Hello Weaver,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got it bad! What's the interpretation of a dream in blog-speak? Congratulations on 1000 followers!
Tom A, excellent point. My sixth great grandfather was a close and enduring friend of Thomas Jefferson, even though separated by distance. My ggggggg grandfather lived in South Carolina, so much of the friendship was carried on through correspondence.
ReplyDeleteI often think of myself much like Helene Hanff in "84 Charing Cross Road".
About dreams: yes, fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAbout the tree: maybe you just want a tree, an olive tree, to make a delicious olive oil, to make a superbe pizza (well, sorry, my Italian soul!).
About bloggese: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, let the bloggese just for you amazing posts. For life no!!!!!! :D
Blogging lets me get it all out, those locked things in my head. It is foster care for ideas that would have starved if the outlet wasn't there. Thank goodness, I do find that the word itself sounds funnier on my lips than in my head or coming out of my fingers. This was a great post!
ReplyDeleteAn excellent aid to dream analysis is Carl Jung's Man And His Symbols. It's not about dreams per se, but it provides an readable layman's grasp of Jung's work with archetypes and symbols. Read it and you won't view your dreams in the same way!
ReplyDeleteI guess I am still a newbie, I am not dreaming about blogs .. and frankly I think everything I see needs to be photographed and posted
ReplyDeleteMerisi, no, I haven't seen "Caro Diario", but if the recommendation is coming from you, I'm adding it to my Netflix queue immediately!
ReplyDeleteLOL.. i had the same thing happen as Carrie! while on vacation, someone brought up your pal Johnny Depp, so i proceeded to explain how you look like him, etc. they were like, "who is this?".. too funny, but glad i'm not alone! ;)
ReplyDeleteblessings,
-Tracie
You are always interesting. Different people interpret dreams very differently. I was brought up on Jungian interpretation.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting to me is that, however we interpret our own dreams, they become satisfying for us. As if dreaming was a supplementary benefit to thinking.
Oh yes willow, I know the feeling well - what shall I blog today - keeps the mind active though.
ReplyDeleteTracie, it cracks me up to think of vacationers chatting about how much I look like Johnny Depp! :D
ReplyDelete"We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." etc. Fascinating post, and I've loved the comments too. Do sometimes feel that my cyber-friends are more real than those in "3D." And congratulations on reaching 1000+ of us--quite an accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteI am always so happy to come to the manor. Interesting post. I don't know when I started having nightmares but it was a long long time ago. Dreams I have very seldom, so they are dear to me.
ReplyDeleteI had this whole comment about how I just woke up after working all night and wrote about my dream and then I go down my list of blogs and here you are are posting on dreams. Freaky deaky. I pray you don't think I copied you. Promise I didn't. Twilight Zone
ReplyDeleteTrish, Freaky deaky is right! No, actually it is just a part of these wonderful synchronicities we enjoy in the blog world. Love it.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, I have attempted to rewind live action in my home with the use of the satellite remote!
ReplyDeleteKat
Willow, I do this EXACT same thing in dreams where the conversation is typed out, with funny smiley characters, etc. And, as you know from reading my earlier blogs, i do indeed dream of lots of my blog followers or those I visit even though I've never met them in person. We really do become part of a this virtual community but community nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I so got your dream interpretation before even reading the symbology--make sense,...and I get the poem--what is said between the lines.
Yes, your blog idea would be fun. now, it;s your turn to write up possible blog titles rather like I did earlier today, but we;d get to vote on the best one! :)
P.S. I laughed when I rad about whether was something was blog worthy or not. Hahaha. Keep it up. We all do so much enjoy your blog. It never ceases to bring interest to my day.
Susan--if you read this--jammie dodger needs to be mmm now. Visit my new blog!
ReplyDeleteBoy, I am LATE to this party. Maybe I can help you clean up. But I loved the post. And it's so true. I view everything through the lens of my blog these days.
ReplyDeleteAnd the dreams....ooooh, the dreams. I love to dream. I have learned so MUCH about my life and gotten access to my brain in ways I never would have otherwise. So much happens in my dreams I could never post about it. But it sure would be fun to hang out in person sometime and talk about our dreams. :) Maybe when you get that keynote speaker spot at Blogher and I come to listen at your feet (or at least the front row!)
Thanks for this, Willow. Super insightful.
Saw this and thought of you...
ReplyDeleteFunny how the first dream you interpreted was about communication and here you are with your blog.
ReplyDelete