Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I Dreamed I Could Draw

The other night, I dreamed that I could draw.  I was sketching the outline of a Shakespearian costume--the sleeves, I think.  I remember marveling at myself: cool! I can DO this!

 Then I drew a man in armor holding a lance, and as I was drawing his arm holding it, I suddenly realized his entire head in his helmet was on backwards. So much for my drawing ability. 

But it made me wonder why I could draw at all in my dream. What's the difference between being able to manipulate imaginary lines in my head and doing it on the page? Fine motor skills, yeah. I have little to none of those.  But they say drawing is seeing. And if I can see, even briefly in my dreams, then why can't I draw when I'm awake?

Then again, I can fly in my dreams, too.  Are dreams only what we hope for or what we are actually capable of?

I think all dreams must be rooted in a tiny spot of reality somehow. If we only knew which spot it was. 

7 comments:

  1. i believe messages are sent to us in dreams:

    drawing means that you may have an artistic ability that should be given more expression. It may be a pun to say that you are drawing in inner resources. What you draw is also important as it can show the plans, problems and worries that you are trying to resolve.

    anything resonate?

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  2. You can draw when you're awake.
    With words.
    And you hardly ever get a helmet on wrong...

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  3. Interesting question about dreams/skills. I think dreams are my mind wandering around, wishing things for me. Oh. This just gave me an idea for a story. Seriously, gotta go.

    Thanks, Sara!

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  4. Maybe, in the words of Sam Phillips, "dream is the arm of God."

    Sara, I'm going to try to send you a few things if I can figure out how.

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  5. Oh, I love that quote! Sam is quite brilliant.

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  6. Hi Sara -- Jules just sent me over here. (Well, not in so many words, but she mentioned your recent post on dreaming.)

    The dreaming thing is (can be) confusing. Besides my post yesterday, which maybe channeled this one unknowingly, a couple other bloggers I follow got onto dreams within the last couple days, especially The Querulous Squirrel.

    Something in the air?

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  7. JES, I didn't write about my dream nearly as lyrically as you did about yours! I find it nearly impossible to convey with prose what actually transpires in my dreaming state. It's much harder than writing pure fiction.

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