“Who am I to dis-agree?” Okay last Eurthymics gag.
I’ve been taking some time of in the last few months, and one of the great joys of having no job is not having to set an alarm. I don’t think your dreams are ever as sweet as when they are allowed to end naturally.
I heard once that Thomas Jefferson used to fall asleep in his chair with two metal balls in his hand, because the time just before sleep is golden with creativity, as the mind relaxes and is allowed to wander. When he started to fall asleep his hand would relax, the balls would drop to the floor and wake him up, to remember and record his ideas and dreams. I once heard about a person who claims an entire book appeared, fully formed in their mind, using this method. Over a period of weeks they were able to transcribe it. Not sure if it was any good, can’t remember the end of the story, but still, its a book in a few weeks without doing much work. So can’t be too bad.
Some people dream profound things, I dream nonsense. Last week I dreamt I invented a cure for sunblock. My miracle cure allowed people to remove the effects of sunblock, so they were once again free to get burnt. I was enthusiastic about it in the dream, singing its virtues to one and all, going to be rich I was. I couldn’t see at the time, and until I woke up and thought about it again, people could just not put on sunblock to begin with.
Sometimes and its with great regret, I do have to get up for something, like lunch. In this case my girlfriend has developed a system far superior to any alarm clock, I tell her the time to wake me, she comes in and pulls my big toe. Having your big toe pulled is a curious feeling that there is no good reason to ever feel. Give it a go now, I’ll wait…. reach on down there put your thumb on the front and you index finger round the back and give it a good tug.
She never stays in the room. She never tell me the time. She never pulls a different toe. Always one tug, big toe, then leaves. She just yanks on my big toe, then leaves. Its an unorthodox way of being woken up, I’ll give you that.
Link: Sweet dreams are made of Trees €22 at ABT




