Dreams of Influence

Dreams may seem fickle to some, but to others, dreams are the life force that carries our society forward. People dream of wealth. People dream of adventure. People dream of love. People dream of progress. There is no end to what people can dream. Small dreams, big dreams—they all have the potential to lead to something magical.

History makers, change makers, and activists are all dreamers that take action. They have shaped our world and continue to influence society.

A dream of the extraordinary, the peculiar led to what today has become a literary and cinematic affliction. Mary Shelley’s fantastic nightmare of a re-animated corpse inspired her classic, iconic novel Frankenstein. In her nightmare she saw “the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, showed signs of life, and stirred with an uneasy, half vital motion.” Her revolutionary novel was the first of its kind and basically created the science fiction genre.

Of course, there is no discussion of historic dreams without the civil rights movement leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He gave one of the most famous speeches at the Lincoln memorial that gathered a group of over 250,000 people. “I have a dream” were the words that sparked hope and action. King has inspired many generations of dreamers to fight for a better world.

Dreamers come in many different forms. Paul McCartney, legendary singer-songwriter, dreamed up one of the Beatles’ biggest hits. The song, Yesterday, came to McCartney in a dream. He seemingly composed the melody in his sleep, and it came back to him when he woke up. Today, the song is one of the most covered songs in history. Dreams can truly inspire art.

Art, literature, politics, and even science are all influenced by dreams. Yes, even logic and reason-based science has been shaped by dreams. Albert Einstein’s discovery of the principle of relativity was brought on by a dream. He dreamed he was sledding down a mountainside gaining so much speed he eventually reached the speed of light, and up above the appearance of the stars changed in relation to him. After pondering this dream in an awake state, it led him to a scientific revelation.

Dreams inspire and influence. Without fantastical, spectacular, nightmarish, disturbing visions during sleep, our world would not be what it is today. Dreams can be catalysts for the magnificent and the change that the world needs.

By Quinn WIlson

The eerie silence of the night rattles my eyelids open to the sight of a glistening night sky. Living in the city, I am not used to the quietness that is common in the forest. I am accustomed to bustling city sounds and bright lights that tarnish and taint the sky’s natural landscape. Naturally, I am amazed by the Luminous balls of hydrogen and helium gas held together by gravity that throb and thump above my head. The wind rustles branches and leaves. Cicadas and crickets rub their mighty legs together creating the sweet melody of the night as a violinist in an orchestra. With the sky draping over me and the cool ground underneath my body, I begin to feel calm enough to inhale the surroundings darkness and when I exhale, I discover a stillness within myself.

A gust of wind ushers through the tree canopy, and I pull my blanket tighter around my small frame and push my body closer to Dominik’s. I lay my head still against his ribcage and listen to his heartbeat and breath in perfect rhythm with one another. The sounds of auscultations’ remind me of the presence of something much deeper: the depth beneath our thoughts where life begins. The wind is chilled, and the stars burn bright against the dark backdrop of our existence. Feeling invigorated by the coolness of night and brilliancy of the stars my body stirs. In response Dominik’s body rustles against mine and I can tell he too is mesmerized by the stars that cast an infatuating spell on us both.

Speechless and completely captivated, we lay motionless with our backs flat against the damp earth and gaze out at the sea of stars. After an eternity of silence Dominik speaks up, “I wonder what is up there? I mean, I wonder if there is life on other planets. I think that there is. I think there are planets just like ours expanding in galaxies that we don’t even know exist.” Without any doubt in my mind I reply, “Of course there is! We are nothing. You and I are specs of dust on an astral plane so large that neither one of us can even begin to comprehend its size. I believe there is life beyond us too.” “But what about God?” he asks. I let out a small laugh “Who am I to say if there is one definite God. But in all seriousness, if space is big enough for life on other planets, I think there is room for all sorts of gods and goddesses.”

Our bodies seem to sink further and further into the ground. “I think so too. I like to think that the sky is heaven’s garden, and the stars are heaven’s angles.” he tells me. “That’s a beautiful thought. I hope one day, a long time from now, I’ll see you there.” I kissed his cheek and he wrapped his arms around me bathing me in tenderness. I start to wonder about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living knowing that there is so much more we have yet to discover. I am a believer and I place all my confidence in the great beyond. Dominik points and whispers the names of the constellations in my ear, “Cassiopeia, Orion, Scorpius, Ursa major” which sends me into a starry, flowy dream voyage only rivaled by Chagall’s La Mariée.

A Celebration of Love

shot by Carly Collins

queerness to me goes so much beyond my sexuality. queerness or not tting into heteronormative relationships is embedded with how I express myself as a woman of color. being queer to me means nding a sense of self, love, community, and peace. as an asexual, queer woman I feel that I am often misunderstood but having that personal reassurance means the world and is the foundation for who I am.

syrena young

my experience being queer has been a transformative one. it’s always enlightening when you get the chance to fully understand your identity and make sense of why you felt so far removed from some of your peers. understanding myself to be someone who is a lesbian has opened up a pathway to understanding my gender and further has helped me gure out how i show up in the world. being part of the queer community has been an amazing experience and to know how many people feel the same ways i do and have similar experiences as mine makes me feel so supported and understood without having to explain my intricate thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

sid brown

A Dream within a Dream

By: Camile Cabrera-Ramon

Snuggled underneath my duvet, the evening takes on the aroma of night. Falling asleep is always the best part of my day. I love the serenity, the quiet, and the softness. I love the feeling of my mind shifting gears. My rapid thoughts can nally begin to slow down in these moments between wakefulness and sleep. In a world that cannot relent from insistence, slumber washes over me. I am standing on the edge of something incredibly important –nature’s farewell kiss of the day. Soft blue edges surround me as they surround the forthcoming sunset. The air is as sinless as the Garden of Eden. Blossoms of violet, crimson, burnt orange, and gold paint the sky and settle my heart. I feel the warmth of my breath unable to tumble its way out -of my mouth. I am mute for the joy that I feel surmounts everything else. Who knew an ending could look this beautiful? I have a hard time separating reality from my imagination. I wonder what is real and what is a creation of my mind? Some say dreams are illogical, and I would have to agree, because creativity is never logical. Creativity is the ability to bring something original into existance. Dreaming brings my creativity to life in vivid hues, scents, and sensations that cannot compare to the truth. There are explanations for how we dream; however, the explanations for why we dream are unclear. The sunset came in a bold brilliant blaze. I am at a distance from the sea. I see the shades of nightfall and hear the monotony of night roll in. The ocean laps lazily at the shore in a glistening blend of navy and royal blue. The constellation of stars in the dark, vast sky shines in contrast to the rising moon. The promise of the sun brings on reassurance like the crashing waves below me. Psychiatrist Carl Jung believed that dreams were “actually direct expressions of the mind.” He reasoned that dreams represented the mind’s unconscious and repressed state. My dreams are occasionally outlandish though, and often riddled with symbols, images, and objects of my daily considerations. My dreams represent my authentic self and make up who I am. The white gold moon in its heavenly and hellish exquisiteness drapes over the night - every crater, crack, and imperfection on bright display. The stars are silently present, yet I feel their trembling twinkle deep down in my center. Their persistent glimmer is occasionally met with a discreet ashing spark, imaginably an optical illusion. The spectacle alone could be called a psalm through the eyes of anyone willing to raise their heads upward. Neurologist Sigmund Freud believed dreams were “a form of wish-ful llment.” He supposed that one’s true desires are present in their dreams. My dreams often re ect my desires, and I habitually treat my desires as problems to be solved. Thus, my desires manifest themselves as goals, for which I always nd the means to ful ll. The moon morphs into the sight of a gracious goddess. My soul shakes at the sight of her genuine beauty. She feels like an extension of my nest self and everything I hope and long to be. She tells me she is proud of who I am now, and who I will become. I tell her we should get together more often. I wonder if she knows how much I look up to her kindness. She asks me if I still write about her. I tell her that I do, especially when I dream. Let me not forget to mention that dreams and nightmares are synonymous. You cannot have dreams without nightmares in the same way you cannot feel happiness without having felt sadness. I like to think of a nightmare as another type of dream, one that is more revealing and raw. Nightmares are the ghosts that haunt our present, past, and future. They bring all our dark- est fears to life. The moon morphs again but this time into the sight of a beguiling beelzebub. I feel like I have met him several times before but cannot recognize him. He tells me he misses me and my naked heart. I tell him he feels like muscle memory. I wonder how he knows I’ve only felt religion with people who have never stepped foot in a church. He asks me if I still write about him. I tell him that I am too busy now but sometimes when I dream about him, I do. Maybe there is no need to sperate your dreams and your reality for they are one and the same. I have no tight grip on reality or my imagination simply because neither will last forever. Everything that you and I possess can and will come to an eventual end. Not happiness, not love, not success, and blatantly not life will last. Perpetuity is a false sense of assurance. The only thing that I can cling to is continuity; sunsets like sunrises will transpire every single day. Continuity is the only constant and perpetuity is an illusion. Finally, the sun rose as if I had nothing more to do than warm up against those blue edges once again. The sun casts a rosy hue alongside the crisp, clear morning air. It gleams and glosses against the ocean. Beneath its ethereal glow there is the warmth of tangerine and the blush of scarlet. I am completely renewed and awake to all possibilities that lie ahead. After the blackness of night, the sun spreads its gold in every direction for all to feel the comfort of its light. Before I’ve uncovered myself from my duvet, I ponder sunsets and sunrises. My sunset holds peace, and my sunrise holds promise. They both come in the way natural forces do – with no invitation yet eternally welcomed. They are gallant and uninhibited. They are free for anyone who cares to open their eyes to dusk and dawn and watch the world sleep and wake. They make me question if I am living a dream within a dream. In the magni cent words of poet Edgar Allan Poe “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

BY LANA NASSIR