Yeah. This website just got a little weird.
The thing is, I’m absolutely amazed at how creative I am…when I’m asleep.
When I’m awake? Not so much. Let’s think about this: all my games have been rehashes of older games that I enjoyed that no one is making any more. That’s not particularly creative.
In my dreams, though? I’ve composed music, written entire stories (which play out like movies), and designed much more creative video games.
For instance, just a couple nights ago, I dreamt I was watching an anime about a young girl who is normally sweet and kind, but has a magical, demonic side that she must struggle to control. I remember the name of the anime: Avertigo. I even remember the anime’s logo. But I woke up before I saw the ending.
A while back after a day working on Inaria, I dreamt I was in a cathedral-like structure, bright with clouds near the ceiling. In the center of the floor was a circular map of a fantasy world. Realizing I was dreaming, I stepped over to the map in order to try to memorize it. As I did so, a gospel choir started singing:
‘Cross this great world I have trod
Stood astride it like a god
And then, maddeningly, I woke up. I remember the lyrics and even the tune, but I have no idea what the next line was going to be.
I also recently dreamed that I was a new hire at a software development firm. The facility was incredibly impressive, with futuristic-looking corridors lit by soft light, a huge break room with tons of arcade games, huge glass windows that looked out onto a beautifully-landscaped quad and…um…a room full of pods that you could step into that would clean and dry both you and your clothes in a matter of minutes.
That one was probably Stardock. When an issue is weighing heavily on my mind, I tend to dream of two extremes – the best I can imagine and the worst I can imagine.
F’rinstance, there was one Christmas when I was twelve or thirteen where my sleep was incredibly fitful – and every time I managed to fall back asleep, I’d dream one extreme and then other. In one version, our presents were ornaments our mother plucked off the tree; in the other the living room was packed with presents and there were hoverbikes and such.
But the biggest problem is that while I’m sitting there, effectively munching popcorn and watching this incredibly interesting scenario unfold, I tend to realize that I’m about to wake up. Your dreams are most clear and coherent when you are at the end of your sleep cycle, and then I wake up and I’m just boring old me again, and I try to grab as many details about what I was dreaming as I can.
I have once (once!) managed to complete a story in my dreams…but I think I’ll save that one for another time.
The biggest problem for me with the stories I live in my dreams is that.. they make sense while I’m sleeping, but afterwards (before they fade), when I recount the dream, it just.. doesn’t make sense.
A few years back I suffered a disease called ‘mole fever’, as it’s spread by moles. Basically it’s just a very high fever for some time; in some cases it destroys your liver, but not in mine. I was hospitalized, and they basically made sure that I got enough liquids. Why tell about this? Well, in such high fever, all I had to do to dream was to close my eyes, and movie rolled on. It was great! Brilliant transitions from one scene to another, continuing endlessly. Just too bad you can’t record such things..