Autonomy

... or lack thereof.

When normal life is disappointing, dreams are a refuge. Unsatisfied with the servile repetition of your daily routine? A dream can take you on an adventure, pose choices that mean something, show you something new. If you’re in a creative rut, a dream can spark an idea, play music in your ear or enact the plot of your next novel. If you’re scared, in a dream you may face your fear. Maybe you find out that the thing you were afraid of is not quite so bad, or, conversely, you find it every bit as terrible as you could have imagined. Either way, you will awaken with courage. And no matter the setting, the company, no matter the challenge facing you or the steps that you must take to surmount it, when you are dreaming, everything feels right. The ennui of waking life is nonexistent in this realm. Whether your dream puts you in the path of a dangerous killer or in the front of your high school classroom dressed only in your underpants, you rise to the task unquestioningly. Your mind is completely in the moment; it does not complain about its fate, even if it is tragic or terrifying. Even in the most mundane dream about work or school or grocery shopping or taking out the trash, the one emotion that you will never feel is boredom. Your mind does not ache to be somewhere else. Presumably, if it wanted to, it would just go.