Dream - Plato's Bed

After waking from my dream of past dreams involving two eating streets and the restaurants I ate at in past dreams (see below), I fell back to sleep and had this dream.

I was at my computer and suddenly the screen was filled with a 3D image of the earth traveling through space. The earth was small, but I could see all the continents and the cloud cover over certain countries in Africa and Europe. Beautiful, of course, enchanting, so enchanting I felt drawn forward toward the receding earth. Then I fell into the computer and found myself flying serenely, slowly, then quickly, in wide arcs as I pursued the earth.

Then I fell into an intense light, down a long spinning tunnel, filled with light, yet I could still see clearly out into star-filled space. At first I was frightened, then I felt calm, then I thought, "Suppose God's there waiting to judge me, I don't think I'll get off easy." Then I basically felt, "So what, let it be."

Then I was gently deposited on a big, wonderfully comfortable bed floating out there in space. With surprise and delight, I said aloud, "Wow, this must be Plato's Bed, the big bed form in the sky. So this is where I'll die. Not bad."

Then I heard a voice saying, with some impatient, "Get over it, you're just waking up." And I did, I woke up, in my own bed.

End of A Dream World

Last night I wanted to visit my two favorite neighborhood eating/shopping streets, one street perpendicular to another. I planned to stroll along, as I always did, passing by my favorite eating places until I spontaneously chose one. The choices were a candy/sundries store selling delicious sandwiches and egg creams; a Jewish deli serving all sorts of tasty goods;  a German bakery with great homemade soups and sandwiches and yummy sweets;  a cafeteria with inexpensive home style meals and puddings; and two Italian restaurants, one simple and inexpensive, the other pricier with delicious regional foods and desserts.

I had eaten at all these places many times, with great satisfaction, but I hadn't visited these streets or any of these restaurants in a long time. So I was doubly eager to get out there and enjoy some great eats.

Then, I heard myself saying, "Wait a minute, this is just a dream." That made me feel disappointed, but I resolved to visit these two streets the next evening. Or perhaps I would go early and take the bus that runs along one of these street out into the beautiful countryside, take a good long walk there, and then catch the bus back to find the right place to eat. Then I heard a voice saying, "But these two streets aren't real. You've only dreamed them in the past. You can't visit them tomorrow."

Then I woke up, scrutinizing my memory to see whether all those wonderful strolling and eating experiences were real, or just dreams. My memories of them were so vivid that I was convinced they were real. But as I thought about it I realized that I had no idea where this place of two wonderful streets was located. In fact, I realized that  I was indeed having memories of dreams, not realities.

I was so disappointed. I heard myself saying, "If they are just dreams I don't want to go there anymore. It won't be the same if I'm not convinced that my favorite restaurants were real. I can't pretend. I just won't have the same wonderful experiences."

I was sad, but eventually I went back to sleep and had the dream about Plato's Bed.