Chapter 2: The Lost Chapter

I usually avoid caring about things since caring usually leads to disappointment and pain. But I always get frustrated when I can't recount a recent dream. The void that is left behind by a lost dream is hard to fill and I can't help but care about the loss of a potentially great story.

I have tried various ways in order to prevent this memory loss: talking to myself about the dream, keeping a dream journal. None of these solutions were effective since I always seemed to forget the dream as soon as I let my mind wander after waking up. There goes the $5 I spent on buying a nicely-bound journal. I still haven't found a use for that ex-dream journal.

On the occasions when I do happen to retain a clear memory of a dream, it usually makes no sense. One of the strangest dreams that I remember was of me running away from evil unicorn-bearing plants down my neighborhood street. Another was of my seeking of my father: I wandered around an unfamiliar city which had a volcano at the center. I eventually found a maze of office cubicles on the side of the road after riding around in a taxi for a few hours but I woke up right after I stepped out of the yellow vehicle.

There is only one dream which I am happy that I have remembered (not that I don't value the two previously mentioned dreams... this one just makes more sense). It was about a prince who was extremely well practiced in woodworking and something led to another and something something princess. After a few years, my memory has become muddled which is rather sad: the one dream I value most out of the three I remember is the one I remember the least. Furthermore, while I was in my dream, I even told myself that this would make a great plot for a story and that I must remember it. Too bad I didn't.

My life. Forgetting dreams and such.

The one bright light in these dream voids represents the glimmer of hope, not just of having more, better dreams, but of knowing that there is more out there to discover. Becoming an inspiring novelist is a silly dream of mine. Whenever I seriously consider it, I remind myself that writing an original novel is extremely difficult -- so many stories have been written so what else is there to write?

The dreams that I have lost include many potential stories. Even though they are lost, their existence, however transient, is evidence of the hope for continuing originality in the world of novel-writing. So amidst the feelings of unhappiness after forgetting a grand dream, there is a small inkling of hope for better dreams in the future.

On a sort-of-random-but-not-really note, this, if you have not noticed, is Chapter 2 of my series of pointless blog posts even though it should be 6... or 7? It was recently pointed out to me that I had mis-titled my posts and left out the second chapter. I initially felt self-loathing for not having noticed this mishap earlier but eventually I thought of a great way to mend this error. I would write a blog post about the advantages of forgetting things! That way I could make it seem like this blog post was extremely well planned like I purposely forgot to make a Chapter 2 in order to write about forgetting things later on.

There's usually a silver lining!

Generally, I make sure that the few things that I do care about in this world always have at least some good outcome no matter how badly things turn out. Like dreams: even when you forget them, there's always some positive way to look at them; and blogs: even when you screw up you can always find a way to fix everything.

It's holiday season but it's not even cold. Don't drink too much eggnog. What presents are you expecting for this holiday season?