Life is But a Dream
I've been musing with a friend about where we are, where we were and what might have been. The flow of the conversation is mostly about time and where we end up thank to our choices and actions, or not doing so. It is a dark and violently windy night outside. Halloween is fast approaching, so the night is rather fitting, especially so when talking of ghosts past.
Simple decisions, that at first intent, be short term courses of action, can one day have you looking back over years. What happened? Those little incremental periods add up. It is like your dreams, where in you are one situation, and then seemlessly the dream shifts and you find yourself elsewhere. Often life feels like it is happening to us, just as dreams do.
But, then there also happen to be those periods of life, and dreams, where we take charge. Everything just falls into place.
I see the markers of time around me and on me, but within me, I just don't feel it. I can conceptualise it, when I think, hey I've known this person 20 years.
Why these musings? The question at the heart of all of this, is how long do you persist in a certain direction before you have to admit to and then commit to change. I have to say, that my life, has many a time, brought change, regardless how much I wish it to be otherwise. I guess it comes down to having the grace to accept.
Thus upon reflection, at least for me, I will see and experience that the very clear signs that change is immanent, or in process, meaning no need to worry about if I need to question if I should persist. Panic sets in when we resist and try to hold on. It is like a drowning person thrashing to stay afloat; they only sink. The dream becomes a nightmare.
I often have dreams, that are cohesive with previous ones. For years I have had the thought, that perhaps in my dreams, I am living another life, a parallel one. In the same way that we wake up from those dreams, perhaps one day this dream will end and I will awake in the other.
Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.
Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream.
Throw your teacher overboard and listen to them scream.
"The Split", Leo Plaw, 80 x 60cm, oil on canvas
Leave a comment below, upvote and resteem if you like it.
More of my artwork can be found on my website. LeoPlaw.com
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Hi! I really like your art! I was wondering if it would be ok if I could feature this piece along with a poem of mine? I would, of course, give you full credit and link back to your original post. Let me know if that's ok with you!
Hi @sunravelme! You are most welcome to. Comment here again with the link when you have posted it. =)
Absolutely! Thank you so much for letting me feature your art- it was perfect!
https://steemit.com/poetry/@sunravelme/blind-hands-original-poem-featuring-the-art-of-leoplaw
That's definitely my favorite from your paintings!
Tip!
Thanking you most kindly good sir! =)
The tipping bot seems to be down again dammit :/
The upvote came through @trumpman. Thank you! =)
Those pesky bots... they're meant to be more reliable than the humans. 8P
mmm :)... when we look at the rock split, we think it happened by force... but, tiny gentle streams of water... little by little, hours by eons cut through the rock, and one day split it apart... most significant changes in life can be seen as sudden but perhaps can be traced to very small decisions and actions...
Love your thoughtful piece.
Thank you for your insightful response @ankapolo. Time is the great equaliser. Thus we have to make the most every moment we have.
Perhaps right now, we are only living inside a dream. And once we dream at night, we are only dreaming inside of a dream. Who knows?
The painting is very amazing! It is very colorful without overpowering the masterpiece's elegant concept.
Thank you @smaeunabs! The sleeper must awaken.
"For years I have had the thought, that perhaps in my dreams, I am living another life, a parallel one."
You must know this, by Master Zhuang:
Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, a veritable butterfly, enjoying itself to the full of its bent, and not knowing it was Chuang Chou. Suddenly I awoke, and came to myself, the veritable Chuang Chou. Now I do not know whether it was then I dreamt I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou
No I haven't Otto. But I think I have encountered something similar. We'd better be careful how we treat those butterflies, lest we be hurting ourselves. ;-)
A short paraphrase of this is used in the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_and_Guildenstern_Are_Dead
The reason I know this is because I acted in this play decades ago at the UofL Theater.
The story is bizarre, surreal and dream-like, so the quote fits.
I saw the film, it was brilliant!
so did I - and unbelievably, the whole thing is on You Tube:
On YouTube for only so long... until it ends up like two above. ;-)
I seen 3 versions posted so far, one goes back to 2012. When I like something, I download it. Usually, with certain movie companies (or the BBC) things don't last long on YouTube. I downloaded Robert Hughes art series "The Shock of the New" before it got pulled again.
Sounds like you have a decent video collection to raid then.
Wooow! Tim Roth and Gary Oldman?! So watching!
This inspired me to post one of my favorite novels - and doing a search, I discovered the whole movie of this on You Tube, which I added to my post:
https://steemit.com/book/@thermoplastic/the-lathe-of-heaven
I'll check it out.
Have you ever seen "Waking Life"?
no, I haven't, but the interesting thing on doing a quick search is that one of the posters for this is largely derivative of one of Ursula Le Guin's book covers for Lathe of Heaven. So there must be a connection, or else the same graphic artist
Whoa, found the whole movie on
Vimeo:
Yes! That's the one. =) Enjoy!
The colours! And the water! I'm a bit of a sucker for nicely done water.
Your last paragraph about the dreams, I've sometimes wondered the same thing and hope that if that's the case the next dream is as nice as this one XD
Cheers @ryivhnn! I guess we'll get to find out about the next dream soon enough. Live the dream! ;-)
The split... It takes a lot of strength and courage to let go of things, situations and people that meant so much for you. Although change should be a good thing, disturbing morbid stability and getting us back into action.
I love the shadows those halves shed over the water! For some reason I see myself hiding in there.
Thank you Ruth!
The rock is split opening up new ways. I like your expression, "morbid stability".
I'll have to look more closely in the shadows to discover if I can spot you there. ;-)
Well I said "morbid" because I had in mind toxic and stagnant relationships where neither partner has the courage to end, but when someone dares to leave it can be such a deliverance!
Tell me if you find me in the shadows :P
And did you dare to leave?
"The art of letting go and moving on is an acquired taste one only knows after they know nothing else for long enough. The first step is forced, and every step after is felt."
― Christina Hart
Oh I sure did, the moment I accepted that the relationship with myself was the the only one to last for a lifetime and I had to protect it.
Lovely quote, that's very true! Thank you! :)
Yes, we have to cultivate the relationship with ourselves before we can do so with others.
Hi @leoplaw! @trumpman is sending you 0.1 SBD tip and @tipU upvote
:)
@tipU - send tips by writing tip! in the comment, get share of the profit :)Upvote me and get a upvote from me!just simple check my profile @mrsayem