Awakening to Reality

Reality/Realities vs Dream

As you can imagine, the next morning I walk up groggy and confused. The first thing I wondered was whether I really 'woke up'. Perhaps my waking up was a dream, and I just fell asleep in the 'real world' which I saw as 'dream world'.

Suffice to say that I woke up with a terrible headache and had to drink two cups of coffee to get my brain working properly. After all, it's not every day that you come to question your very existence, your reality as it is.

I am sure that you understand what I am talking about. After all, if you have stuck with my story so far, you must be getting one of these brain-exploding headaches (the ones where it feels as if your brain might explode from information overload at any moment).

Anyway, no matter how confused or, if I am being honest, scared I was about possessing all the knowledge to understand what was going on, I realized that I couldn't walk away from this. There were all these questions that I needed to know the answers to, even if it meant pulling the rug from under my feet.

I guess one of the biggest advantages and disadvantages of being human is having such a strong curiosity to learn about everything around us, whether we can see it or not. As I am sure you will soon learn, this can be both a blessing and a curse.

It was often seen as a blessing in human history since it led to some of the greatest discoveries of mankind. However, it has led to some of the biggest dangers that we have ever faced. Think nuclear power and how it was supposed to be this vast source of energy and was quickly turned into a weapon.

It was my innate curiosity that convinced me to stick with this whole story of what's real and what's not. Since it seemed like my friend could provide me with the necessary answers, I decided to invite myself over to her house.

I had a feeling that, for her, it was all just a philosophical debate, but I was sure that she was on to something. At the time, I thought that maybe with her ability to approach things with a philosophical mind and my ability to connect the dots, we could figure out what was going on.

I was right. However, after learning everything I've learned, I wish from the bottom of my heart that I was wrong.

But I am getting ahead of myself again. I promised you a slow awakening, and I keep my promises.

As I was saying, I arranged to meet up with my friend and immediately started getting ready to go to her house. As far as I was concerned, there was no time for wasting because everything was becoming even crazier than before. My dreams were realistic, my real life seemed less real with every passing minute. All I wanted was for the confusion to finally end.

Upon arriving at my friend's house, I could see that I would have to be patient with her, after all, what were a few more hours when I might have spent my whole life living a lie or believing in a lie.

The reason for this was that my friend was barely awake and was shuffling around the house like a zombie. It almost convinced me that this was reality. After all, if it was a dream, why would she dream of herself going around in slow motion. Still, I waited patiently for her to wake up, to confirm my doubts.

"I want you to tell me what is the connection between what you told me about reality and dreams? How does it explain the strange dreams I've been having?" I asked once I judged her awake enough to speak.

"You sure are taking this very seriously, Dawn. These are just philosophical postulates, many of whom were interpreted by me, thus not in their original form. You do know this is not real, just a hypothetical discussion, right?" She asked.

Honestly, she confused me even more, the day before it sounded as if she was about to impart crucial wisdom on me, but now she was going back on it, defining it as a theoretical discussion. Either way, I wanted her to go on talking, so I just nodded my head in agreement.

"Alright. So, upon hearing many different philosophical debates about dreams and reality, some people have started wondering about some of the details. One of the most common questions was, how is it then possible that we don't all dream the same dream if dreams are real? They went on to say that it would only make sense for us to share the same dreamscape if the dream world was truly the only real world." Tifanie said.

"That is a good question. It didn't even occur to me. Probably because people doubting reality as such confuses me." I told her.

"The answer is easier than one would assume, and for that reason more difficult to accept. We don't dream the same dream because our perception of what we see is different thus our reality, or at least what we think of reality is different." She said.

"Huh?" I asked stupidly.

I am sure you agree with me, and you were secretly thinking the same thing while reading these lines. Honestly, most people would be more than confused by the development.

My friend chuckled at my utter confusion before she went on to explain, which annoyed me more than I would care to admit. In her defense, she didn't understand the seriousness of the revelations she was providing me with.

"Remember how, when we talked about reality, we said that different people perceived reality in different ways depending on many different factors?" She asked.

"Yes. But how can that apply to dreams? It's not possible to see things so differently. There surely have to be some similarities?" I asked, utterly confused.

"Well, okay let's look at it this way. When you look out of this window, what do you see?" She asked, pointing to the window.

"I see a perfect blue sky with a fluffy cloud in the shape of a horse," I said, without even thinking about it.

"What about that lovely building?" She asked, drawing my eyes to the huge building across the street.

To say I was shocked that I didn't even notice the building would be an understatement. I mean, it was a huge modern building, beautifully built and yet my sight didn't even register it. It was as if it went over it without even registering its presence and focused on the beauty of the sky instead.

"I see your point. I didn't even notice it, but still, it can't be as drastic as you suggest. There must be some reference points that are seen the same by everyone." I say, unconvinced.

"I am afraid not. Every person sees different things or sees them differently at least. You love nature and that's why you always pay attention to it more while other people would focus on the building and miss the beauty of the sky. The funny thing is that the same is true for what we see as dreams, so how do we tell the difference?" She said.

Honestly, I was so confused that there was nothing that I could say. At least nothing that wouldn't make me sound like a complete idiot who doesn't understand anything.

"As my reality is so drastically different from yours, it can be said that we are talking about multiple, subjective realities and not one objective reality. The same goes for what you see as 'dream world,' we all perceive and catalog things around us differently, which doesn't make them any less or more real. It just makes them different." She said.

"So maybe the reason my dreams feel more real is because they are my reality? And this moment right now is just a very strange dream I'm having?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Isn't it just confusing enough to have the possibility of being a dream?" She asked.

It made me wonder more than ever. Was I really in a dream having philosophical debates? As you would probably agree, it was just weird enough to be possible. What are you thinking right about now? Is what I am telling you real or a dream? Are you ever truly awake?