Hellos, Dreams, and Darshan

I've never introduced myself before with a dream.

"Hi, my name is Katie. I used to fall hundreds of feet off a sandstone cliff into a river almost every night when I was a child."

Interesting, but I liked it.  I actually listened while the others introduce themselves, each revealing an intimate part of their personality while telling stories of bears, wolves, flying and falling.  Stories similar in many ways but completely different and unique in others.

Just like people.

And so begins my first thoughts on this class- the relationship between dreams, stories and individuals.  One falls asleep and sees images completely unique to that oneself.  One wakes and reflects, continuing on into the story of the "conscious" life.  One writes and speaks and shares stories.  But what are dreams?  Do we dream them, or are dreams forceful natures revealed to us as we lie helplessly asleep?  Are dreams messages from a higher energy, or merely a reflection of our mind processing the day's work?  Are dreams the actual reality- could I be asleep while writing this?

I am looking forward to reading many stories, myths, and whatever else one might have to write from many different individuals to find where these stories come from, and to find how similar or different the themes carry from one to the other.

To conclude, here are a few images from the Darshan project, which awaken the dreams from my slumbering mind and bring them into the Bozeman sunlight of my living room.