I Dream in Escher

I've always wanted to create a dreams category on my blog and write posts of my dreams, but I have been hesitant because it seems popular to approach the interpretations and the symbolism of dreams in a mystical way.

I often remember my dreams and they are usually vivid and filled with detail.  For example, I don't just dream that I am in a subway station, I dream that I am in the metro in Montreal, with a polished concrete floor that is littered with garbage -flattened fountain drinks, gum wrappers and stains.

I think the best way that I can describe my dreams is to say I dream in Escher.  M.C. Escher was a Dutch artist who is known for his drawings of impossible reality.  He also incorporated alot of mathematical relationships into his drawings, especially symmetry groups.

Escher's Symmetry Work 22

Except I don't dream of symmetry, I dream of chemistry.  Like trying to solve quantitative analysis problems by watching electrospray ionization occur and then trying to figure out the concentration of the analyte in the injection volume.  Correctly solving this problem is tied with getting a job in Mongolia.  This is a classic example of what happens to me when I have to write an exam.   I must have been thinking about solving a chemistry problem I had been working on before I went to bed.  I just wish my brain would stop working on problems while I'm not conscious, because a mish mash of mass spec theory, quantitative analysis, and trying to figure out if I should apply for another job opportunity all at the same time, isn't so helpful to me when I'm asleep.

Escher's Relativity

A lot of my dreams this year have involved themes of walking on unconventional paths.  Often I'm hesitant to start walking, but I do, only to get to a certain point where I can't continue so I turn around and retrace my route back.

A classic example of this path dream is the one where I follow an wooden boardwalk.  It is painted brown and follows the tree line at the edge of a clearing.  I begin walking on the boardwalk, but soon, the boardwalk changes in elevation and like a kids playground, I have to climb up and over and back down again to continue.  Eventually I get to a point where the ground is saturated with water and I can feel the boardwalk stick to the ground with each step that I take.  Water starts lapping over the boards, which now leads straight into a pond, so I turn around and head back.

I have also dreamt I was in the synchrotron leading a small cow by a rope around the outer edge.  The cow had withered legs and we were walking on industrial metal flooring.  When I reached the far side, I decide that rather than walk the entire way around, I should just turn back the way I came.  Except now, the flooring had fallen away in sections and it becomes difficult leading the gimpy cow and trying to step on places where the metal flooring still exists.

I can see why so many people get carried away with dream interpretation.  I'm sure I could come up with a variety of plausible correlations between these "path" dreams of mine and everything that is going on right now.  But really, I think my dreams are just a result of my frustrated "creative imagination".  Plus, why bother trying to figure out deeper meanings - its like my own personal commercial free television every night.

~b~