Daydreaming

DAYDREAMING

“In my study . . . A different conception
of mind evolved: one that lets things
happen as well as makes things happen . . .
mind as functioning along one unbroken
conscious-unconscious continuum.”
    ---Harold Rugg, in “Imagination”

Some call it a waste of time---
that drifting of the mind . . .
the materialist’s monster
hiding under the bed,
the empty void that floats just
out of reach of the infinite arm
of science and technology.
Perhaps, they think
(read compute) it’s part of
the quantum world, full of
uncertainty and chaos . . .
or a brazen display of the self---
that mythological bugaboo that plagues
the abundance of facts and figures
pouring out of quantum computers,
or simply coming forth from
the squishy matter in our heads.
Oh yes, they say, it’s those electrical
firings and chemical reactions,
those overworked neurons 
that cause us to act human
at the most inopportune times . . .

Like when I wonder if the world
would look different in a foreign
language, or what’s it like to live
in the top of a very tall tree. I’m not
alone---if we dare consider other souls:
The poet James Wright daydreamed
while lying in a hammock in Minnesota;
his reflections---the rebirth of his career.
No doubt Paris fantasized a lot about
Helen before boarding a ship for Troy---
two one-way tickets in his hot, little hand.
Dr. King had a whopper of a vision
that compelled him to a Birmingham jail,
a history-defining speech in D.C., and
finally a martyr’s death in Memphis---
all because the synapses fired, they say,
in a certain order, and the chemicals
flowed in the right (or perhaps, bigoted
brains might assert---wrong) channels.
Some go as far as saying these things
never happened . . . our memories are
nothing more than circuits misbehaving.

Call it what you will . . . there’s no end
to such extreme, unexamined dreaming.

Reviews

[Casey Truax]

Some of the most striking thoughts on consciousness I've read! The way you tie the concept to history and legend is remarkable.

[barleygirl]

I love how you honor daydreaming, without seeming like that's what you're doing. I always love your fresh details, but in particular here, I love your use of recognizable examples. Having been abused for years of my childhood, I grew up feeling a failure, so I didn't have any dreams for myself. I felt I was never going to amount to anything & I still feel that way lots of times. That's why I understand how important it is not to crush someone's dreams. If we can't dream it, we'll never recognize or seize the opportunities that come our way (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[kentuck14]

Margie,
Thanks for sharing . . . reading your book . . . a courageous work. We were born to dream . . . keep at it!
T

[barleygirl]

Thanks so much for supporting my writing!

[Einstein Noodle]

i read your comment on Barley Girl's poem on politics .. i liked the way you put it .. politics stinks no matter how it is clothed .. or something to that effect .. anyway .. thought i would stop by to read some stuff on your pages .. very interesting About Me you have sir .. thank you for your service .. :) i like to read the oldest post written by people i haven't met yet .. and that's why i chose this one ... really find the mix of science and artistry compelling .. my cup of tea as we sometimes say ... i think the lines drawn in your opening quote and in these lines:
"the empty void that floats just
out of reach of the infinite arm" ... are compelling .. that place between dreaming and waking ... the conscious mind and beyond/below that ;) can be frightening ... for the adventurous and stout of heart and mind says i! really like the theme .. i like its foundation in fact and imaginations .. thought provoking to be sure! nice to meet you .. i am
E. :)

[kentuck14]

E,
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my work. I appreciate your kind words.
T

[alanwgraham]

This is great Tom how you've thrown in so many thoughts and ideas on the nature of consciousness and woven a very poetic piece. I guess a lot of my own writing has been an ongoing tussle with what's going on my own head. My experience of bipolar mania makes it a bit more interesting.
Great and relevant writing.
Cheers.
Alan

[kentuck14]

Alan,
Many writers and poets have suffered with bi-polar.
Robert Lowell suffered with it throughout his life.

I have a friend (my best man) recently came down with it and his marriage suffered because he made some poor choices.
I have never suffered from the mania part but have suffered major depression 40 years ago. A tough gig.

Alan . . . thanks for reading, the comments and the kind review. All the best.
T

[alanwgraham]

Thanks for your kind words Tom. It might seem strange but I see the bp as a positive thing as it has opened 'doors'. It can be tough for friends and family of course.
All the best.
Alan

[An owl on the moon]

What a profoundly beautiful flow of thoughts, of dreams that lift us into other worlds. My mind is always slipping down paths... wandering down endless passages of the mind. These dreams often carry us through realities too difficult to hold.

[kentuck14]

Hey Owl,
Thanks for coming by and reading and commenting. Thanks for the kind words and insight.
T.

[John the Baptist]

Interesting work, Tom. Much daydreaming, like real dreaming, has no real meaning. It's just the mind looking for something to latch on to. And yet, it is also an altered state of consciousness, wherein we are closer to our higher mental powers. Many great discovers have originated in dreams.

[kentuck14]

John,
Thanks for your revue. Dreams . . . both night and day remain a mystery . . . even after so many researchers have tried to diagnose them.
T.

[Eilis]

I love this, Tom. I'm a real advocate for the humanity of the mind, as it were. I think we (ie modern humans) can often seek the simple answers and solutions-- the ways to write out the mysteries of life and often that translates to a sterile landscape where man is nothing more than some synapses firing. Marilynne Robinson has a fascinating essay about the difference between mind and brain that your poem made me think of. Just because something has a scientific explanation, that doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't have a spiritual one. That's the way I see it.

I love your take on it here. All of these examples of courage and accomplishment through the process of dreaming can't help but counter the idea that the human mind is just a tool for survival. Daydreaming being an excellent way to segue into those other states. And find our way toward pinnacles along the way.

Excellent poetry. I love the thought you put into it. And that undergirding of curiosity again.

[kentuck14]

Eilis,
Thanks for the extensive revue. "sterile landscape" indeed. I am familiar with Ms. Robinson and the wide breadth of her thinking. I too grow weary of all the attempts to strip us of our humanity, our uniqueness among all the creatures of creation. I am not against science as some might think . . . it's "science-ism" . . . the belief that only the so-called scientific method can tell us about reality. This arrogance is what tends to arouse my indignation.
These pronouncements come from pride and an
attempt to erase spirituality from our culture.
Tom

[Chris Shaw]

Well Tom, you've really given your readers something to ponder on here or more so, to sink their teeth into. I am an unashamed dreamer, always have been. I day dreamed when I should have been learning at school. Often I would be asked to snap out of it. But when I am day dreaming, that's when I often get my thoughts for my poetry. I will pick up an idea or I will be thrown a first line, a bit like a dog being thrown a bone. Then I have to decide whether to run with it, or let it float away into the ether. It has certainly helped me creatively. I love your ideas in these lines. Fascinating.

Chris

[kentuck14]

Our daydreaming is so very important not only to our mental health but to our creativity as well. I too receive many ideas for writing by letting my mind drift . . . then suddenly, there it is . . . an idea gleaming before me!! This poem expresses my problem with so-called "scientific-postmodern thinkers" who feel our imaginations are nothing more than the products of biological processes. I guess this poem is a protest against such ideas. Thanks for commenting, Chris. Glad you found this poem of interest.
Tom

[Chris Shaw]

I did find the topic an interesting one Tom. Thanks.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we daydream of things to come...we dream of what has happened...
and we get lost in memories...and sometimes we are uncertain what has and has not...
conspiracy theorists would dive into this poem...did all the things in our lives really happen or have we been brainwashed to think they did.
am i real, is this computer i am on real?
is that my car outside...or are all these things not really there, and i am not really typing this comment because i don't really exist.
j.

[kentuck14]

J,
Thanks for the look-see and your thoughts . . . by the way some might think they are not really the product of the "mind" but an overload of chemicals spilling out or electrical switches going crazy. Perhaps what you are reading is only an illusion!!! All this poetry and writing is not in our brains but in some "super" brain. Shades of the "Matrix!"
T.

[Neville]

Freud included it in his list of mental defenses... but then what did he know eh'.. I reckon you may have hit on summat here.... a great flow and concept.... am gonna go ponder summat profound... N

[kentuck14]

Nev,
Thanks for calling this "profound", but it's just my attempt to push back against such dehumanizing
ideas fro a certain sector of "science" today. You can read what I wrote to Eilis for my further pontificating on the subject. You might say I'm a good old fashion "reactionary!"
T.

[Neville]

there is invariably some antecedent and a consequence tho... surely... or maybe.. perhaps.. :)