Dreaming is Doing

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It is an overcast August morning in Upstate NY and, to me, there aren't too many things better than soft flannel sheets on my bed. If I am in Upstate NY in December I will be saying the same thing, and adding to the description of bedding quilts and comforters.

This is my first full summer here in 5 or 6 years. Back to the place of my youth. (Although, in my head I am still a youth, the societal view is pushing me further into adulthood.) Perhaps flannel and summertime don't go together, but here, in a place that seldom reaches summer temperatures in the 80's, flannel is a lasting comfort.

As an even younger person I used to day dream about a bed that could be driven, so that I could stay inside the safety of my flannel sheets as long as I wanted. In my dreams I would simply tell my bed to drive me to school, and off we would go. My bed would always remain in contact with the ground, never a flying bed. I suppose it would have wheels, but no need for a steering wheel because the bed would somehow know where to go. The bed would have some intuitive know how, an extension of myself. The bed and I would roll down the highway, and although the weather could be blustery and cold, it wouldn't ever bother us. Maybe there would be an invisible bubble of shelter and warmth around me, to allow for my absolute comfort. The noise from outside wouldn't faze my relaxation one bit. In my dreams, no one in cars looked at us (the bed and I) strangely, or even at all. They could see us, surely, but it wasn't anything strange to have a person in bed driving down the road. And of course, all hallways, doorways and rooms would accommodate our size.

This fantasy is one that I still indulge myself with. Today is a perfect day for driving around in my bed. Taking my bed for a long jog. I could just put on my running clothes, get back into my bed, and together we could find a nice 6 or 8 mile route, something light and easy. The absurdity of completing tasks in my bed is wonderfully silly to imagine. Going to work, or being someones date to a wedding. In all of these imaginings, I never picture myself to be fully engaged in the activity. I am under the covers, half asleep half awake, with eyelids closed softly and an easy smile across my lips. No one ever seems to mind that I show up in my bed. People go about their days as if everything were quite normal, and my duties of the day are also, somehow, completed.

In reality I do enjoy being out of bed, using my legs, running around, staying busy. But maybe this fantasy is one that stays with me even when I don't know that I am consciously thinking about it, or maybe it is one that I could strive to think about more often, especially when I am very busy. There is nothing more comforting that the feeling of being safe, warm and relaxed. Riding on a cushion that seems to know exactly where to go. Being about to take a break from the stress and knowing that everything will be accomplished. Getting things done comfortably, rather than thrashing around. Existing in harmony with your surroundings, weather, traffic, noise, but being able to maintain that relaxed calm and comfort found in outlandish seemingly laughable fantasies. Maybe this fantasy has been more than entertainment all along, perhaps, without even knowing it, I have been imagining how smoothly I'd like to go through my day. Rolling happily from one thing to the next.

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