A World of Dreams

A World of Dreams

* Last night, I had the strangest dream

I ever dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war.

That earworm has been in my head every morning for the past two weeks, and not because I have been listening to multiple versions that I own of the song, sung by The Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, or Simon and Garfunkel. I haven’t sung or played that song in years. That song continues to haunt me every morning because I dream about it every night. 

It began the night I watched this apocalyptic movie. I remember that in the movie, our world is destroyed completely; everyone is gone, obliterated, kaput. The movie was so upsetting I didn’t watch the end of it. I don’t know how or if anything got resolved. 

The horror in the movie led me to believe that the world had ended. Then I went to bed.

Of course, that’s when the song pops up in my dream. I see myself at the head of a table that includes leaders from all over the world. I am proselytizing why we should be putting down all our weapons and saving humanity.

The dream is frustrating because I always wake up before it ends. Therefore, the dream comes back to me every night. It is relentless. I’m trying to think of how to stop it from recurring. 

 I thought the dream might abate if I watched the movie again to its conclusion, but I have no interest in seeing the world destroyed again. I hate watching those types of movies or reading those types of books. It surprised me that I watched the movie in the first place. 

So now I go through each night explaining to these leaders the dangers of war and how we could accomplish many things by declaring peace and working together. We could reverse climate change, eliminate homelessness, provide equitable health care for all, and ensure gender equality, to name a few. And as each night’s dream creates itself, though I never finish convincing everyone of my goals, I perceive myself getting bigger and bigger in appearance than the night before. 

It is the second week now of these dreams, and I am a giant, towering over all these politicians, military leaders, kings, and emperors. The more they look at me, the more they cower before me. 

But the reality is, that is not how it should happen. The song says:

I dreamed I saw a mighty room

The room was filled with men

And the paper they were signing said

They’d never fight again

And when the papers all were signed,

And a million copies made

They all joined hands and bowed their heads

And grateful prayers were prayed.

They are the ones that have to agree to put an end to war, not be bullied into it by some 71-year-old giant. Generally, when you force someone to agree to something that they don’t agree with, it doesn’t work out. 

So how can I resolve the dream and end this damn earworm? I mean, I like the song, but enough is enough. 

I’m not going to be able to change the world by myself. Though I wouldn’t mind being a little taller than I am, becoming a giant is not on my bucket list. Maybe what I can do is focus on the piece that I can control. I can stop myself from wishing harm to others. As much as I wish that politicians who don’t see how hypocritical they are in their blindsided views would get long COVID and have their houses destroyed in a climate change flood, I just shouldn’t say it. 

I should become more politically active and see that the right people get elected to our local, state, and federal governments.

I’m a writer; maybe I should write more letters to people in power and newspapers to support positive values and peaceful solutions. That might help the right people get elected.

Perhaps, if I can help make my small world around me change for the better, those who get elected will also make the whole world a better place.

Then:

And the people in the streets below

Were dancing round and round

And guns and swords and uniforms

Were scattered on the ground

Last night I had the strangest dream

I ever dreamed before

I dreamed the world had all agreed

To put an end to war

I guess, until then, I can put up with the song a little longer.

*(Original song written by American Folk Singer-songwriter Ed McCurdy in 1950)