Dreams are Extensions of our Daytime Consciousness

Last night I had a dream. Or was it a dream or perhaps more likely my thoughts? In any case, I was drifting from consciousness to sleep - that kind of in-between because while slumber beckons and my mind begins to form abstract pictures, I could still hear the distinct footsteps and voices of people going by under my bedroom window.

In the dream I see many faces, all around as if in a gathering. And then it zoomed in to a few, smiling, cheerful people while the rest of the crowd fades away. Dad and mum in their exercise clothes, my grandparents still holding hands, my brother J with his usual rumply hair plus his gf S, my sister, my other brother J2, myself and A. We were all living in one suburb, setting - Melbourne, that I am certain of in the dream. My parents have retired and finally have all the time in the world to leisurely do everything that they wanted to do; they busy themselves with visiting their children; the houses are in constant cooking storm as the ladies in the family are quite able kitchen goddesses. There was not a single frame in the whole scene where anyone is left alone; we were always together; conversations never stopped; laughter never faded. There was an intense feeling of satisfaction and happiness in my heart.

I did not want to wake up from that dream. Now I am writing about it.

Reality is, my family are scattered in three different places. My parents and grannies are in Manila, my brother J and sister are in Hong Kong, and I am in Melbourne with my other brother J2. They say that dreams are extensions of our daytime consciousness, albeit sometimes distortions occur they are still based on our human thoughts. It won't take a rocket scientist to come up with a precise interpretation of this one, as I am obviously caught up in the reverie that very soon our family will all settle in one place. What wouldn't I give to be able to have dinner with everyone else again every night, to be able to gather up my mum and sister together for our weekly shopping, to be a few minutes drive away from all of them who means the world to me? In the past, I have smirked at a comment I heard from a friend of my dad's when he talked about his daughter, about not letting her go overseas and explore the vast opportunities out there when she wanted to because nothing so great is great enough to replace the proximity between family. My thoughts then, on that note, was absurd, idealistic, and totally unpractical. Now being a daughter who is far away, I understand.