Dream, Imagination, and Intuition

At night, when people go to sleep, they dream and enter into an altered reality that is:

1. So frightening that causes the person to wake up soaked in sweat and fear,

2. So sad that causes the person to wake up in tear and grief,

3. So joyous that causes the person to wake up with smile on the face and attempt to go back to sleep hoping to continue the journey, etc.

   During the day, when people are bored or try to find ways out of their undesirable predicament, they rely on their imagination:

1. To make the impossible possible,

2. To possess special power to change things as wish,

3. To be at places without stress and insolvable problems, etc.

   Sometimes, people rely on intuition to solve the tough problems. Sometimes, intuition can reveal itself in dream or imagination. No people can control and anticipate its occurrence. Dream, imagination, and intuition perform vital functions that keep people’s life healthy/ exciting/enjoyable and the human civilization vibrant/diversify/ resilient.

Dream

People need to sleep to give the body a rest. During sleep, the brain needs to discharge the built-up energy processing the sensory data in the waking hours (just like the engine of a car that needs cooling down after a long road trip). Dream occurs as a result of these discharges. Dream is usually made up of images from the present and the past experiences stitched together by the deep seeded fear, grief, happiness, and other hard to forget emotions. Dream helps people:

1. To face fear without suffering the actual consequence,

2. To relief grief by living through the memorable moments,

3. To feel joy without all the social stigmas, etc.

   To the person who is dreaming, the experience is as real as the events that are occurring in one’s life. The difference is that the person can wake up from the dream and forget all that transpired. However, sometimes, when a dream that makes so profound an impression we choose to make an effort to remember it and ponder its significance.

Imagination

During the waking hours, the brain takes in the information from what we see/smell/taste/hear/touch, processes the data, and decides what to do. Once in a while, the brain will bypass the sensory inputs and wonder inside its internal and complex circuitries. That is how imagination starts. We do not how it works exactly. But, we know that with imagination, some people can:

1. Write stories about places they have never been and people they have never known,

2. Create never before heard song and music that lift the spirit and brighten the mood,

3. Come up with better ideas of doing things or new gadget to do things easier, etc.

   Each person’s brain functions differently. So, each person’s imagination works in one’s own mysterious and magical way. Because of the differences,

1. the library’s book shelves are stacked with stories about places and people written by people who can see beyond the ordinary life,

2. The airwave is filled with song and music composed by people who can communicate better than the written language,

3. The society is invigorated with life changing ideas and gadgets introduced by people who are never satisfied with the status quote.

Intuition

When we sleep, we dream. When we retreat to the inner world of the brain, we can image. There is no definitive step that can make a person intuitive. When we face and try to solve an uncommon problem, we rely on resources, logic and reason to arrive at a solution. When the effort fails, we are pretty much stuck. But, sometimes, someone will come along with the intuition to save the day:

1. It was commonly believed that Earth was at the center of the solar system. But, nobody could explain the erratic orbits of the nearby planets – Mercury, Venus, and Mars, until someone had the intuition that the Sun was at the center and all planets including Earth orbited around the Sun,

2. It was widely believed that an all powerful being created all the living things in Nature. But, nobody could explain the meaning and purpose of the cruel and deadly games played between the predator and the prey, until someone had the intuition that all living things were the result of evolution.

3. Most of us had taken a walk through the grass field and were annoyed by the small grassy seedlings that attached to the clothing like glue. But, someone had the intuition that translated the unpleasant experience into a profitable and useful gadget called the Velcro.

Playground

Other living things may also dream, imagine, and have intuition. But, we are the only ones who are able to rely on dream, imagination, and intuition to make our life livable and enjoyable with excitement and hope. Just like other living things on Earth, our journey of life started surviving day to day looking and fighting for food at the mercy of the environment and fierce animals. From dream, we find relief from the stress of uncertainty and insecurity to wake up refreshed and ready to face life’s challenges the next day. From imagination, we came up with better ways to find food and with weapons to fight for food. From intuition, we came up with game changing techniques to increase the odds of survival. We have come a long way from those early times of no clothing on the body, no roof on top of the head, and no prospect for the future while having to defend our lives with stick and stone against the wild animals, and shaking with fear when the sky roared and the ground trembled. After 7000 years, dream, imagination, and intuition have helped us turn the once hostile Earth into a playground as well as a reliable source of food, building materials, and energy.