Somewhat nebulous thoughts on a nebulous topic

We, all of us, envision a future. It'd be impossible to live any other way.

You think about tomorrow, about what you're going to wear, or what you'll eat. Or even more concretely, you think about when you'll shower, about whether it'll fit around that television show you want to catch.

That's some concrete envisioning.

When we idealize, stylize or just plain romanticize our visions of the future, we're dreaming.

And I think that's what makes a lot of the unpleasantness we deal with on a day-to-day basis bearable.

I have many thoughts on the substance, the necessity, and the dangers of dreams, but my point today, is a different one.

When we're talking about dreams that can realistically occur (Not the fanciful filigrees normally associated with the word "dream".), the human mind can only handle one possibility at a time.

As an example, say you're given the choice of several cities to live in (As my friends just so recently were). In making this decision, you dream. You imagine your life as it would be in each city, and subconsciously or no, one of the dreams becomes more compelling than the others. It becomes the ideal. Your 'ideal' vision of your future. It becomes 'the' dream.

Remember in "Back to the Future", what with the parallel universes and parallel timelines and the possibility of multiple futures? Neurons may be wired in parallel, but I think your brain really holds single thoughts at a time.

So let's now say that for whatever reason, someone decided that you weren't allowed to go to your first choice city, you must go to your second choice.

You feel bitter disappointment. But you're not disappointed at something you've lost! You never even lived there. You had nothing to lose.

You're disappointed because this ideal life you've constructed for yourself in this city is now impossible. You're disappointed at the death of your dream.

The reality of the situation may very well be that both cities would objectively provide you with equal opportunity for happiness and fulfillment, but the human mind has arbitrarily chosen one for you to dream about. It is the nature of the human mind and it is the nature of dreaming.

It is wrenching to have a dream die. Consider carefully what you dream about! And realize also the ease with which the human mind starts to dream again.