I had a dream
by
Linda Clay
I had a dream this night. A dream I have never had before. In a way the dream
is still in my mind, as I am sitting in my garden, wondering. I often dream, as
you know - and many of my dreams change something in me. It is as if my
dreams are there to tell me something - to make me cleverer - to make me see
and understand.
But this dream is special. It really makes me think. I dare not move from my
chair in the morning sun, for if I do, the dream might disappear and I do want
it. Do you know that feeling? Listen! The dream showed me my soul. My very
soul! I can hear you laugh, but anyway: I saw the inside of my soul. I saw that
the soul was parted in two different parts, and between the two different parts
there was a conflict. Believe me: I did see this conflict with my very eyes. I
cannot describe in words, because words are so insufficient, that they cannot
even touch reality.
At both sides of this conflict there were two images, both of them trying to
describe how the world was created, and I understood, that the soul in a way
always is wondering upon exactly this: how was the world and Life created?
This very wondering was the depths of the soul - its own life. The soul cannot
live without this wondering. It has its roots in the midst of the conflict between
understanding through reason and understanding through myths and
imagination. The soul is all the time searching explanation of the enigma in Life
itself, trying to find the answer in reason and in imagination at the same time.
Reasoning is not enough, but as the soul tries to comprehend in both areas
simultaneously, the conflict is there - always!!!
Oh goodness - that is the way we all try to understand, is it not? Imagination
gives the input, and we try to explain through reasoning. In vain!! We will
never catch it. Never! You cannot explain imagination through reasoning.
Perhaps reasoning is a play of the mind, in which it imagines that reasoning is
the deepest you can get. In my dream I saw how the soul got its power from
reasoning and fantasy simultaneously. None of those two could exist without
the other. So the soul is like a coin: the two sides of it makes it a coin! You really
cannot imagine a coin with only one side!!!
So here I am in the morning sun of my garden, knowing that the very soul is
the conflict between reasoning and imagination. That the depths of our mind is
this insoluble conflict. That we would die without this eternal enigma.
Do you not ever wonder about simple and easy things? I do. How did the
world begin? How did Life begin? In my dream I saw two explanations: I saw
the whole world with all her green green life - with all her wonderful creatures
- her waters and her lakes - her fields and her forests. This marvellous,
enigmatic world was surrounded by a huge ash tree, that had its roots
deepened in the globe and at the same time growing from the soil of the globe
and giving life to it. Its huge branches were spread in space so that the leaves
were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You could see it and you
could not see it. At the very same time!!! It was Beauty as the foundation of
Life. And people looked up into space, trying to have a short glance of the tree,
but they only heard the wind in its branches and they understood, that
responsibility and beauty was one and the same thing.
And I saw another explanation: The Big Bang. An explosion in the universe
zillions of years ago. All life --- every single wave towards the beach - every
single bird's song - every human thought - all this was a result of this
explosion. Everything was to be understood through this explosion, and
everything was a logical consequence of it. A scientific reasoning. A proof!!
These two explanations live in the midst of the soul. Reasoning tells us that
both cannot be right. Imagination tells us that both might be right. And in this
way the soul has a conflict and lives from it, for if it knew for sure what to
believe, it would die. The conflict itself creates the thoughts, which grow from
our souls. So there is a conflict in every human thought and every human
emotion - and it is good so.
The most precious thing in Life is the enigma. You and I are parts of this
enigma, and that is the basis of our deepest longing. Not knowing for sure is so
marvellous and explains everything.
I take a look into the clear morning sky. Do I see the leaves of the ash tree or do
I hear the wind in its crown? My dream is up there, humming in the blue sky,
as if it said: You are the enigma!
Oh, I love Life!!!!
Glossary
disappear = forsvinde
soul = sjæl
anyway = alligevel
describe = beskrive
insufficient = utilstrækkelig
reality = virkelighed
image= billede
create = skabe
depth = dybde
reason = fornuft
myth = myte
imagination = fantasi, forestillingsevne
explanation = forklaring
enigma = gåde
comprehend = forstå
simultaneously = samtidig
in vain = forgæves
insoluble = uløselig
eternal = evig
creature = skabning
enigmatic = gådefuld
surround = omringe
soil = jord
foundation = grundlag
responsibility = ansvar
beauty = skønhed
zillion = trilliard
consequence = konsekvens
scientific = videnskabelig
emotion = følelse
precious = værdifuld
hum = nynne
Exercises:
Why do we have dreams?
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Who creates our dreams?
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Make a drawing of yourself, dreaming:
Following Sigmund Freud it is a necessity for us to dream. Dreams balance our
inner life. Is that right in your opinion?
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Tell about a dream you have had and try to give an interpretation of it:
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Translate into Danish:
simultaneously______________________
eternal ____________________________
enigma ____________________________
enough ____________________________
coin ______________________________
anyway ___________________________
describe __________________________
imagination ________________________
without ___________________________
comprehend ________________________
insoluble ___________________________
marvellous __________________________
surrounded __________________________
depths ______________________________
foundation ___________________________
responsibility _________________________
explanation ___________________________
consequence __________________________
humming _____________________________
Questions for you to discuss:
1) Are reasoning and imagination opposed to each other?
2) Is there really a conflict in the human mind? Discuss!!!
3) Is it so, that we act emotionally, and when we are asked why, we
explain through reasoning?
4) What was the name of the mentioned ash tree, which had her roots
around the globe?
5) Do you believe in the theory about The Big Bang? Discuss!!
6) How did everything begin – created by God or? Discuss!!
7) Can dreams tell us something about our inner Self?
8) What is the most important: reasoning or imagination? Discuss!!
9) Is Space without any end?
10) What is the purpose of our being here? Discuss!!!!!!!!!
Write your answers in your exercise book.
Linda Clay: I had a Dream
Engelsk for 7.-8. klasse
Skole-forum.dk
