21st Century Perks

"But these symbolic dreams aren't new," she said. "We've been talking about them for a while now."

That's what Dr. Beach said to me in our recent session when I told her that my dreams had turned dark and troubling.

I got her permission to write about it so I wouldn't be accused of violating doctor/patient confidentiality. She said the rule only applied to the doctor. I'm pretty sure she's wrong. She also said she isn't a doctor and I think she's wrong about that too. She's probably on cold medicine.

"The dreams may not be new," I said, "but they've changed character. You remember the dream where Sagi was running around the yard with a big smile on his face, or with what passes for a big smile on a cat's face. He seemed to playing a game of Catch me if you can! He looked so happy that it made me happy and now I always remember him just as he was in that dream."

"I do remember," she said. "That's a beautiful dream."

"Yeah, well recently I dreamed the Emperor came to ask me for Mom's Big Book of Death. He said the dead had asked him to write their names in the book so they wouldn't be forgotten. They told him I'd stopped recording their names and if something isn't done soon, a dark storm will rise up from the Underworld and take over the earth again."

"I can see how a dream like that would be disturbing," she said. 

"Disturbing?" I said. "Disturbing would be waking up from the dream and having to clear the head to get back to sleep. These dreams bubble up from the pit of anxiety that fills up the hole in my heart and I can't get back to sleep again."

She gave me a look that said, I don't know what to say but tell me more, please.

"Sometimes, after one of those dreams, I wake up in the morning filled with so much despair that I wonder why I get out of bed."

"But staying in bed doesn't solve anything," she said.

"No, it doesn't," I said, "and besides I have lots of reasons to get up, get out, and get on with my life."

"What are some of those reasons?" she said.

"Just off the top of my head, there's all those syrupy flavorings the coffee cafes offer, like caramel, French vanilla, and lavender! Can you believe people add lavender flavor to lattes? Tasty insanity! The 21st century does have a few perks."

"Having something to be grateful for makes all the difference," she said.

"Coffee can send the forces of darkness back into the sewers where they belong," I said. "And when coffee is set to music, it's just another day in paradise."

"You do this just to yank my chain, don't you?" she said.

"We've run over our time," I said. "See you next Monday at 2:00 PM?"