Dream Journal

Civil War Stories★★
October 18, 1996

I zoomed in from far above to a civil war scene in the south. An army in blue was riding back to camp. The focus was on the lead slave in this group of slaves on horseback. As he was riding into camp, I jumped into him, lost balance, and fell off the horse. The captain demoted me to a lower rank. Then I sat on a log with this lanky blonde fellah and couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

Then I was in a classroom filled with young, grey-uniformed soldiers. I was trying hard to do well, to be the master’s best soldier, though I didn’t plan on going to war. There were hurdles and blue clown uniforms.

Whoopsie: It seems like my jumping into him caused him to fall off his horse.

Slave’s Perspectives: Here I find myself following the story of a slave (or two?) in the civil war, and inhabiting them.

Written at the time: Transitions follow our curiosity, the way we get pulled into a movie or book or story someone tells. I go into the scene and take on the personality I am closest to or want to be. I jump into a person’s body and I am them, and can exert control, including redoing things I don’t like. When the sub-story ends, I return to the one surrounding it.

Zooming In: I zoom in to the rote from above. This is the natural perspective when entering rotes. We enter the scene by zooming in the way one does with a camera. Since rotes are often passed at chest level, we look down at it, giving the feeling of descending into the rote.

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