When a friend of mine died, I noticed that for the first week or so, I didn't dream about him, even though I was certain I would. Then I finally had a dream about him, but it wasn't a standard dream. It was just he and I sitting in a void having a conversation. When I asked him why he hadn't visited me, he told me it was because he knew I was stronger than his parents and he needed to comfort them. Later on, when I talked to his parents, they said that he was comforting them in their dreams. I believed for a little while that I had actually had a post-mortem conversation with my friend, because it meant that he was still out there somewhere. After being in shock because of the death of my friend, I really needed it to be real.
The brain is a powerful trickster when dealing with trauma, especially death, so none of it is real.
The brain is a powerful trickster when dealing with trauma, especially death, so none of it is real.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
