Kindred spirits and dreams

It's probably nothing more than a coincident that I happened to see the movie Inception shortly before I had an uncharacteristically vivid dream. I've always wished I was that person who remembered dreams in the same vein as useless sports trivia, but that's never been the case. It's like trying to wrestle open a door fastened with a bungee cord. Tiny bits half emerge seconds before the door slams shut again with ferocious authority. My mind teases me that way. I also admire the person who claims to keep a notebook bedside and despite the hour, awakes from a dream and immediately writes down the details (for what I assume will be a close analysis later). I'm neither a rememberer nor a dream note taker. I push the mental snooze when I awake from most dreams, hoping to fall right back in.

In this particular dream, I only recall one piece. I got the innate feeling there were many lost pieces and sometimes I felt as though I had one too many glasses of wine and my dream friends took advantage of me. Dreaming is, after all, the safest way to lose control. The piece that I remember involved me and a friend of mine. We told familiar stories as if we'd grown up next-door neighbours and been in the trenches of war together. It was obvious to me who this friend was, even though I don't remember seeing his face or any other telling signs. I do recall a hat, which is strange because I don't ever recall him wearing a hat like that. Before the dream ended, we both laughed uncontrollably at something. I don't remember what but that laugh felt better than any laugh I've ever had in my real life. I hate this omission from my memory.

Either way, I almost immediately awoke, unstoppable smile on my face, to realize that I don't and probably will never know that person so well in my waking life. Why was I so comfortable with said friend in my dream when that's almost never the case in reality? When I tired of this vein of thought, I began to wonder if anyone ever made major life decisions based on dreams. People make decisions all the time based on hunches. And personally, I find the "I had a dream" rationale much more difficult to argue than "I had a hunch". Nobody can argue with your dreams.