“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.” ― Homer’s Odyssey
 
For as long as I can remember, I have had a vivid imagination. While this sometimes results in a wandering mind, I find it has made my life a whole lot more colorful. I remember my dreams nearly every night, which led to endless conversations. Growing up, since they were so vibrant in my mind, I often wanted to tell my parents every day. But this would not be a simple sentence or two. I could go on for over 30 minutes, describing every detail of the dream I had the preceding night. While most dreams dwell in my memory for only a few hours nowadays, there are still some that have stuck with me. For example, I had a nightmare in middle school about giant cats coming out of the woodwork and causing unimaginable havoc on the school grounds. Imagine giant talking cats, walking on two legs sledgehammering buildings with baseball bats. Of course, not all my dreams are like that, but you get the point.
 
As I have gotten older, however, my dreams have also changed. Perhaps because I am becoming more sentient in my dreams, I no longer flutter through without control over my actions. For instance, I had a dream where I was in an imaginary house. And because I knew it was a dream, I wanted to remember every detail so I could report it back to my parents the following day. So I proceeded to spend my entire night choosing to look through every drawer of this imaginary kitchen to remember where cooking utensils were. Not only do I still remember the layout of this kitchen, but I still kick myself that I didn’t explore any more of the house. I can promise you; I did not make that mistake again.
 
However, one side effect of becoming older is that dreams are no longer as much of an escape from reality. Try as I might to have random dreams of riding unicorns or traveling out to space, a majority of my dreams are more true-to-life. So much so that in some of my recent dreams, people have started to wear face masks! I found this rather entertaining. As time has passed, different things in my life have shown up in my dreams, from the simple things as a radio alarm creating a random dance party in a dream to events going on in the news playing out with a twist in my imaginary world.
 
Going to bed each night has really become such an invigorating experience — an escape from reality. When I am having a tough day, sometimes I let my mind wander and take a nap. In that I find a whole new world has opened up to me. And perhaps it can be like that for you. I implore you to relish your sleep, and enjoy your dreams. There are so many places in your imagination to explore.

— Vanessa Davis

Vanessa is a master’s student at the Bush School of Government and Public Service.