I had a dream
Carrie Newcomer posted a question this morning. Here’s an attempt at a partial answer, strictly from my own perspective.
Her question was (in part) “Are there experiences in your background that you resource when you need courage or the assurance that the way is true - even if it was not where you expected to go?”
When I was quite young, still in early High School, I woke one morning from an amazingly realistic dream. It has followed me and influenced my thoughts ever since - at least 50 years. The fact that it took place at that location restricts the timeframe. I moved to Waterloo to attend University in 1974. My parents sold the Unionville house in 1980. In the context of the dream, I “knew” that it was October 1984. So obviously the dream was temporally impossible.
In the dream I was in our back yard in Unionville on a clear, blue-sky morning. Looking to the north-northeast I saw a huge fireball slowly arcing from the south. Everything was in very vibrant, almost excessive colours. I “knew” that it had impacted Markham, about 5 km or so away. I “knew” that this was the end of the world as we knew it. I awoke before the shock wave hit us.
The dream was so persuasive that I never planned beyond 1984. It made everything seem pointless, without purpose. My marks declined steadily and I missed being an Ontario Scholar by about a half percent point on my grade average. The other day I found my old High School report cards. My teachers were disappointed in me.
Finally October 1984 came around. I wasn’t visiting the home in which I grew up - it belonged to another family who had changed it quite a bit. There was no fireball meteor destroying Markham, or anywhere else. My life could go on.
Years later, 3 June 2014 to be specific, we had a wonderful rainstorm. In the bright glowing air after, there was an amazing rainbow to the south-east. It was almost as vibrant as the meteor of memory. The circle was closed. Not only would the world go on, it would only get better.
So my answer to Carrie is this: The world is full of signs and portents, should we choose to interpret random chance in that way. Let us interpret them in a positive way.