Archive for April 14th, 2010
We are what our sleep dreams are
Posted by: adonis49 on: April 14, 2010
We are what our sleep dreams are; (Apr. 15, 2010)
I classified this article within the “Lucubration” category; sort of notebook to be revisited. The idea flashed in my mind at 5 am as I was sipping coffee in the enclosed balcony after experiencing many exciting dreams. It seems to me that mankind didn’t feel the urge to fly by watching birds: the urge was created from the sensation of flying during dreams of hovering inaccessible regions. Man didn’t set on adventurous peregrinations simply because he was feeling bored and entrapped: he went forth because of sleep dreaming sensations that opened up the way and guided his decisions.
If we could recollect the kinds of recurring dreams in our childhood then we could comprehend our journey. We say: “I have no idea why and how I ended up doing what I did and why my life turned out that way.” It is probably we don’t know: we were never encouraged to taking our dreams seriously; we failed to recollect our dreams and investigate their meaning. I hear a few people saying: “Sleeping is such a waste of time. I’ll have eternity to sleep when I die.” If dreams are not the most essential part of life then how we could have experienced the most colorful sceneries, the most animated, the most “feel intense” events, the weirdest and most imaginative occurrences? Maybe we feel mostly depressed during our waking periods simply because our potentials and capabilities appear far degraded of what we experienced during sleep dreams.
How so often you hear someone ironically asking: “Are you daydreaming?” Show me someone who claims not finding time to daydream and I tell you that he is either a certified liar or technically brain dead and you should avoid him like the plague. Our sleep dreams are telling us the story of our life: When we followed the suggestions of our dreams and when we shut it down. Our sleep dreams are disgusting and nerve wracking when our daily behaviors go contrary to the dream guidance. Our dreams are of the kinds of happy and colorful when our behaviors are compatible with the hints of our sleep dreams. Our dreams are chaotic and exhausting when our daily behaviors tend to fight off the control of the dreams.
Maybe we should start listening seriously to our dreams. Methodical recollection of dreams, finding connections and interactions among the dreams and within our waking actions can aid greatly our conscious decisions. Investing time to interpreting our dreams and stop feeling apprehensive and scared of what we have dreamt of can relieve our unconscious anxiety. Dreams are the best catalyst to change: Time to be serious with what sleep dreams generate and taking dreams out of the esoteric domain into the scientific field. Sleep dreaming is basically what we are; it is too potent to be ignored or maligned as a product of our daily actions seeking outlets for the body and mind to resting efficiently. Psychoanalysis profession could displace its practice from remembering waking up memories that are “unconsciously hidden” into the main sources of disequilibrium that reside in recollecting sleep dreams that we have been fighting off.
I have this theory that many species disappeared and vanished for three reasons. Most of the dead species were confined in a specific localized habitat. They vanished because first, natural calamities in the habitat wiped them out; second, mankind was too swift in disturbing their habitat that the slow process of sleep dreams could not react in a timely manner for the species to re-adapt and mutate to the altered habitat; and third, the species lacked sleep dreams or this function was degraded to permit evolution and adaptation to new environment. Is mankind fate of the same kind?
Cycle of life for Hostages
Posted by: adonis49 on: April 14, 2010
Cycle of life orf Hostages; (Apr. 14, 2010)
French reporter Philippe Rochot published “Within Islam’s revolts” that describes his reporting jobs in many countries (over 40 States) most of them in conflict and civil wars. Rochot had visited Lebanon many times for reporting purposes before and during the civil war.
In 1985, against his best judgment, he agreed to revisit Lebanon to report on a new French hostage Michel Seurat. It was a period when sympathizers of Khomeini were on the ascendance.
France of President Mitterrand had sided squarely with Saddam Hussein of Iraq against Iran and shipped all kinds of fighter jets and sophisticated armaments to Iraq (Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were guarantors for the open credits of war materials). This war lasted 8 years leaving a million casualties on both sides and many millions of seriously injured handicapped persons.
Rochot was kidnapped in Lebanon in 1985 for 8 months and a long chapter describes his captivity.
Rochot writes:
“My life cycle revolved around two bottles: one bottle for drinking and the other one to urinate in.
I was chained to a radiator and allowed to piss once every 10 hours. I was not given a razor to shave and the length of my mustaches was a serious handicap for eating the fast food of hamburger kind. I ended up pulling out the hair one by one; it was a painful act but efficacious.
My long beard reminded me of my reporting assignment in Afghanistan in 1980 when I purposely had to grow a beard to blend nicely with the people. I got into the habit of smoothing down my beard.”
Every 10 days, the abductors would bring a newer set of cloths; mainly sweat pants and T-shirts. (Probably the kidnappers had no washing machines or didn’t feel obligated to washing prisoners’ cloths).
Once, a “designated” photographer took pictures of the captive to dispatch to the French Embassy and the original cloths were dumped in front of Philippe to wear for the occasion. He was permitted to write a single line to his wife and two daughters “I am in good health”.
There was no correspondence or any kinds of messages arriving from the outside. Occasionally, radio was brought in for specific events. When Ronald Reagan of the US bombed Libya two British hostages were killed: The US bombers crossed Britain airspace.
It seemed as if the kidnappers in direct contact with the hostages had a day job: they showed up at nightfall for the night task of watching over the prisoners; sort of gaining extra money to make ends meet.
Rochot dreaded most to fall sick. Many captives died out of sickness because the kidnapping faction had no official links with a hospital or any kinds of health practitioner.
One night, the area of captivity was bombed and one of the militia was injured. Rochot could hear the injured person in the next room and the kidnappers were at a loss what to do with their comrade. For example, hostage Michel Seurat died of liver cancer in captivity; the kidnappers claimed to have killed him in retaliation for some kind of France political position. Seurat was moved to another room to cry out his pains and sufferings.
The other French captive could hear Seurat moaning all the time for many weeks before death relieved Michel. (Probably, the kidnapping faction was not addicted to drugs as the Christian militias were, or it had not the means for purchasing drugs to relieve Seurat from his pains).
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