Sometimes I dream in the third person. I can see my body from above. Sometimes I don't appear in my dreams at all. I am merely the medium for which my dream and its remnants exist. I am the dream’s earth. I am the dream’s oxygen. I am none of the dream's characters, and yet I'm within all of the dream’s characters. I am the dream’s stream of collective consciousness. I can feel the presence of myself in the dream as if I'm a ghost haunting its walls. Or maybe I am its walls - after all, I am the one dreaming. Though the dream isn't bound to my brainly interior. My dream takes the shape of no shape at all. My dream transcends. The workings of my dream are known only to one part of me. The part of me that doesn't entirely exist while I'm awake, but is still quietly alive. My dream is me. My dream is not me. My dream is other worlds and intangible unknowns communicating to me and through me.

I was never a child who eagerly went to bed. I wanted to experience more day, more people - more life. As I got older, I looked forward to sleeping. But not because I viewed it as a source of replenishment, but because I was excited to dream. I would intentionally think about certain people before bed to see if they would appear in my dreams. I was interested in the extent to which my external life impacts the content of my dreams. Were my dreams my subconscious coming to life, or were they simply interpretations of the day I had while awake? 

Every morning before reaching for my phone or getting out of bed, I dedicate time to recalling my dreams. I try to recall the colors in my dream - that is, if  I dreamt in color at all. I try to recall if I had multiple dreams. I consider whether my dream was more of an abstract feeling or a series of events. This process of trying to recall is difficult; thus, I know it's good for me.

Working through my mind like this gives me a sense of autonomy. It's self-exploration that requires no external aid or consumption. It's the calisthenics of mental growth. There's no dumbbell needed, just me and my mind. Solving a math problem challenges your brain, but you'd have to be given the math problem to solve. When I ponder the concept of dreams and attempt to recall my own, the challenge is already within me.