Inception in Real Life

Have you ever had a dream that changed your life?

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Last week, a movie called Inception hit theatres. Here’s what I posted to Twitter after seeing it:

“Run, don’t walk, to see Inception this weekend. It will exceed your highest expectation.”

Apparently I liked it. If you have even the slightest affectation for the sci-fi or adventures genres, treat yourself and see this movie.  You can see the trailer here.

But this isn’t just a movie review so please stay with me. I’m going somewhere with this: In the film, “inception” is this notion that highly trained operatives can enter a subject’s dreams and plant an idea there – in his/her subconscious – which, upon the subject’s waking, starts developing into a thought process that changes his or her life.

Dreams have fascinated me for a long time. I believe that dreams are usually, simply put, “our subconscious trying to tell us something”. But has it ever gone deeper than that for you? Have you ever had a dream, which, upon your waking, causes you to make changes in your life? Have you ever felt like you’ve fallen victim to inception?

I was in the middle of my first year at University at Waterloo in 2004. I’d been bouncing back and forth between staying in school or pursuing a career in music. I had a dream: I was in the parking lot of my high school, and I was late for a concert that I was to play. From my car’s trunk I pulled a guitar case and a trombone case. I was to choose: What instrument do I play for this concert?

I chose the trombone at first. But when I picked up the trombone, it was like it was made of tin foil. As it crumpled and folded in my hands, I tried in vain to hold it together but before too long, it fell like soggy newspaper to the pavement. With nothing else to play, I grabbed my guitar … and headed into the concert.

I understood the dream immediately after I woke up. Having been in the concert band in high school, brass instruments had come to represent “academics” to me for some reason. So, in the dream, the guitar represented my passion for music and the concert represented my future. The trombone represented university and it didn’t prove to be very sturdy.

Believe it or not, it was that dream that started the thought process that led to my quitting school. Sometimes I wonder whether or not I’d have stayed in University instead, had I not had that dream.

Inception in real life!

Do dreams come strictly from the subconscious? I doubt that Ellen Page snuck into my room that night to manipulate my dream in order to change my life. (That’s not to say I wouldn’t welcome a dream with Ellen Page, Inception’s “Architect”, in it … Hellooooooo Nurse!) But, as a guy who believes in God, I do believe that sometimes God has his creative hands in our dreams. Is that crazy? Maybe I’m crazy.

I’m interested in what you have to say, readers. Have you ever had a dream like the one I described? A dream that caused you to think about things differently? To take a leap of faith? Where do you think these kinds of dreams come from?

Are you going to see Inception? If you have, what did you think of it? Does it top the director’s last … ahem … masterpiece, The Dark Knight?

… Have you ever had a dream that changed your life?

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francy