writing prompt: dreaming in colour

Do I dream in colour? The first obvious answer is of course. Why shouldn't I? It's not like there are technological limitations to my dreams (thank goodness - how awful would that be?) Then again, is there really colour in dreams? Colour is a visual perception, as are contour and light, which are often blurry and diffuse even in the clearest of dreams. I'm not entirely sure the mind recreates them. Our reaction to them and the feelings they evoke are present, though - at least they are when they play a prominent role in the story the mind is working through. Otherwise, just like I know who is standing next to me in my dream without ever turning to face them, I know the sky was blue and my jacket was black and silver, simply because my mind fills in the blanks for me. I think the brain is quite prone to cutting corners and adding unperceived information when it expects things to be so.

In my baby book, my mom recorded that I was fascinated by the coloured balloons falling from the ceiling of Bert and Ernie's room on one particular episode of Sesame Street. I called out their colours, apparently oblivious to the fact we had a black-and-white TV at the time. [Aside: Instead of writing "black", I wrote "bland." Hmm. I wonder what that says about me.] I can't say I recall, and I suspect I may have been mimicking Ernie's delight, but it isn't impossible that I really was perceiving the colours, if not outright seeing them.

I keep looking at the prompt: "Dreaming in colour." That's a word-for-word translation of the French "Rêver en couleurs", which more or less means to "dream on", i.e. to fantasize about things quite unlikely to happen - winning the lottery or, in Pat's case, a silver Mustang GT convertible with black racing stripes and red leather interior. Other than the lottery, which I rarely play, I dream of working from home, of losing weight, of fixing up the house, and so on. Maybe it's because I'm the sole contributor to the household income, but my dreams, for the most part, are fairly attainable (I hope.) I have to force myself to dream really big. Maybe it's because I'm a pessimist, who would rather be pleasantly surprised than sorely disappointed. Maybe it's because I'm content with what I have.

On the other hand, I really would like to have the house clean by the time my vacation ends...now that probably is "dreaming in colour."

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