An April 9th article in GQ by Daphne Bugler suggests that, in general, people are experiencing more vivid dreams while in lockdown. Probably, our lockdown dreams reflect the anxieties that are unique to this situation—confinement, frustration, financial worries, guilt, fear.
I’m no different than anyone else in that I want to believe I’m exceptional. So it was with great satisfaction that I woke up this morning from a dream that didn’t manifest the usual anxieties. Instead, it seemed to be an extension of ongoing absurdist themes.
The Dream
I went to work and my boss told me I’d have to start working from home. I said I was happy to go along with the new rules, but I did have one question: how do spies work from home? Do we sit and stare out the window all day?
My boss shrugged; he didn’t have any simple answers. But he did have one consolation: at least by wearing a face mask, it would be easy for me to blend in.
I note my dreams in a journal. That gives me a chance to reflect on their meaning. In this case, I find that my dream is not so absurd after all, and not so exceptional, either. It makes perfect sense from the perspective of a photographer who loves to get out at least once a day and play the flaneur on busy city street corners. My photographic practice is a kind of “spying” and lockdown frustrates that practice.
But wait! There’s more.
My dream didn’t end there. After my conversation with my boss, my walk home took me past the local candy store. (There really is a candy store near my home.) But this wasn’t just any candy store; it was a candy store dedicated to wine gums. There was a long line that went way down the street. I was desperate for wine gums, so I waited in line. I was relieved authorities had declared wine gums an essential service.
In the evening (although this could have been a separate dream), my wife and I were having dinner at a local restaurant. Owing to social distancing rules, we were the only people in the restaurant and there was no food. My wife sat with her back to a broad picture window and, although I tried to be attentive, I was distracted by the skateboarders outside. They were jumping off a roof and landing on a curb near the window. One of the skateboarders broke his ankle. I gazed at the bloody shank and my mouth watered.
