Below is my entry for the Steemit Write-Off Challenge #1 hosted by @truthmamma and @tralawar

Learning to Dream, Dreaming to Learn

Lifetime number seven. Six other times I’ve been through this world, same body, same start. Of course I didn’t start realizing any of this until well after high school, and didn’t figure much of it out until I was in my late twenties, but hey, you learn as you go. Deja'vu isn’t scary any more, and I've started to glean information from past successes and failures. I can sometimes see the varying pathways, but it's no superpower. It's random, chaotic, and completely uncontrolled. You'd think that after six lives it would get easier, but as I hear in hushed tones "he's still so young".

I'm really nothing special. I have a dayjob, a caring wife, a few close friends. I'm not famous or rich and powerful, just another person living out their lives on a planet with over seven billion people. But I see them. Just outside of my peripheral vision in dark places, where their translucent forms peek out of corners before and disappearing as I try to catch a glimpse of them. I hear them, a layer of audio that plays on top of oscillating fans or background noises. There's guidance and truth in their words, from what little I can decipher. Most of the time their language comes through like a feeling, pushing me to make better choices. Read more, write more, create something, help others.

Learn to dream.

For a long time it was infuriating, trying to figure out if I was crazy or if there was something more to it. Blood work, medication, multiple therapists, nothing changed. So I dropped all of that, and focused on just getting by, but the most alluring push was always there, learn to dream.

So I did what any rational person would do with a deep seed of curiosity. I researched. I scoured the internet for information on lucid dreaming, alpha states, breathing techniques, and meditation. I worked with binaural beats and self-hypnosis audio sessions. I read everything from Carl Jung to Carl Sagan trying to make sense of it all. Trying, it seems, can sometimes be the worst thing to do when you want to accomplish something.

After a particularly stressful week, I knocked off early and headed to bed after a couple of strong drinks. Far from drunk, I was just tired, and done with having to deal with my daily life and the constant stream of existential questioning of my own existence. Underneath the covers, I didn’t give a thought to trying to center myself, or do chakra work, or be aware of my mental state. I was too tired to care about dreams. With an open mind, absent of thought, I passed through.

Through the darkness of an empty mind, I took a single step forward, and I was there. Something like a living room in a simple house filled with people, some I recognized, others new. Close friends and family members cheered. I was a guest coming through to my own surprise party. My mother and father were the first to greet me.

"We're so proud of you," my mom said, hugging me tight. I was still lost in confusion. My father gently placed his hand on my shoulder. "Not a bad time. You've done well. Don’t worry, you're not dead, you’re still very much so alive."

I walked past, completely confused as to what was happening. Everyone was focused on me, smiling with excitement. They guided me to a particularly comfortable couch, where I sat, still in shock.

"Took ya long enough dear!" My wife exclaimed, plopping down on the couch next to me. Seven lives and you picked me every time. That's impressive, and I love you. But that's not why you're here. You see, you're finally old enough to start going to school.”

"School?" I asked, still lost in the moment.

"Yeah silly. How do you think a new soul learns anything? We all start out human, and it only gets weirder from there. Welcome to the next stage of learning. Now that you can dream, where your spirit is free from your body, your true life can REALLY begin. You still have so much to learn."

Image credit: Alex Grey