Mind Appreciation

   There is a scene in the movie Braveheart where William Wallace is talking to the Princess of Wales and he asks her, “Why do you help me?”  She replies, “Because of the way you are looking at me now.”  It’s a great line, and her expression immediately afterwards is fantastic.  You can just tell she is thinking I cannot BELIEVE I just SAID that!  That happens to me a lot.  Only there’s no audience watching and thinking Oh that was cute.   It’s just awkward.  Yes, I say a lot of stupid things.  Tactless things.  I know people question my intelligence and wonder if they should have seated me at the children’s table.  My mind does not grasp deep and wondrous things.  Heck, it barely grasps algebra.  But I rather enjoy my mind.  It keeps me thoroughly amused, and there really is something sort of impressive about it.  What’s that, you wonder?  Well, I tell you in all humbleness; I have the most amazing dreams. 

   Ask anyone in my family who has been present the morning after I recall a dream.  They can be quite fantastic (the dreams, not my family members:).  Action, adventure, intrigue, suspense, drama, and occasionally, violence and horror.  Interesting dreams are evidence of an interesting mind, I always say.  And they’re always so vivid.  Why, just last night I was observing the sweat on the brow of my opponent in the boxing ring.  The cinematography in my dreams is amazing.  Not long ago I found myself falling off an impossibly high cliff, and the view on the way down was so distractingly wondrous I didn’t bother to take the time to worry about the fact that I was falling to my doom. 

   Sometimes I have dreams with intricate plot twists and remarkable character development.  I become rather fond of my dream mates sometimes, and it’s almost sad to leave them when morning comes.  I dream about family and friends a lot, but I also get to meet new people when I fall asleep.  There was a fellow the other night who was kind enough to take my hand and pull me out of a snow bank…repeatedly (I was having a clumsy night).  It’s too bad they don’t really exist; these dream folk, because we’ve had some good times.  Well, not all of them.  Some of them double-crossed me and even tried to kill me.  Come to think of it, some of them succeeded. 

   Anyway, a person with such interesting dreams must have a fascinating mind.  That’s my conclusion, anyway, and my defense.  So the next time someone questions my intellect, I’ll be prepared with this earth-shattering retort: “Yeah, well, I had a cool dream last night!”