A group of us were in the office. Then, something strange happened: someone pressed the Start button on the copier, but nothing happened. No error message, just--nothing. We looked out the window; everything was frozen still, no movement. We tried a couple other things, similarly ineffectually. Somehow, we determined that time had stopped.
We sat and discussed. Eventually--I would say it was 'after awhile", but that's not quite correct--we came to the conclusion that there was nothing we could do, no more cause and effect. For example, to cook something you need to apply heat over time. A copier would be quicker, but still there is a sequence.
Our discussion turned to the question of what we should do, if and when time started up again. We were grateful when it did, knew exactly what we wanted to do first, second, etc. and that pretty much ended the dream. Like many of my dreams, it was quite vivid, and both then and now seems to have captured the experience for me in a way. that seems real I'm sure it's partially the result of seeing too many movies with the same point of departure, though their stories weren't quite the same as my experience.
Now, upon reflection in the light of day, a few points I take away:
- First, I would conclude that always living in the present is not exactly what we think it means. Neither does "the fierce urgency of now" (to quote President Lyndon Johnson) seem as accurate.
- Second, my experience suggests to me that maybe it's a good idea, sometime each day, to freeze time and take an extended moment to plan what to do.
- Lastly, now I have some empathy for the experience of those ghosts that may or may not be haunting us. The point is not whether you can be seen; it's what's the use of being seen if you can't do anything?
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