Chuck Klosterman is on to something

I just finished Killing Yourself To Live, a great book by Chuck Klosterman. Since I appear to be on this roll with books, I will fill you in on something that I cannot stop thinking about. (Klosterman is also a writer for Spin so his work is really something, highly recommend him).
Killing Yourself to Live is a book all about famous musicians who all died young. Klosterman wants to know why the best career move any musician can make is to stop breathing, and it’s kinda true. Think about all those young, crazy musicians whose death was just shrouded with mystery. Sid Vicious, Curt Cobain, Elliot Smith, etc. Somehow their legacy starts with their death. When we talk about any of these people, their deaths inevitably occupy some part of the conversation.

Anyway I didn’t start to write this to pitch his book, I really wanted to talk about something that he wrote about in one of his other books, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. In this one chapter, Klosterman identifies 23 questions that he needs to ask people to determine whether he can really love them. One of these questions stuck out to me the most, and I find myself thinking about it quite often, especially after waking up from a relatively intense dream. So the passage in Klosterman’s book reads as a scenario that follows (I hope I am not infringing on copyrights here. I will change a few words just in case…):
“At long last someone has invented “The Dream VCR”. This machine allows you to tape an entire evening’s worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. (HOW cool does this sound already?!) However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device if you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don’t agree to this, then you don’t get to use the Dream VCR. Would you still do this?“

So clearly, Klosterman assumes people will not want to share their own dreams with family and close friends, and I think that he might be right. When you think about it, dreams are the most personal thing that we ever experience. I know I have been overwhelmed with emotion from some of mine. Presumably, Klosterman also might think that some people are nervous sharing these thoughts with those close to them, especially since we really can’t control what we dream. Although, on some level we are ultimately in control. See the paradox?

I wonder, if this device were to be invented, how many arguments between lovers would arise? Or how much more self involved we would become if we were given the opportunity to review our own thoughts on screen. It would be bound to happen. Imagine being mad at someone for a dream they had?

I had a friend who was once mad at ME for something I did in a dream of HERS. Now imagine watching a dream of someone close to you where he or she does something that you may not agree with or feel so great about. Or, imagine the embarrassment you might suffer if a dream of yours had you doing something less than appealing.

So, with dreams being so emotional and powerful, are they meant for anyone other than ourselves? Do other people have the right to see our dreams and think about them in a way that only we are meant to? Or are they just our own personal outlet and only ours to interpret?

Maybe it’s because I am self absorbed, and want to know everything there is to know about myself. Maybe it’s because I have no clue to what I am really feeling half the time. Maybe its because I have always been interested by dreams and what they really represent. Whatever the reason, I really believe that our dreams give us insight into our subconscious. They are also one of the most elusive things that we ever experience, despite the fact that we, ourselves, create them. All of the above, this is why I love dreams and why I continue to wonder, what IF I had a dream VCR?