The time is 6:40 AM on Thursday, September 9th, 2021. We’re back into a more normal routine for the first time in a year and a half due to COVID. The kids are back in school and we have gone back to karate class. I think this routine and exercise have brightened my mood quit a bit.
I am happiest while being productive in some way. Aside from work, this means learning something on the internet or tech related, gardening, fixing things around the house, running errands etc. For leisure this means hanging out with my boys (Playing a lot of Pokemón Go recently) reading books, watching documentaries, making progress in a game such as Animal Crossing etc.
Well, when I’m not in a routine things can fall apart, I become lethargic and lose the energy to be productive. It feels good to be back in routine and especially back in karate. Karate is hard and it is these hard workouts which tire out my body, make me go to sleep early and also wake up early. So here I am, writing an early morning journal entry on a weekday for the first time in a long while.
It is also this exercise which gives rise to very vivid dreams. Last night’s was interesting so I want to write it down.
I arrived in Japan with my old Waseda classmate Horacio. Being a dream there was no indication of our real lives, it was just as there was nothing in the world, no families, no previous Japan experience etc, except us going to Japan to take a weeks long course at Waseda again. Horacio had worked out the living arrangements and told me it was a very good place.
Well, when we arrived it was very far away and along train lines I had never heard of. I’m very familiar with the Tokyo metro in waking life but in this dream metro it was completely foreign and I had no idea where anything went. Even stranger is I had to rely on my dreamworld smartwatch. I do not own a smartwatch and do not want one in the waking world. In this dream my G-Shock had turned into a primitive smartwatch with a display that you’d find on a calculator watch from the 1980s. I was skeptical but it did work and gave us great directions.
*Side note: As I wrote down that last sentence a previous dream which I don’t believe I wrote down appeared in my mind. It was also the Tokyo metro but I couldn’t figure out how to work the ticket machine. It took a very long time and with the help of the station attendants who laughed at me when I was finally on my way. It was a stressful dream and I imagine I had something difficult going on the next day.
Anyway, Horacio and I navigated the Tokyo metro but I was shocked when I learned the final train had to go three hours north to reach our hotel! In fact it was half way to Hokkaido but it is apparent my dream didn’t have distances and times down as they would be in the waking world. I wasn’t too happy as I would have to commute three hours one way back to Tokyo everyday for class and work (I believe I also had a job). However, he told me it was a great place and that I would see. Then to my surprise our other buddy Masaru hopped on that final train with us as he was curious to see this hotel as well.
Horacio was right about the hotel as it was spectacular and not something you’d usually find in Japan and certainly not in Tokyo. It had a water park like pool on multiple levels with slides and lazy rivers, it had spas and saunas and it was big and luxurious. Not only that but it had a bunch of college students staying there who were having a constant pool party. When I saw all this I understood why this place was chosen and the three hour commute didn’t bother me anymore. I was there to study and work, not to party but I didn’t mind the great atmosphere. It would be much better than a drab, small single room with no amenities that you’d usually find in Tokyo.
Unfortunately as we were admiring the pool we both fell in and this was before we had checked in. This meant we had to go into the lobby soaking wet. Once checked in we decided to go take a walk around the property to see what amenities there were. All of a sudden Mark, an old friend from my days as an English teacher also appeared and was walking with us.
When we got to the pool on the second level we were being very careful not to get wet or fall in again. I was being extra cautious looking down and avoiding all places where I could slip. Well, when I looked up Horacio, Masaru and Mark were gone. They had left me behind! Instead I was surrounded by all these college kids partying, splashing and I was trying not to get wet. Then some jerk spit water directly on me and I was livid. I challenged him to a fight then and there and I could tell he was afraid but probably wouldn’t back down or apologize. I went to an open area and got ready to fight him, I was so mad!
Then I woke up and it is a nice, cool foggy day on Thursday morning in Pacifica.
That dream had to be directly tied to our returning to the dojo since it involved Japan and fighting. The anxiety portion of not knowing where I was is probably due to a big event we have coming up for work next week that has been occupying my time.
I’m very glad I can remember my dreams. I think they go a long way in possibly explaining our moods that day.
On a side note, I also sold Tilray and Cloudera this morning putting that money in Ethereum and Bitcoin. Cloudera was sold and is going private, while Tilray has been all over the place but on the overall disappointing. I am certain about Ethereum and given talk of a stock pullback later in the year and that crypto had a big dip two days ago I thought it was a perfect time to change things up a bit.
