Phoebe Evans
“It Really is Alright”
My friend Swampy (so called because he was from New Orleans) died at age 32 and was much mourned. Everyone loved him, he was hard-working, smart and a good man. He left behind a 2-year-old daughter. Spiritual doubt assailed me. Maybe we are all just meat computers and consciousness is a cruel joke. But several weeks after he died I had this dream:
I am standing near a carport behind an ugly 60’s apartment building. There is a trellis on the carport holding honeysuckle. Suddenly I realize I am dreaming.
Swampy comes from behind the trellis with his golden hair glinting in the sun and a huge grin on his face. He takes both my hands and says, “It really is alright!” I woke with a great sense of happiness and that gnawing sense of doubt didn’t occur to me as much anymore. Several years later my beloved cat Neb was killed at only 6 months old, the most affectionate cat and the best company of any cat I have ever had. Two weeks after she was hit I dreamt I was holding her in my arms. I realized that she was dead and then that it was a dream.
I felt a sense of grief and guilt and said, “Oh my kitty, my little kitty, I’m so sorry.” And I kissed her cheek, her nose and her head. I marveled at how real she felt, how heavy in my arms (she was quite plump and all black). I could feel how very relaxed she was as she lay on her back with all four feet in the air. She shook her head slightly, gave a cool smile and said to me, “It doesn’t matter about the body…” I rarely worry anymore that we don’t have souls.
Laura Atkinson
Title of Work: Gumdrops from the Sky
Medium: Various
Date Created: 2003-2005
The actual dream behind the “Gumdrops from the Sky” image occurred during the first session of the More Lucid Dreaming project in 2003. It was first publicly shown in the IASD PsiberDreaming Art Gallery 2005.
The importance of capturing the exact imagery of the dreamscape became so important to me, that the final image appeared a year after the actual dream itself. It evolved in stages starting from a simple 30 second sketch and text in my dream journal, to a 30 minute oil pastel sketch, to a final digital photomontage.
Gumdrops from the Sky
The dream begins in a bookstore. A woman was helping me choose new books. I identify this woman as my neighborhood friend LC. The beginning of our conversation was very normal and realistic until I remember that she passed away several years ago. In my dream, I choose this opportunity to have a conversation with her… Laura: “I was so mad that you left us so early in your life.” LC: “Yes, I was too.” Laura: “Are you okay now? What it is like up there?” LC: “Laura, it is like a giant salad. A place where everything is green and healthy. You can even pick gumdrops from the sky if you want. No one is alone. People are reunited with everyone they ever loved.” I give her a hug, and while we are hugging I say this: “I was so mad that you left us. I couldn’t believe it when I read it on the announcement board. I thought it was a typo, I thought it was someone other than you.” LC: “So was I, but look at me now.” The lucidity of this dream is almost overwhelming. I wake up breathing deeply with tears in my eyes.
