Strange Dream

I had a really strange dream last night. I'm not sure why I feel compelled to put it on my blog for the world to see. Here goes:

So I'm hanging out in Guatemala or Peru. I think Antigua, Guatemala, or at least how I imagine it. Then, for some strange reason I feel compelled to drench myself with water out of some tub on the side of the road. Maybe it was a hot day. It's strange, because I don't think I was in my right mind during the dream when I did this. I stripped down completely, and then doused myself with water using a 1/2 gallon milk container. Then when I realized that I was standing in the middle of the city naked, decided to run home. I don't know why I didn't just put on my clothes, but I think I had some strange reasoning about not getting them wet. I just ran swiftly for miles and miles, while trying to cover myself as best I can with an empty milk container. Embarrassing! There were a lot of stares. I felt embarrassed, but shameless for having the audacity to pull of such an act, all at the same time.

It's strange how people are not 100% cognisant in dreams--at least I'm not. I end up doing some strange things and acting without full consideration of consequences. Why is that? In dreams, I get stuck in a certain path of decision-making in which it is difficult to deviate. I think dreams give me a glimpse of how some people actually make decisions in their daily lives, or at least the mindset that forces people to choose strange courses of action.

I think I've just been reading too much world news lately, since I think these thoughts are heavily influenced by what I see--suicide bombings, armed robberies, Islamic Jihad against Western influences. I think, just as in my strange dreams, people in real life can actually be stuck on a path and certain mindset where if they were removed from the circumstances--ie moved to a more peaceful, supportive, diverse community--they may actually feel like they have "awakened" from their past course of action.

I'm not talking about irrationality in the leadership of massive ethnical or political struggles. I'm fully convinced that the leadership has a clear strategic calculus in pursuing what appears to be irrational. I'm referring to the followers of such leadership, who may not be as calculating, and are the ones who act out of their surrounding pressures, family expectations, "culture" that enforces a single mindset.

I'm not equating the gravity of our major contemporary world struggles with my trite dream about running around a Latin American city naked. I'm just saying that my dreams lend me insight into how people can make desperate decisions based on what I perceive as irrationality. My dumb dream is just my most extreme case of REM, which is probably why I felt compelled to share.

Or maybe I should stop over-analyzing things. At least I finally found a job that values my ability to over-analyze relationships: defense analyst.