protect your reveries
…He calls them "Reveries". The old gestures were just generic movements. These are tied to specific memories.
The memories are purged at the end of every narrative loop. But they're still in there, waiting to be overwritten. He found a way to access them, like a subconscious.
I. Deep and Dreamless Slumber
I did not know what to call my own moments of pleasant idleness. I do now.
I am not sure when it started. For years, my default state during any break or idle time was essentially being sedated. Mindless munching and chasing hits. I have spent hours scrolling r/popular and endless other feeds while passively listening to random music. I have chased caffeine highs until I felt like staring up in blinding lights.
I stopped dreaming. I fell into a state that pulled me from the present, leaving me crashed and disconnected. Life happened around me, and I stared blankly, overwhelmed by life's stresses, looking up in terror. Ruminating. Brooding.
Now there is nothing and I have gone
No more mountains no more song
No more prayers sent up into space
Only screens left to see your face
- Gorillaz - The Sad God
II. Surfacing
Then came a quiet nap that broke the loop. In that restful space, a random thought surfaced: I should do my sunrise walks without my phone and music. That quiet surfacing of an idea is what I call a reverie. A spontaneous, quiet, and pleasant moment of imagination.
That was almost a year ago. Now I see similar moments. It starts with simple imagination. I wish… I want… What if... I could... I should... It seems tiny, but it often sets off a chain reaction.
They look like recognising the desire to do 1 to 5 minutes of yoga. They look like a sudden clarity to reach out to friends I felt I was drifting apart from. They look like thinking I should appreciate a friend for exercising consistently, and then actually sending that text. They increase mindfulness. They build courage. They cultivate honesty. That’s what I have felt.
It is difficult to put this feeling into words. But I know this much. Some of the best things that have ever happened to me started with a reverie.
III. Protect your reveries
The demands of the day and the endless content we consume pull us right back into that sedated state. And if we are not careful, we stop dreaming. We stop living.
To keep dreaming, we gotta fight back against that noise and numbness. Reveries need empty space to exist, whether through ten minutes of nothing™️, a quiet walk, or a few minutes of yoga. When the noise finally clears, it becomes a frequency to tune into and your brain starts playing on its own, sparking quiet action and change.
I am curious. Have you ever felt a reverie that set off a quiet chain reaction in your own life? I would love to know.
You can write to me at - chiragxpurohit[at]protonmail[dot]com << - >> •
I also curated a playlist while documenting this experience.