Time out

Last month we spent a couple of weeks in Cambodia, visiting my son and his wife, exploring ancient temples, boating through floating villages, immersing in the local culture, and not doing any work at all. No dream consultations, no writing, no media interviews, no podcasting. Much as I love my work – at heart I am a passionate creative focussed on providing meaningful service through my endeavours – I know the value of rest, recovery, and regeneration. Weekends are sacred, sleeping and dreaming is non-negotiable, and holidays are an opportunity to experience different perspectives and flex different neural pathways.

A feature of holiday time with my son and his wife is always a games championship. We play a variety of games – cards, board games, daft challenges (who can shell a hard-boiled egg in the fastest time or remain balanced on a knotty tree bough for the longest time) and compete for overall champion. There’s plenty of brain stimulation. Our home-made Trivia games are notoriously tough and hilarious.

One night, I dreamed I was lounging in a garden, feeling a little brain-blurry but in a good sense, daydreamy, drifting, purposefully unfocussed, not required for intelligent comment or sharp conversation. A car motored slowly past, no driver, no passengers. Even in the dream I knew this was unusual – a driverless car! It wasn’t a Google self-driving car, a Tesla, or any of the other autonomous cars currently on offer. The car in my dream was a pretty conventional small car, a type that would normally require a driver. But not that night, not in my dream. It was travelling slowly enough not to pose a risk to other drivers, and seemed to know where it was going, and why. I settled back into the dream garden, content to see it making its own way, leaving me free to do nothing at all.

On waking and interpreting my dream, I realised the driverless car was an unconscious part of my drive that knows where it’s headed and doesn’t need my conscious input, or, at least, didn’t need my conscious input while I was in holiday mode.

All this proved to be the case when I got home and sat down at my desk. During my time away, it was as if magical little elves had worked away at my various projects, driving them further along the road, leaving yellow post-it notes for me to follow.

 

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