"Let go of the past and go for the future.
Go confidently in the direction of your
dreams. Live the life you imagined."
-Henry David Thoreau
I was thinking about how the word "dreams" refers to what happens in our minds while we're asleep, and then thought how the word "dream" also describes our desires, wishes, ideal realities... Caruth writes about the ideas of both Freud and Lacan regarding dreams and relates the idea that sleeping and dreams are a way to escape the unbearable moments in reality. Our dreams, meaning our wishes/goals, are always forward-thinking. The above quote advises you to move forward and focus on the future. Dreams, then, are also a way of escaping reality while awake, by thinking about and working toward future goals that are not a reality in the present. Dreams sort of "turn away" from the past, because they are a way of creating a false reality, which often ignores current problems. Dreaming can be a way to try to escape from the effects of a traumatic event. It can even be seen as the time-gap between the traumatic experience and the ability of the mind to process what has happened.
This is a newscast about the U.S. Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River shortly after leaving LaGuardia airport last week. When I heard the story, I thought about our class because it deals with a traumatic (near-death) experience, surviving, as well as triggering flashbacks for the people in NYC who saw the plane hovering low to the ground, quickly falling from the sky. Many people thought that it was another terrorist attack and called 911, which, luckily helped rescue teams arrive at the scene quickly. The survivors interviewed in this newscast don't seem to be traumatized or scarred by this event, but I think the interview was taken pretty soon after the traumatic event. I wonder if these people will experience problems in the future because of this traumatic event. I also think it's great to hear a positive story, where U.S. citizens aren't stupid and violent. There is so much bad news that I think it shapes how we see the world, and hearing about so many psychos, murderers, rapists, bank robbers, etc. all the time can make the world seem like an ignorant, violent place.
This is a newscast about the U.S. Airways plane that landed in the Hudson River shortly after leaving LaGuardia airport last week. When I heard the story, I thought about our class because it deals with a traumatic (near-death) experience, surviving, as well as triggering flashbacks for the people in NYC who saw the plane hovering low to the ground, quickly falling from the sky. Many people thought that it was another terrorist attack and called 911, which, luckily helped rescue teams arrive at the scene quickly. The survivors interviewed in this newscast don't seem to be traumatized or scarred by this event, but I think the interview was taken pretty soon after the traumatic event. I wonder if these people will experience problems in the future because of this traumatic event. I also think it's great to hear a positive story, where U.S. citizens aren't stupid and violent. There is so much bad news that I think it shapes how we see the world, and hearing about so many psychos, murderers, rapists, bank robbers, etc. all the time can make the world seem like an ignorant, violent place.
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