World of Illusion
(Mood in a Place)
George Koch
 

I am going to use what is probably the most bizarre place possible, one that I would bet nobody -- at least in this class -- has written about before. I won’t specifically say where I’m describing until the end, but I think it can be figured out pretty easily. The size of this place could not be measured; it is a place shrouded in mystery. It has existed for ages untold, and it is a place to which every human being has ventured before. In this world, some people find surreal, indescribable terror... others find a magnificent land of vivid, swirling imagery beyond the realm of description.

This far-off land is still a mystery even to scientists, who recognize it as something we may never fully comprehend. Cross the threshold and enter into a place where time stands still... a world that not only generates illusions but is one in itself. It can bring out our greatest fears and force us to face them. This place is for you if you want to see every known law of physics go out the proverbial window. While some people find this place quite a frightening experience, the luckier ones find it all to be quite funny. Here you can imagine things and make them a reality... sort of.

Though this place seemingly belongs to the realm of infinity -- and essentially does -- it also can belong to the realm of the absurd. Some may think of the whole trip as more like an LSD trip, the whole place is pretty much in the (mind’s) eye of the beholder. Where else can you encounter glow-in-the-dark pirates, toy poodles with crew cuts, and -- as some people claim -- the (supposed) “voice of God” emanating from a can of tuna?

Enough is enough, however; I’ll come clean on specifically where we’re talking about. This world of illusion, this realm of the stupefyingly bizarre, is no more than a dreamscape. The ultimate getaway without the cost of an airplane ticket, this swirling, dizzyingly outrageous realm sometimes known as “La-La Land” is but a dream. How our minds work is more unknown than not, but a dream is what you make of it. Some people are lucid dreamers; that is, they are capable of realizing they’re dreaming and essentially take partial control of what goes on. Some people dream about dreaming... a dream within a dream.

So this is probably one of the more ludicrous things you’ve read in some time. What I’ve described barely scratches the surface of the one place that is so far away that it’s right here. I can certainly remember some of the more memorable dreams I’ve had. And since I’m the one who dreamed that stuff up, nobody can claim that what I’ve said is untrue. Maybe the way I describe it is unclear to some; maybe it’s perfectly understandable to others. I don’t know... but what I do know, however, is that anyone can dream, but nobody can know what dreams may come.