Hi there!
Guess what? I just received my first correct author copy of my dream diary! That means you can get an accurate print copy too!
Only on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Naja-Taus-Dream-Diary-County/dp/B0BD24W5SH.
I kept making copies that were incorrectly formatted until I submitted the manuscript as a PDF. If you see mistakes that I missed, please contact me! But definitely submit your files via PDF if you are a self-published author.
I've been so busy. I really want to put out my second dream diary book too, but I just don't have time to edit the manuscript to my satisfaction.
I got my master's degree and I'm looking for work, but I'm trying to be strategic about my career, so this is probably going to take a while. I'm taking classes to keep upskilling while I apply to places. Ideally, I will relocate as well, so it's going to be that much harder to find something that feels right and meets all my requirements.
I also want to tell you about a dream I had recently.
I was on a space station and after greeting my friend's twin trans daughters, I talked to the station's IT guy: Gummo the Hacker. His room is a bright, buttery yellow. I have a really nice time with Gummo, and then I leave to go to the psychology section of the station. It's dark with large peonies and other flowers that seem to pop in the dim light.
I talk to a therapist and she suggests that I look for a job in their department.
"Thanks, but I will probably go for something in IT," I say.
I go out to the main deck, and these dark brown globs of slime with teeth are attaching themselves to the windows. All the people on the deck start doing a wiggly dance. It's the only way to respond to these alien attacks. They won't attack us for as long as we dance.
I get into my dance, but I wonder if some of us can dance while the others go about their business, because these aliens are just frozen. They're not going away, and the dance is starting to get tiring.
All of a sudden, I'm holding a little black book which orders time. I open it up, and there are little phrases like word magnets all over it. I feel that it's my responsibility to put the book and its phrases in order according to what I know the future has in store.
As I get further along in my task, people get wind of what I'm doing. My friends hear about their own futures, and they're horrified. They all hate what's going to happen to them according to what I've seen in the future. They come to me to try to get me to change their futures, but I refuse. It's incredibly annoying because they don't seem to realize that even though it's not what they think they want right now, I know that they adapt to their circumstances and live happy lives anyway.
One of my friends, Liz from 90 Day Fiancé, knocks me to the ground and grabs at the time book, but I manage to get up and scramble away.
I get it. People would do anything for their kids' futures, especially. But their kids are fine exactly the way they are destined to be. I cared about them just as they were.
I think this dream points out what I've noticed in my own life. I might think I know how I want my life to go, and I might think that if I don't get it or if things don't turn out my way, I'll be miserable, but that just isn't the case. Even while living with severe mental illness, I've had many moments of joy and peace in my life. In fact, I would say that post-medication, my happiness hasn't depended so much on my circumstances as it has depended on my thoughts and how those made me feel and my commitment to not allowing myself to get too stressed out. Now, I have practices like deep breathing, walks, meditation, releasing the vagus nerve, and other breaks throughout the day. And it's enough to keep me on an even keel even when I'm not doing things I really connect with on a soul level like the arts. I think this is normally how it works: you commit to being content and you slowly come to appreciate all the common, simple beauty in your life.
I say this now. Just watch me get really stressed out over something in the upcoming months. Hah!
