If I were a saint, I'm sure that Jesus Christ and Buddha would appear before me, offering me advice on how to save the world and myself. And not necessarily in that order.
But I'm just a novelist, so the only one who shows up in my dreams is George Clooney, and when the brilliant actor offered me some advice on the progress of my novel, I listened humbly.
This is not as weird as it sounds. Everybody can get help from their dreams. If they are strong and have a visionary quality, they can aid us solving problems in our lives. So believe it or not, My Inner Clooney was a big help to me. I won't promise that I'll dedicate my book to him, but if he invites me to stay at his villa outside Como, I could be talked into it.
2.
Okay, let me be serious for a second. In this memorable dream I just had, George Clooney said that I should try to be less aware of myself during the writing process (which is something I always work on intensely), and he also added something that made me laugh when I woke up: "Let the Swiss be Swiss and the Germans be Germans."
On a superficial level this comment didn't make sense at all. There are no Germans or Swiss in my novel. The story takes place in an ashram in India with an American Dane as the protagonist, but instinctively I knew what My Inner Clooney meant: the novel had become too weird and enigmatic. It needed to be more grounded.
You see, for the last three months I have tried to rewrite the story as a fable, inspired by Franz Kafka and too much spinach curry, probably. George didn't like that. He wanted the novel to be more orderly, structured, and down to earth (Swiss, German).
The reason why I took this dream seriously is that it was Clooney who said it. If it had been Justin Bieber or Kim Jong-Il, the dream would have meant something different, but to my mind George Clooney is an accomplished artist who does quality work, so when he breaks into my dreams I better take him seriously.
When I sat down and read the third draft of my novel, I had to agree with My Inner Clooney. The novel didn't work as a third person fable. It had become weird, pretentious, and boring. I had moved too far away from its irreverent, humorous, and slightly surreal base.
So all I can do is thanking George for making me see that.
But hey, if I'd met My Inner Clooney many years ago I would have asked his advice on how to pick up Italian women, but that's a different story we won't get into here...
PS.
One of my best novels, Flødeskumsfronten (Le Front Chantilly in France, O Paraiso de Hitler in Portugal) was based on a dreamlike vision I got in 1999 that was so strong I'll never forget it. So whether you're an artist, scientist, barista, carpenter or assassin, just know that your subconscious is bursting at the seems with ideas, insights, and visuals that would make Magritte proud.
Use them so they don't use you!
*****Art work by A. Huda*****
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