Sunday, September 07, 2008

A Long Story for a Short Dreamday

Yesterday I went for a coffee in a cosy café called Gula Huset here in Visby, Gotland.
Since I was right in the middle of finishing my last post about the couple in Göteborg I thought I would bring my computer along and finish it off with a cup of coffee.




The café is very small with wooden tables and old fashioned coffee cups. I take a seat by the window and unpack my computer. I get my coffee and begin to write. After a while the small room starts getting crowded. Since I sit by a big table I thought I would be nice and leave it for bigger companies. So after a while I take my things and move over to a small window table just next to a family with two small children.





I am just about to start writing when all of a sudden the man in the family leans over to me and asks: -Do you have wireless internet? Yeah, sure I do, I respond, quite proud of my new 3G-mobile broadband... Well, could you move a little bit further away he says. I got really surprised and looked at him. Oh ok...

-I got my dose of radiation at the library today, he continues, and it really disturbs me. It makes me feel sick. Actually I could feel the signal from where you were sitting at the other table as well, he says. Alright I say and start mumbling something about all the signals that exist around us today and so I say: Well, I can just move back to the other table then...-Thanks I really appreciate it, he says.

And there we go again, balancing a cup of coffee and the computer back to the old table by the window. I begin to write but my mind is unfocused. Why did I not just tell the guy what a stupid idea that is that it would be my computer giving away radiation? The radiaton or signals or whatever you call them, already exists out there, regardless if I am connected or not, or am I wrong?



Anyway, in a little while the family is gone and I can start writing again. I go for a second round of coffee and while drinking it and writing the last lines on my blog a woman from another table comes up to me and says: Is it OK if I take a picture of you when you sit there and write? It just looks so interesting with the combination of old and new, the old café and the modern laptop, she says. Sure I say and try not to pose while staring at the computer.

I finally finish my post on the blog and decide to put the computer back in my bag. I take up a little note book that I have decided to use only for writing down my dreams that I have at night. I start writing down a dream of mine that I had about a week ago about a house that my family owns in Greece. The dream had made such a strong impression on me and I wanted to write it down in detail so I would not forget it.

After writing for a little bit I needed to go to the bathroom. I left my cup and notebook on the table. The toilet is next to the small courtyard and I step outside. When coming back I pass the table where the ladies were sitting who took the picture of me. I smile for myself while thinking what a bizarre afternoon this had been so far. When I get back to the table I get another surprise. I have company. Across the table there is an old man sitting with a cup of coffee, a big sandwich and a book. -Now you have company he said! Ok, that is nice I respond and sit down.

He asks me what I am writing. I am writing down a dream I had some time ago, I said. He gets curious and I tell him about the dream briefly. Then he said: I have two dreams that I had a long time ago and that I still remember very clearly. They are about being lucky and being saved, he says. He starts telling me these dreams in detail and at the same time I remember thinking that right now I must be the luckiest person to get to hear a stranger´s dream, just like that, simple and unpretentiously over a cup of coffee...

That is when I get the idea: Maybe I can take this chance to ask the man what his dreamday would look like. I could not stop myself and a few minutes later I start telling him about my dreamdayproject. He was not overly excited about the question at first. But then he starts thinking and he says:

" Well, first of all, it involves a woman to accompany me. It is a day spent either by the sea or in the mountains. If it is by the sea there is probably a boat involved, and if it is the mountains maybe some hiking. The day is about the joy of spending time with a woman that you care for and to wake up together and fall asleep together at night."

After that we continue our small talk for a little while and eventually I open my note book and start writing it all down. The man takes up his book as well and says. -This is a good book, but it is really hard to read. But I try to force myself to read a little bit in it every once in while...

Hm... I think for myself. Why do we force ourselves to read difficult books when our dreams are so different?
Continue Reading

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Sleepless in Gothenburg

I really wonder what this couple said to eachother when they walked away this afternoon. One thing is sure though. One of them is not living his dreamday right now.


The video clip is from last winter. I was standing outside Biopalatset in Göteborg, Sweden trying to get some Swedes to answer the same question that I had asked so many times before. Göteborg was somehow more difficult than other places and many people seemed to be too stressed to be disturbed with such a trivial question. If I had been asking something more "serious", maybe something connected to global warming or so, then maybe they would have given the question more thought.

Nevertheless there were some really interesting answers coming up. Some very subtle but yet very honest. This is one of them.

Unfortunately the sound is not very good, but if you listen very carefully you can hear the man saying something very quietly just before he is interrupted by his wife. He mumbles something like " A day when you can sleep..."

In the meantime the wife streches out her arm and looks at her clock and says: We are a little bit in a hurry right now...He never gets to finish his sentence before they are quickly walking away to their set destination. But I hope he finishes the thought in his mind. Maybe maybe he even said it to his wife, and maybe the next day he would be able to change his day.

I also wondered what they were hurrying for that was so important that she could not even listen to what her husband had to say about his dreamday. She had the chance to peek inside his soul for a second, and she did not even listen. I think that is the sadest part of this dreamday. And also, who knows what time he had to get up this morning just to stress out on the busy streets.

Continue Reading

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Beach or God?

I met these two guys in Mexico City in 2006. I was standing just outside the main square in Mexico City when I saw the two of them walking down the street. I suspected they were Jehovas Witnesses and I was of course very curious to hear about their dreamday.


The first guy is quick to respond that his dreamday would be to do what he is doing right now, which is to spread the word of God...

The I turn to the other guy. I ask him what his dreamday would be like. He responds something like this:

" Well, all those things that he said before, but also....just go to the beach or something..."

I love the honesty in that answer:-)


Continue Reading

Estar en la Casa Todo el Día

This Dreamday video was filmed in December 2005 in Monterrey, Mexico. My two friends Luis and Roberto helped me out and this was during the second day of Dreamday filming ever. We had taken a taxi on our lunch-break to one of the big fruit and vegetable markets in the city. This girl that I am interviewing is working in one of the stands there.

When I approached her and when she noticed the video camera, she looked really bothered as you can see. (And I don´t blame her...) I remember thinking in that same moment that the whole thing was a bad idea and that maybe I should just leave her alone. But the camera was running and I could not find a way to end the conversation...

So I finally get to ask my question in broken Spanish and I am wondering if she is going to ignore it or not.

But in that same moment something magical happens. And it is exactly those moments that keep me inspired to continue this project.

For a few seconds the expression in her face changes. You can hardly notice but a smile breaks through her face and then she reponds:

-To stay at home one whole day!

My dreamdayproject is not so much about the replies that I get, but more about what happens when you hear the question. When you are forced to remind yourself about your dreams and wishes...

Continue Reading