Dreams: Premonition, the Subconscious and other Theories

Exactly four (4) years ago, September 17, I had a dream that I can not forget. I was standing in a very bright, all white place. Then I saw my grandfather. He held me close to him then he smiled at me. Suddenly, he turned around and walked away without saying anything. He slowly faded away and my vision was just all white and became even brighter. Then I woke up with tears in my eyes.

At that time, my grandfather was in a vegetative state due to complications because he was already suffering from stage 4 prostate cancer. Later that day, we went to the hospital to visit lolo. It was just like a regular, ordinary visiting day. We came there to see him, said "Hi", "kamusta", and even if he was unable to respond, we know he heard us. We had no idea that it was the last day that we are going to see him breathing. We went on doing our usual stuff, had dinner beside him and when we were about to go home, he had cardiac arrest. He was revived, vital signs became normal again and then we left. While we were still on the road, we were called up from the hospital because my grandfather had another arrest. So we went back. The moment we, the family, were already complete to see him, he breathed his last. My lolo left us to be with our God in heaven. Just like what happened in my dream earlier that day.

 I don't know whether that incident, my grandfather's death, is related to my dream or it was just a coincidence. Did lolo bid me goodbye in that dream? Did it suggest anything that is going to happen later that day? Was it a premonition? There are psychic studies that tells us that we can acquire information of an upcoming or future event through our dreams even before that event happens. If this is right, then maybe I had a premonition of my grandfather's death? Maybe.

Sometimes, no matter how good or bad our dream is, it would leave us wondering what that dream means. I remember during our psychology class, we were taught that our dreams is the product of what lies in our subconscious mind. According to Sigmund Freud, "dreams are the manifestations of urges and desires that we keep suppressed in the realm of our subconscious... our subconscious desires include those that we don't want to admit..." If this theory is correct, therefore, we dream of the things or events we deny in our conscious mind.

Oftentimes, there would be someone who keep appearing in our dreams. Does seeing someone in our

dreams mean he/she is someone we deny in our conscious mind? Is he or she the desire we keep in our subconscious mind? Hmm. I recall someone told me that the person we see in our dreams is the person who misses us. She said, it was according to the Reader's Digest. I went over the internet searching about this. I read somewhere that it must be true if they are soulmates. The minds of the dreamer and person in his/her dream had a connection through that dream. Wow. Could it be possible that the one we dreamed of is missing us? I hope so.

I believe that there are a lot of theories regarding dreams. And if I study dreams further, it would really be mind boggling for me.

Again, today, September 17, marks the 4th Death Anniversary of our Lolo Tony. And we, we all miss him.

Review: Ex With Benefits

Pain. It is the unpleasant feeling caused by an injury or disease. We would often use drugs, medicines, 

pain killers particularly, just to be free from pain even just for a while. That is for physical pain. How about

for the emotional pain, which is usually caused by sadness, loss or frustration? Is there any pain reliever

that can actually suppress that emotional pain we sometimes feel? Is there any drug that can at least

alleviate the pain in our hearts which we can take every four (4) hours or round the clock or as needed?

If there’s any, I’m quite sure a lot of people would flock the drugstores to avail this medicine. Well,

whether it is physical or emotional pain, we all go through it, we would all feel it. According to the movie

Ex With Benefits, pain is what makes us human. And the best way to recover from pain, is to endure it, because then and only then, can we heal.

Endure it because... Pain demands to be felt. And so I heard that line again. But this time in another film,as it

was just quoted in the latest movie offering by Star Cinema, Ex With Benefits. Starring Derek Ramsay as the most successful and renowned Dr. Adam Castrences, and Coleen Garcia as Arkishia Aragon, a Medical Representative who happens to be on top of her field. The story is about the ex lovers, Adam and

Arki, whose paths crossed after the break up that took place ten (10) years ago.

What I liked about the film

1.  The Story. It has a good take on a modern day love story which includes sex and everything. I also liked how what was supposed to be a light sexy movie turned to have a deep background story especially on Arki's life after the break up.

2. Derek Ramsay. We've seen countless Derek Ramsay movies where he would surely strip and show off his body then do love scenes. Here, I've noticed how careful he was to Coleen but still, his hotness didn't make any less. And for his acting, he is effective but still the same Derek in his previous films. 

3. Coleen Garcia. She was really pretty and sexy. I did not expect much from her since this is just her first lead role in a movie, but, she nailed it. And I guess she was a good choice. She's fresh and seems like, has more to offer in her coming films.

4. The Characters. Adam Castrences as the best doctor who has a broken heart. It just goes to show that even the people in the health and medical field are having problems with healing their own heart. Arki Aragon as the person who would do anything to get on top and anything for the ones she loves.

5. Music. There were no slow, nostalgic, mushy love songs played as background music in the movie. New.

6. Health and Medical terms. As a health care provider, I find it amusing to hear medical terms in a sexy film such as, placebo, fungi, congenital disease, tetralogy of fallot, duty, drug names, and etc.

There were flaws, i think it was the editing problems and rushed scene but definitely, the story wasn't affected at all. In addition, I loved how attraction levels were discussed during the first part of the movie. Informative. However, what I really loved the most was how the movie taught us about pain... on how pain can make or break a person and all the struggles one would through because of pain. Cry, Get drunk, be sober, endure the pain, until such time, we get healed... eventually. Ex With Benefits, a film on love, relationship, lost love, pain and healing gets, 4 out of 5 stars from me! :)