First a few definitions…
“The Dreamtime” is a term used by some Indigenous Australian cultures to refer to the period of creation before the world was formed. According to these cultures, during the Dreamtime, the ancestors of the Indigenous Australians emerged from the earth and created the landscape, the animals, and the people.
The Dreamtime is also seen as a continuous and ongoing part of Indigenous Australian culture, encompassing the spiritual beliefs and practices of the people. It is a time of great significance, and many Indigenous Australian stories and traditions are rooted in the Dreamtime.
“Gone Walkabout” is a term used in Australian English to describe the act of leaving one’s normal everyday life and going on a journey, often without a specific destination or timeline. This term has its origins in the traditions of some Indigenous Australian cultures, where young men would go on a journey to gain knowledge and experience in their culture and the natural environment.
During a Walkabout, a person may travel alone or with a group, carrying only the essentials and relying on the natural environment for sustenance. The journey may last for days, weeks, or even months, and is often seen as a time for self-discovery and reflection.
In contemporary Australian culture, the term “Gone Walkabout” is often used more broadly to refer to any period of time when a person is taking a break from their usual routine or responsibilities to travel or explore. It is seen as a way to disconnect from the stresses of daily life and gain a new perspective on the world.
I combine these two terms into something very personal too me. I often go walkabout in the dreamtime. The dreamtime is very real place too me. It’s where I go to decompress. It used to be a very wild and uncomfortable place in my youth where I would experience all of my dreads and fears on a nightly basis, until I got a bit older. As I aged, I become more aware of where I was and that I could control the more negative parts of my dreams. There would be solutions to my anxieties that would conveniently appear by my side, or even in my hand.
Something else, which I never speak of… I remember my dreams. Not only remember them but flashes of them continue to come to me in the waking hours of my life. Just as real as the memories of past events that also constantly interrupt whatever it is that I am trying to accomplish. These thoughts become a constant intermingling part of my day. While I found it too be annoying at one time in my life, now I feel like I have a constant connection to my past, both real and imagined.
I remember dreams I had long before I was of school age, in vivid detail. There are dreams that I consider to be favorites, and at times there will be elements of those dreams within a dream, but I never get to revisit the original dream as it always changes, and morphs into its own unique experience.
Dreams are my way of coping with my reality, they are a solid part of my past, and at times they are a source of comfort along with creativity. While I am not the best sleepers on the planet, I always manage to enter the Dreamtime and go on Walkabout. Good, bad or indifferent… I just let things unfold now and see where it all leads to.
You’ll notice, with the exception of last image by me, the images in this post have all been AI generated. I was going to do some abstracts for this piece, but the AI stuff seemed more appropriate for the subject. AI doesn’t seem to get things exactly right, and that’s the same case with dreams. I’ve used Chat_GPT for the two entries defining Dreamtime, and Walkabout. The images were done by Midjourney and Dall-e2. I found the process of creating the images to be both frustrating and entertaining. I even created a Discord server that hosts the Midjourney bot. >>Multiverse of Things Discord Server<< Alas, my attempt to incorporate a Chat_GPT was a bit beyond me at the moment.
