The Horror in Your Head

I can't consume print or television media with too much infusion of blood and guts.

For one, there are pretty terrible things actually happening in the world. I find it interesting that so much of our population is entertained by fictional shooting, hacking and violence.  Aside from that, I have trouble getting strong visuals out of my thoughts.

Husband can watch a gorey film or documentary and get it out of sight and mind fairly quickly, or so he says. I still think it processes in his subconscious and lingers as all things really do in the human brain.

Despite how well you might process a story filled with the most terrifying of circumstances--however fictional--it's a little unsettling to know that somewhere a living man or woman contrived the story and its details. How does Stephen King sleep with himself on any given night?  What on this green earth is living in his head to weave this stuff together?

[Shudder from Gropius.]

Every now and then, I have a horrible dream of the most colorful and detailed plot and imagery. Where did it come from? Is it a remnant from something I watched in a film? Just a creative manifestation of something I'm trying to work out subconciously? I always wake up from these dreams feeling more frightened that my mind was capable of coming up with such a thing than I was of the dream itself.

There's a dark side to human nature, no doubt. I don't know where it comes from.

Speaking just for myself, I know I'm best off trying to keep good company, seek good in circumstances and minimizing exposure to unnecessary violence-- even if it's coming from an indirect experience of media. It's not always possible, but that's the goal.