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to say that i loved the book would be an understatement. it intrigues me. the pictures, the colours, the way it holds you by the hand and tells you it's story, somehow still managing to leave room for your own perception/interpretation.

but im not going to go into that right now. right now, im going to tell you how, in terribletwo's words, the story 'violated me'

dreams and the manner in which they play a role in what we do and how we behave and who we are is something ive been interested in for a while now -- needless to say, the manner in which that concept was depicted in the book blew me away.

your subconsious/unconscious mind is your safe haven, or so we like to believe, and thats why the idea of a vortex scares most  people. it makes you wonder if you do have a place thats truely your own anymore. if someone could enter your dreams, enter into your subconscious mind, would you then have any privacy at all? i guess not. but would you be safe? thats something that i think differs from one person to the next. if you can fnd safety in knowing that your not alone, then maybe yes. but if you need your own sense of space, or think you do, then i guess not. nonetheless, the idea itself is an interesting one. because it is so possible.

your subconscious is intangible, and alive. more alive then we ever believe it to be. and it is, in my opinion floating, almost like a cloud, engulfing you on all sides. in it, it holds all your background thoughts, suppressed emotions and character traits. so its no surprise that it becomes more apparent to us, in our dreams.

but if its floating, it also makes all those emotions and thoughts a little vulnerable, more vulnerable than they are in your mind anyway. more vulnerable than you would ever let them be. so maybe it is possible, in that state of vulnerability, for it to fuse, for a small amount of time, with another subconscious mind. and when are you less aware of yourself then when you are asleep?

am i saying that there is a vortex? no. but i am saying that it is possible. and that knowledge of this vortex would probably make people make an effort to be more aware, of themselves, of their subconscious mind. and awareness of that would lead to awareness of identity, of a more secure sense of being.

thats how i think the book gravitates towards gender and sexuality, it deals with identity, identity realised through awareness. and if we are ever questioning our identity, our gender and sexuality, we need to be more aware of the forces within us that our shaping us everyday. our fear, anxiety, memory, even (as mentioned in the book), our desire.