Was it all just a dream?

I finally got around to watching the movie "Inception" recently, and came away mightily impressed.

It's a compelling movie that I expect to do well come Oscar time next spring. Some might call it a flight of fancy...one close friend of mine called it a "mind @#$@#"...and I'm sure it would be classified as a fiction film.

But there's more than a germ of authenticity to it.

I have learned through years of massage and cranio-sacral therapy that the body stores memories not just in the brain but in muscles as well, and that with the proper techniques those memories can be revived and released. In fact, that can be a key part of the recovery process.

My brother Marvin, who is a massage therapist, talked of working on a woman who had been in an automobilie accident in her past, and when he began working on a shoulder that had been injured in the crash she began crying --- not in physical pain, she said, but from reliving the vivid memories of the accident itself that suddenly flashed into her mind.

I also recall dreams that were incredibly vibrant and turned out not to be flashbacks, but flash forwards --- snapshots of events that had not yet unfolded. Those are rare, yet I can't be the only person to have had them.

And there was one night when I woke from a dream in which I was having a dream...though I had no idea what that "inner" dream was after I awakened.

All of which serves to remind me that we as humans have barely begun to tap into what our minds and bodies are capable of.

And it also may be why it was not hard for me to follow "Inception" through its muliple layers of story-telling, which had me thinking 3D without the funky glasses.

I won't go into the plot much, so I don't spoil it for those who have yet to see it. But it would be fair to say the plot revolves around a small group that attempts to bore into the recesses of memory to achieve a desired result....and the effort goes awry.

When you walk out, you wonder how much of what you just saw was real, how much was a dream - and how much of it is actually possible.

I suspect the answer to the last piece is...far more than we may realize - or want.

Who was more startled?

It was an innocent stroll to the apartment complex office to put my rent check in the rent drop box. It was already dark, but the area is well-lit.

I was merely planning to make the trek as quickly as possible and get back to my tasks awaiting me back at my apartment. I slipped the check into the slot, turned - and realized I was not alone.

Something moved in the grass.

I did a doubletake - and realized it was a snake, slithering and shimmering in the light from a security post. For a split second, I was frozen...until I recognized it was a small garter snake.

They're harmless, I knew from growing up on a farm ---- and it seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see it.

But that didn't keep me from shaking my head as I walked back to my place. What if the critter had been something genuinely dangerous? How quickly can the routine be transformed into something threatening?