Writer's Dreaming

"And then there are terrifying dreams when the work is going really badly. I don't even want to talk about them. It gives them too much power." -Maya Angelou
I think everyone can relate to this incredibly intelligent woman as she speaks of how dreams have affected her life in all aspects; but she chooses an optimistic view as she indicates her belief that you can decide to let bad ones affect you, or not.
We have all experienced nightmares of sorts, and I am in full agreement of Angelou: the more you succumb to them, the harder they are to shake off. All of this reminds me of scary movies, and how certain people allow themselves to be sucked into the  thrill of the story and others only see actors. It's the same movie throughout, but the level of excitement is not based on how well it was directed, it is dependent on the willingness of the audience to be terrified. You see a dark alley on the screen where nothing has even appeared yet, and suddenly you're imagining all of the horrible things that could likely jump out. Here, you are giving the power to the movie, the same way you can give power over to your own dreams or even real life situations.
Dwelling on things that make you uncomfortable or unsure of yourself will instill a burden like a bag of bricks on your shoulders. This is how Angelou became so successful despite her bad dreams, she found courage within herself to shoo those unwanted thoughts away; and I don't use courage lightly, it does take courage to be self motivated. It is so easy to let yourself drown in a sea of confusion and negativity, it is much harder to jump out of the water and continue down a better path.

Dreams, good and bad, are all powerful and impact us in ways we don't even realize us. We can choose to ignore the bad ones, but Angelou writes that dreams are truthful. She said she would have pleasant dreams when the work was going well for her and vice versa. Do dreams hold any truth? Or are they merely fantasies, figures of our imaginations, concoctions of our minds, subconcious thoughts and observations taken to major heights, our brains' way of coping with things we are incapable of dealing with while we are awake?
Perhaps it's a bit of both. Even the most simple minded person can have the wildest imagination. Yes, our brains can create outrageously unrealistic dreams, but burried deep within them is some sort of message, a missing puzzle piece; nothing you didn't know, just something you didn't happen to think of until it was realized through a dream. A dream is a realm where your subconcious can just play with no boundaries, whereas your concious brain puts up barriers while you are awake to protect you from unbearable thoughts and feelings, to protect your sanity.
Indeed, dreams are truthful to us. Our minds can fool us into seeing things that are not there, but our subconcious shows us things that were there that we did not see.

Now, let's not forget the difference between what is the truth and what is factual. It sounds like a moot point, they are basically synonyms, right? Angelou doesn't think so, and she has convinced me otherwise as well. A fact is black and white, this is what is and there is no disputing it. The truth looks at a fact as a blank canvas and bleeds all over it with an abundance of actuality and life, perspective and color. The facts may be that something occured, but the truth is why it happened and the events that led up to it and how it made everyone involved feel. Perspective is the key word, the facts are set in stone, but the truth can vary for different people.
She was explaining this to, as an autobiographer, let the reader know that she would give the facts of her life, but that there may be gaps and loopholes where the truth would need to be set free, so that in the process of writing about what happened on a specific date in her life, she can be released from some cage she was still shut up in until she was able to breathe that heavy sigh of relief that is the truth.