The Moldy Basement Of My Dreams

In spite of what Indians and possible soothsayers may tell, I don't believe that dreams mean anything. I guess in some aspects, sure, they could mean something. Maybe a solution to a problem. Perhaps a beacon from God. Maybe it's just your imagination doing some goofy shit. I have had dreams that I was talking to my grandma who has been dead for 6 years now. I have also had dreams that I can't get back to the ground and gravity isn't working. I think dreams, like life, are what you make of them. Having said that, I had a dream the other night that was stupid, but also lead me to a couple of conclusions about modern society.

So it was the bottom of the ninth inning and I was the skipper for the Tampa Bay Rays. We were playing the Washington Nationals, and Chris Archer was just closing out the ninth inning of his complete game shutout. I was looking around the dugout and thinking: "where am I?" and then David Price came up (I know, he's a Red Sock now, didn't I mention dreams don't make sense?) and started calling me 'coach' and asking me a bunch of questions about our next flight to New York where we were going to play a three game series against the Yankees. The weirdest part of it all was that the dugout was modeled after the terrible chain link dugouts I used to play baseball in as a kid. I was sitting on an aluminum bench next to David Price and started remembering that I was the manager for the Rays now and I lived a very lavish life in Florida. Anyway, the game ended and we had beat the Nationals 53 to 0. I remember that score because I said; holy shit, that's a lot of runs. We're awesome! So I went into the clubhouse which I thought was strange that we had a clubhouse since the dugout was a piece of crap. I went down into the clubhouse and saw Bryce Harper. I remember approaching him and I was getting very angry. I smiled really big as I shook his hand and said "I just want to thank you for being such a bad example for LDS kids everywhere to look up to." and then I turned heel and walked away.

Before you go jumping off the deep end and quoting scriptures that talk about how I should worry about the beam in my eye before I talk about the splinters in my brothers, I will stop you. Because I would never say that to anyone, because I am awful at being an example, particularly with church things. I wouldn't say that to Bryce Harper or anyone else, this is a dream. I will also never be a manager for a major league baseball team, this is a dream. I heard the talk during conference that mentioned that you get credit for trying in the church. So I don't want it to come across that way, even though that's what dream Jake wanted to come across, apparently. Just hang on, I'll bring it full circle.

I guess what I think that means in the real world, is just to be yourself, and do it 100%. If you want to be a church goer, do it 100%. No just on Sundays or on your social medias. If you want to be an alcoholic, do it 100%. Buy a bathrobe and never change out of it. I think that in this day and age there is such a blur between passion and appearance. With the invention of the internet its possible for people to be everywhere at once, and have too many pots on the burners. You can never really focus all your energy on one thing anymore. I went to Disneyland last weekend and there were more kids staring at their phones than looking around. I don't mean to gush about Disneyland, but that place is second to none when it comes to keeping you entertained while you wait in line. The attention to detail is absolutely breathtaking, and people are more concerned with snapchat or twitter. People can't pay attention to anything, because they're spread so thin. It's become more about how you appeal to the public eye rather than just enjoying what you're doing or where you're at. Stop it. Be passionate about one thing in your life, for once in your life. Don't just post scriptures on your social media to appear that you are religious. Post scriptures to your social media because you find them uplifting and want to help others. Share things that you enjoy and want others to enjoy, not to let your friends know that you are a super fan of this very minute and underground band/movie/whatever.

Whatever you do and whatever you are passionate about, make sure that you just do it 100%. People are attracted to passionate people. Your life will be much more fulfilling if you pursue what you are truly interested in and passionate about, than if you try to impress your friends and family on social media. Particularly if you don't care about what you post about when you are offline. That sounds exhausting. Log off for a while. Look around. Find your interests and pursue them. The internet is an awful basement of a place full of strange pictures, useless information and offended people. Don't live there, live where you are. The world has so much to offer you.

How that whole thing manifested itself into Bryce Harper, I don't know. I don't mean to accuse him of anything or being something he isn't. I genuinely don't know anything about him other than that he is a great baseball player, is (Or was) LDS, and swears at umpires when he gets ejected and runs back on the field. I don't follow him on anything and I don't watch Nationals baseball. And frankly, I don't really care that much what he, or anyone else does unless it manifests itself on my timelines in some way. It truly has no barring on my personal life. At least in my conscious state, I don't care. My dreams are a different story.

God Bless America! (With the exception of Donald Trump) Go Giants! Play Ball!