Last night I dreamt that I was at some kind of large function and that people were milling all around me, and that everyone was hectic and busy and professional. There was a large banqueting hall and a vast area with rows of narrow tables serving food and drink. The place felt like a hotel – it had those desperate carpets and florid decoration that no individual would choose, but hotels seem to crave. I felt strangely disconnected from everyone – like they were talking from far away, and like they weren’t quite real. And I wandered through the crowds really quietly. And I went to a counter to get some food, and a man behind the counter – dressed in a white shirt, waistcoat and bow-tie, with his hands locked behind his back – looked at me and paused, and I looked at him and kind of breathed in. And we stood silently, looking at each other for a few moments, and it seemed like some kind of feedback loop had been established – like something wonderful had gone seriously wrong with the mechanisms that keep the world turning. I felt completely unconcerned with myself – as if all my anxieties and neuroses had fallen off. And a few moments later I turned and walked away from him.
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