I had a dream where I needed to pee badly and couldn’t find a place to go. Then I woke up and realized I do need to pee, got up, went to the bathroom. The amazing thing was realizing the brain knew what needed to happen but in order to wake itself up has to alter the dream (the one it is having). It’s as though having consciousness is like simultaneously being both a parent and child. It’s like you know how to play an instrument very well, but given a new piece or a new style you can’t just expertly execute it. You start all over maybe have to teach yourself slowly, at first anyway. The brain has to deal with the fact that this conscious part thinks it is so powerful but it’s actually the slower part of itself. But also exciting is that it can be reverse engineered. Through doing something, albeit slowly over and over, eventually other parts of brain take it over, freeing up the conscious part. Every performer knows they can be in the midst of keeping time or reciting Shakespeare or doing a plié and notice their conscious mind is off somewhere totally disconnected to the show. A tightrope without a net moment. Bet most people on stage who forget their lyrics, were in that space just before they went blank.