I think I might be alone in the fact that I love nightmares.  They makes me feel alive.

Dreamless sleep is probably the truest glimpse of death that we ever experience as sentient beings.  There's no feeling, no memory, and no consciousness of any kind.  Nightmares are the exact opposite of that.  They tap into one of the most potent survival mechanisms we have: fear.  It boosts our heart rate, fills us with adrenaline, and gives us a sense of urgency.  We wake with every bodily system at its peak, and of course, we remember the experience.  It's not dreamless and silent but alive and vibrant.

Nightmares make me feel alive in a way other experiences don't.  They remind me that sleep isn't slipping into death but a part of life.  I will wake again from that temporary state.  All the feelings of life will come flooding back into me.  They will come back riding that primal survival mechanism of fear.  I am so thankful that I get to experience the living joys of nightmares.

This is my first post on this new blog.  I'm really in a hurry to get by the introductions and just start posting everyday things.  That being the case, I'm going to cut right to the chase.

My name is Daniel.  I'm a social worker in San Antonio who made the transition into my late twenties earlier this month.  In 2011, I graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio.  I majored in English with a focus in professional writing.  I'm still not sure how I landed myself in social work.  My dream was to be an editor and possible writer.  I'm not sure if that's going to happen now.  This blog's title is a reference to the fact that 2010 was the best year of my life.  I was writing for magazine, doing amazing in school, and engaging in a good bit of hedonism in my off time.  I was full of hope and thought things would only get better.  Unfortunately, I've felt like my life has been winding down ever since.  I'm beginning to realize my own mortality and just feel old all around.  I know, I know people are going to say I'm still pretty young in my late twenties.  Still, I can't help but feel like I've been wasting my life for the last three years.  I hope I have the resolved to change that.  Now, with that depressing intro out of the way, I'm going to start planning my first REAL post.