You aren't losing the self, you're gaining the other (dream blog)

I dreamt I was looking at a bunch of sculptures of members of my family, and I noticed they all had strange growths on the back of the head. “They’re extra brains,” I realize, “that runs in your family.” Then I look in the mirror and see that I am growing an extra brain on my neck. It looks like a pile of turds with whiteheads on the ends, like they were zits. I don’t want it, not because it is ugly, but because I don’t want to share my body with someone else. “Actually, many people get along with their extra brains. If you two become close enough personally, you can completely integrate your functioning.”

I’m not sure I want to integrate my brain with another. Then I see a student of mine, JL. “I’ve been integrated with the hive mind for about a year,” he says, “its great. You aren’t losing yourself, you’re gaining the other.” I think about popping the turds on my neck. I look in the mirror and see that the extra brain has sprouted little waving tentacles.

I wake up and remember that tiny Caroline has pissed in the family bed.