SWEET DREAMS

“Sweet Dreams,” the haunting song by Eurythmics, was released on January 21, 1983—also Mac’s birthday. The song offers a cynical reflection on the pursuit of dreams while surviving in a world that is lonely and filled with unhealthy relationships. The lyrics, “I travel the world and the seven seas, everybody’s looking for something,” pose an existential question: Is the chase worth it?

In Chapter Eight, when Meredith is chatting with Michelle, we discover that Mac has been touched by very old magic. Through Meredith’s wisdom, she ushers Mac onto the path to begin her journey, because not only is the chase worth it—it is the very reason we exist. Meredith knows Mac is looking for something: a “sightseer,” a play on words for someone with the sight, a seer. Yet Mac is not only cursed; she is also in a very dark headspace.

Dark Night of the Soul, Chapter Nine, opens with poetry. As the story unfolds, you may notice this becomes a pattern for Mac—she awakens to lyrical messages left behind from a dream state. At this point in the story, Mac is in a deep depression. When she sleeps, Jack appears to her in dreams, and she is comforted by his presence. Because of this, she wants to go to sleep and never wake up.

“Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree?” Luckily for Mac, she has a good friend—Michelle—who does disagree. Michelle visits Mac and helps her understand that what she is experiencing is an awakening. The dark night of the soul is a phase in the process: a painful shedding of a previous version of the self. For Mac, it is the transition from maiden to mother. Like the bridge of the song—“Hold your head up, keep your head up (movin’ on)”—Michelle convinces Mac to keep moving forward. Sometimes we all need friends, or teachers, to help keep us moving along our path toward finding ourselves.