October 31, 2022, 19:35
I took a short nap in the evening, maybe around ten or twenty minutes. In my dream, I found myself in an atmosphere where I was older and my loved ones were no longer around. It was a setting from about ten or twenty years ago, devoid of modern technology like smartphones or the internet. (It seems that in most dim and melancholic dreams, any memories or awareness of modern technological elements are automatically removed.)
Just a few days ago, I dreamt of sitting cross-legged with some friends whose faces I couldn't see, under the dim light of an oil lamp in the kitchen. It was dim but warm, reminiscent of my childhood when, even amidst raging storms, thunder, power outages, and complete darkness, my whole family would gather together in a safe house. We would watch the swallows chirping on the eaves, appreciating, fearing, and joking about the wonders of nature. It brought a deeper sense of happiness and contentment compared to our daily lives. But, of course, it was just a dream, and even within the dream, I could faintly sense that such moments were fleeting. So, all I could do was quietly cherish the experience.
Perhaps, this is the reason behind the sense of desolation that autumn brings. Without smartphones and the internet, without the distractions of modern daily life, the feeling of sorrow and loneliness one experiences when truly facing separation and solitude is overwhelming.
Sorrow, however, is undeniably an important emotion. Perhaps most of our emotions as modern individuals have indeed been diluted and dispersed by these everyday distractions, only to be occasionally felt in dreams.
If overnight, the world's technological advancement regressed back to the level of 2008, what would happen?