Skunk Dreams

After printing out "Skunk Dreams" by Louise Erdrich and reading the title, I was left quite confused. I read the first paragraph and I still had no idea where the next six pages were going to lead me -- or how they were going to relate to smelly little rodents and their dreams in any way.
Automatically, I thought to myself, What would skunks dream about? Perhaps they dreamt of scampering around, spraying their putrid stench on everything in sight..Or perhaps their dreams were more like that of humans. (What would a skunk nightmare be like?) I couldn't begin to imagine what laid in the depths of their seemingly small minds. It wasn't until I had reached the end of the article that I realized the message that Erdrich was trying to convey (see things from other perspectives) and the relevance of the title.
While I enjoyed the passage, at times it seemed too detailed. It was stocked with unnecessary details/specifics that almost acted as fillers. At some points, however, descriptions were perfectly executed; it astounded me how detailed the author remembered her dream of Corbin Park. Most of the time, I don't even remember my dreams; when I do, they are so vague that I have a hard time making sense of them the following morning.
However, I do like to think about dreams and what they mean. What is reality and what isn't? Is anything reality? The dream-life concept makes me wonder. Why do we dream?
Why do we live?
The best explanation I can come up with for having dreams is to prepare ourselves. Sleep is simply eight hours of our day that we can let our mind rest..and wander. Dreams let us see the outcomes of potential situations; they let us test our boundaries. They might warn us of things in our near future; they might help us make decisions. Dreams let us "try before we buy." In a way, they give us a "test drive" for the real world.
The passage closed with Erdrich talking about how humans should think about life from a skunk's perspective -- or any other being for that matter. It's good to see things from another point of view in order to enlighten your own outlook on life. As Erdrich said, "The obstacles we overcome define us." Maybe we need to look at things from a different standpoint in order to overcome the obstacles we face.