I love to sleep. I'm one of those people who can't pull all-nighters. I need my six to eight hours (preferably eight) of sleep every single night. But honestly, one of the reasons I enjoy sleeping so much is because when I sleep, I get the opportunity to dream.

I know most people tend not to remember their dreams, or when they do remember, the dreams tend to be rather mundane or more on the nightmare-ish side of things. This is not the case for me.

My dreams are almost always fantastic, in every sense of the word. They are wild and wacky and wonderful. You see, I can lucid dream. That is, not only do I remember almost every dream I have the moment I wake up, but I can realize I am in a dream and control the dream - think Inception, sort of. With this ability, I've been able to fly in my dreams, become a mermaid, be best friends with Iron Man, have a pet dragon, and more. Now, the extent to which I can control the dream often varies; I'm not as skilled at lucid dreaming as some other people I know, but I'm fairly decent at it still.

I've found that I'm more able to take control fully when I'm having nightmares. Yup, even with all the good that comes with dreaming, I still get the bad side, too. I tend to think of the nightmares as a challenge, though. Once I realize I'm dreaming, I fight whatever monster or ghost or whatever is attacking me, and I win. I think to myself that it is my mind I'm in, after all, and I am the one who should be in control at the end.

I've also used dreaming to accomplish more mundane goals. I've sung at concerts and been able to hit notes I could never hit in real life. I've dyed my hair all colors of the rainbow. I've been tall, and I've even been shorter than I am real life, believe it or not. I've eaten the best tasting cookies and pies you can think of.

Basically, sleeping is nice and relaxing and all, but it's my excuse to go to dreamland. It's my opportunity to do things I have never and probably will never be able to do in real life. Now, as Albus Dumbledore said, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." But sleep is essential, and since everyone needs to sleep, why not dream, too?