Dave Harvey writes in “Rescuing Ambition”:

For the past couple decades, I had a condition that kept me from sleeping well. The technical term was apnea …. So I went to see the doctor. "I'll remove your uvula," he said, "then you won't snore. You'll sleep better." Now, I didn't even know I had a uvula, but I freaked when he suggested its removal …. For some reason, though, I let them do it. They cut out my uvula. And now I can sleep.

But here's something I didn't expect. When I lost my uvula, I found my dreams. You see, because I never slept well, I never dreamed. I know experts would say I dreamed and just didn't know it—but that doesn't matter because I don't ever remember dreaming. Not once. I was dreamless. That's a boring way to spend a night.

I didn't even know I'd lost my dreams until I found them—or, rather, they were returned to me. Actually, they were rescued, airlifted from some cold, lifeless crevice where dreams hibernate until the arrival of deep sleep. Or something like that.

All this may sound strange, but it's true. My dreams were rescued by a guy with a scalpel.

Lots of people live without dreams. They move from one day to the next without the refreshing effect of a memorable dream …. But there are dreams we can lose that are much more significant than those I was losing. Not the REM kind of dreams, but the dreams that drive us when we're awake. The dreams that cause us to reach beyond ourselves, to see beyond the present and to live for something more. If you're having trouble holding on to those types of dreams, that's a real problem.