BEING A SURGEON

“Last night, I dreamed about being a surgeon”

In this artwork, my purpose is to interpret a dream I had about being a surgeon. Using minimal dashes of color at the bottom and dark contrast in the top left, I created a static yet dreamy composition. It reflects an experience that still leaves me questioning—why did I have to perform a surgery and witness death?

Last night, I dreamed about being a surgeon. It was not what I expected or ever intended to experience.

In the dream, I had gone to the hospital as a favor to bring a friend. While I waited, a fatal ER call came in about a man bleeding from his skull. Something felt off—the nurses seemed unsure of what to do. They whispered among themselves, looking tense. I overheard that the specialized doctor wasn’t available to handle the situation; in fact, they weren’t even in the hospital.

Desperation set in. The medical team began asking if anyone had the guts to perform the surgery. When they got to me, I was like, Umm... I have no idea how to do this. All I knew was that I was left-handed, and I had once heard that lefties are supposedly great at surgery.

With no other options, they recruited me.

Inside the ER, an assistant doctor guided me step by step. She handed me a scalpel and instructed me to cut through a vein in the patient’s brain. As I made the incision, a machine began sucking out an alarming amount of blood. I was shocked at how I managed to follow the doctor’s instructions exactly.

The surgery was completed. I handed the scalpel back to the nurse.

Then, all of a sudden, the patient’s body started making strange movements. His heart rate spiked, then dropped rapidly—until it reached zero. WTF... is he dead?

The defibrillator was right there, but no one knew how to use it. I thought, What if I try? But the doctor stopped me: No, you can’t—you’re not certified.

And just like that, the man died in front of me.

I stood there, devastated. The doctor asked me to leave the ER. I returned to my seat just as my friend came out from their checkup—everything was fine.

As we walked outside, I noticed a truck being loaded with a massive blue bag, seemingly carrying the man's body. I asked the nurses if that was him. Their only response: Don't worry about it.

And that’s when I woke up.