How often do people revert to some introspection to figure out real feelings, intent and everything else that is 'real' when something seems 'surreal'? Why do we tend to demarcate reality from surrealism? After all, what exactly is 'real'? To me this is best expressed by the passage in 'Velveteen Rabbit':
"What is real?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle? “ Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.“ Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.“ Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt. “ Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?“ It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"What is real?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle? “ Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.“ Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.“ Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt. “ Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?“ It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
As far as I see, whatever is surreal to me is in fact very real. There are some things so profoundly beautiful that you feel truly fortunate to be enveloped by it. Surrealism is one of those things.
