Painting is dreaming

Painting is like dreaming.  I said it without even thinking about it when my mom asked if I was still painting.  When I said it though I meant painting is dreaming.  I know that when I said that though it felt like some great truth for me.  Maybe it is because of the dream like state my mind is in when I am painting.  This feels especially true of my plein air painting experiences.  When I am plein air painting I usually don't even stop to get a drink.  It is only when I have completed my painting that I fully become aware of my surroundings again.  It is if my concentration is so focused on the subject of the painting that the other things don't really matter.