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Jan. 30th, 2004 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cybermuleArse - I had 4 dreams to post, but I forgot 2 of them :( And there I was thinking I'd done so well to remember. Dreams are tricksy things :(
Oh well - I remember last night's dream really well, as I was stuck in an airport building and I couldn't work out where I was supposed to be connecting to - maybe Toronto, maybe Paris, maybe Amsterdam. It was a tiny little airport - I think it was supposed to be in America somewhere. I couldn't read either my ticket or the display screens - out of the corner of my eye, they'd look fine, but when I tried to look at them directly, the letters would kind of melt and turn to gibberish, like some sort of alien-asian hybrid hieroglyphs. I can remember being surprisingly unbothered by not knowing where I was going, except I hated being stuck in the terminal, which was full of white and orange plastic. I didn't care that I might miss my flight, I just kept trying to leave - I thought if I walked out into the desert, I would come to where I wanted to be. That was the exact phrase that kept going through my head, and when I asked a woman (maybe the oracle from the Matrix?), she said the same thing. But every time I stepped out of the terminal, the light was excrutiatingly white-bright, and I couldn't see (reminds me of the mini-blizzard the other day). Eventually I just thought "fuck this" and walked out into the bright light, and the dream ended.
The other dream was unclear - I mostly remember having a long conversation with my dad. I was trying to tell him my mom had had an affair, but it was really hard cos he kept saying how great she was, and how he'd be heartbroken if she left him.
Like I said, the other two are lost in the mists of memory. Should have written them down :(
Oh well - I remember last night's dream really well, as I was stuck in an airport building and I couldn't work out where I was supposed to be connecting to - maybe Toronto, maybe Paris, maybe Amsterdam. It was a tiny little airport - I think it was supposed to be in America somewhere. I couldn't read either my ticket or the display screens - out of the corner of my eye, they'd look fine, but when I tried to look at them directly, the letters would kind of melt and turn to gibberish, like some sort of alien-asian hybrid hieroglyphs. I can remember being surprisingly unbothered by not knowing where I was going, except I hated being stuck in the terminal, which was full of white and orange plastic. I didn't care that I might miss my flight, I just kept trying to leave - I thought if I walked out into the desert, I would come to where I wanted to be. That was the exact phrase that kept going through my head, and when I asked a woman (maybe the oracle from the Matrix?), she said the same thing. But every time I stepped out of the terminal, the light was excrutiatingly white-bright, and I couldn't see (reminds me of the mini-blizzard the other day). Eventually I just thought "fuck this" and walked out into the bright light, and the dream ended.
The other dream was unclear - I mostly remember having a long conversation with my dad. I was trying to tell him my mom had had an affair, but it was really hard cos he kept saying how great she was, and how he'd be heartbroken if she left him.
Like I said, the other two are lost in the mists of memory. Should have written them down :(
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Re:
Date: 2004-01-30 04:28 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-01-31 04:15 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2004-01-31 05:02 pm (UTC)Heh how wonderfully ambiguous! :) Well when you know you're dreaming, you are lucid, so at least we've got that settled!
Re:
Date: 2004-02-03 11:14 am (UTC)When you describe your lucid dreams, you seem very much there and part of a pro-active knowledge that you're dreaming. Whereas I seem to know that I'm dreaming from some distant detached point, and as there've been several instances of my confusing dreams with reality, I don't entirely trust that vague detached feeling :) But then you've actually been practising this whole lucid dreaming thing, whereas I've just been watching my dreams.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-04 01:46 pm (UTC)Well, evidently you are lucid, but at a very low level. I consider myself to be at an average level of lucidity. There are some that are extremely lucid. You think I seem 'very much there' etc., but there are some that when lucid, are completely conscious, no different than waking life. They are minutely and constantly aware of the passage of time, of the existence of their sleeping body, of all sensations, of the date in the outside world, etc. I am very far from that. We are all at a different scale of lucidity.
Generally, with practice, we get more and more lucid. Like, recently in my lucids I have been much more aware than usual. Usually I'd be aware I'm dreaming, but not think of doing reality checks and stuff, and so would think it was real life. I wouldn't really feel through my senses either. But recently I've thought of reality checks a lot, which is very grounding. And I've felt physical sensations very vividly. I think that's why I've finally had success with dream-spinning, I am much more lucid than I used to be not long ago.
And yet, in my latest lucid, I fucked up and didn't realize I had a false awakening, so I am far from being as lucid as some people are.
as there've been several instances of my confusing dreams with reality, I don't entirely trust that vague detached feeling :)
Heh, even in my most lucid of dreams, I confuse dreams with reality. In fact the more lucid you are (up to a point), the more real it seems, and the more likely it is that you'll confuse it with reality. At a certain point you are so lucid that you think of doing reality checks and can confirm you are dreaming, not waking.
In fact, that you confuse dreams with reality is a great sign. That's what lucid dreaming entails. No one can differentiate whether you are dreaming or in reality, until you do reality checks.
Kinda rambling, I hope everything I said is consistent and makes sense.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-06 06:48 am (UTC)Thank you - I thought that was the case, but you cleared it up nicely. And don't worry - I don't look up to you as THE lucidity mega-guru ;P You're just at a nice inspirational level of lucidity.
Heh, even in my most lucid of dreams, I confuse dreams with reality
Mwahah - in that case, I think I meant I confused reality with dreams. When I was a kid, I had a lost of "false memories", things that I was so convinced I'd done, but couldn't really have happened, which I slowly worked out had been dreams. Mainly due to having a lot of recurring dreams as a kid - I think one musy hae been my first lucid dream, as I remember being scared, and thinking "this is only a dream" and pulling myself out of it for the first time ever.
In fact, that you confuse dreams with reality is a great sign
Yeah - I do that too. Cool that it's a great sign :) I think this is something I want to work on - it's interesting, but difficult, and the fact that I'm often even mildy reluctant to bother is probably (peversely) a good sign.
Kinda rambling, I hope everything I said is consistent and makes sense
Yeah - thanks :)
Lucid Dreaming
Date: 2004-02-15 06:54 am (UTC)When you're awake, as often as you can, look down at your hands and rub them together for a couple seconds. Do this as often as possible (within reason). In no time you will start doing this during dreams as well. If you are lucid dreaming, it will increase mental clarity and visual vividness. If you are normal dreaming, it will eventually start making you realize you are dreaming. It's a kind of reality check combined with clarity enhancer.
It's also a good trick in that you don't look crazy doing it at work or such, as you are just warming up your hands or something. :P
Ideally, put a reminder sticky note at work and at home saying something like "Am I dreaming?" or something, so that you do the hands thing every time you notice it. I don't use a sticky note, I just have a file named "Am I dreaming" on my computer desktop background.
Re: Lucid Dreaming
Date: 2004-02-17 07:57 am (UTC)I'll definitely try that, along with telling myself to recall my dreams.