A friend told me he was in a lucid dream, however he for some reason suddenly thought it was real life, however for some reason he stayed lucid, so he went in his car to his job, and worked like he would normally for like 2 hours. That… sucks .
In my opinion it would be impossible to be in a lucid dream, stay lucid and simultaneously think it’s real life. The definition of lucidity is being aware that you are dreaming. Did your friend confuse vividness with lucidity?
Well, as how I understood it. He first became lucid, thus becoming aware, then he thought he wasn’t after all, however, his consciousness was still the leader of the dream… I guess.
I actually do this a lot. I’m like “ok, so this is a dream, cool.” And the full effect of what that’s supposed to mean never really hits me. I know I’m dreaming, but for some reason it just won’t occur to me not to keep doing whatever the dream dictates I should do.
i think key word here is awareness. here’s how i see the whole thing:
[center][size=150]lucid = conscious + aware[/size][/center]
to me, control is optional, but awareness isn’t. this is a more challenging definition of lucidity than merely “knowing you’re dreaming”, as it takes realizing — it is, for that very reason, more fulfilling when you achieve it.
that’s also why i prefer to use the word “conscious” when recording dreams in my journal. you just can’t wrong with that word: you’re dreaming, you know you’re dreaming, you’re conscious. it’s simple, it’s elegant, it’s unequivocal. on the other hand, i can’t know most of the time, in hindsight, whether or not i was aware.
sometimes i lose lucidity quite fast, but remain conscious, and in many dreams i’m conscious throughout as a narrator/observer, but not particularly lucid. since i’m not always sure i was aware (after lucid dreaming for a while, it just so happens that “lucidity” becomes a plot device in your dreams), i just point out the consciousness and let it as an exercise for the reader, to figure out whether i was fully lucid or not.
but i digress. point to be made here: lucidity is not just knowing, but realising. in other words: lucidity ain’t consciousness, but awareness. the difference here is quite evident once you get lucid. it’s not mandatory that you have godly control over the situation, but there’s a far cry between consciousness and awareness in that, when you’re aware — when you’re lucid — you have choices. you can think critically. the fourth wall falls and you’re no longer under suspension of disbelief. that’s the pot of gold of lucid dreaming.
bruno, cool post. but it makes me fear I should cut my “lucid count” in half! ok maybe not that much. I have dreams where I know I’m dreaming but still kinda go with the flow a bit. On another hand I also have dreams where I’m “this is my dream, I don’t have to put up with this!” or “out of the way DC!”, etc etc
I’ve also had a dream once where I thought I was dreaming and did a hand RC. I didn’t get lucid. It was really weird, I think I was conscious without realizing it was a dream. I was completelly sure I was awake. hard to explain.
oh, don’t take me wrong, by all means! i’m a huge fan of losing lucidity. (i really am, it’s so funny to change just a little bit, then go back into regular mode and see what happens).