For me, it has added a great deal of purpose to my life.
-In the dream world i can embrace the issues that cause me pain in RL.
-Feel powerful in an otherwise powerless life. Explore facets of my being that i dare not expose IRL.
-I could potentially work on problematic personality traits, with no downside (hopefully transfering any positive outcome to RL situations).
-Deal with anger in a healthy and satisfying way.
-It has provided me with a space that is mine and mine alone. I can retreat to it in times of stress. The dream world is my sanctuary.
Anyway, id love to hear what everyone else has to say. In what way has LDing enhanced your life?
It has given me much more control over my emotions in RL. I am less scared, less intimidated by situations in RL. Recently I lost everything I had in a fire and experienced waking up in the middle of the night and in a matter of 2 minutes being surrounded by fire and black smoke. If I didn’t have experience in LD, I would have panicked. However, when I sensed what was occuring (5:00am local), the first thing that came to mind was, “wow, this is just like an LD. Gotta get my cat.”. Controlling myself, I was able to go after my cat, and escape through the back window of the apartment unharmed along with my brother (lived in 1st flr). The emotional attachment to all material things wasn’t present. I figured, if this happened in my LD, I wouldn’t let it bother me, why would I let it bother me in RL?
That’s a really good one. Also, after reading ulv’s “biggest fear” LD, I’m starting to fear things less and less, knowing that something like heights can’t possibly be my biggest fear.
I’ve LD’d for all of my life and the only good it has brought me is being able to defeat nightmares, apart from that I could’nt find too much uses (mostly since I can’t remember the last time I did’nt LD).
I was totally overwhelmed when I found out about lucid dreaming. I find it simply amazing that apparently, every human being ist able to enjoy this. The possibility of lucid dreaming has greatly enhanced my respect for nature. It just doesn’t seem to fit in with this mad world.
Or maybe it was supposed to fit in all the time, but somewhere society forgot about it and just now starts thinking about creating perfect VR. (I’m not saying that wouldn’t be a nice thing to have, though )
Of course, LDing does not solve all problems. However, a good, long, fun LD lets me start the day happy and relaxed. I can then think about an inspiring experience instead of all the annoying things I will have to do that day. And yes, it somehow also acts to reduce fears and worries in WL, like LooBou said.
Last but not least, it is a good reason to go to bed early and get more sleep, which I never even dreamt of finding. (Only I stay up way too long reading ld4all forums now… )
But then, I’m just starting out. Maybe even LDing gets boring after a while, just like most other activities (but I seriously doubt it ).
Lucid dreaming can have quite a number of positive effects on your waking life. It allows you to face situations that you may not have encountered before, and potentially learn how to handle them better should they ever occur in reality. It also gives you a chance to spent time with loved ones or pets that have passed away, which can help you deal with the loss. Similarly, it takes away some of the pain of being so far away from people you care about, when for whatever reason you don’t have the option of spending time with them in real life. Dream characters aren’t always realistic in their behavior, but never underestimate the power of a simple hug every now and then.
Of course, while most people probably wouldn’t admit it, I tend to think the primary appeal of lucid dreaming is simply for entertainment. You can escape into your own little world where nothing you do has direct negative consequences on your life. You can fly through the air, yell at your boss, have your way with celebrities, and just generally unwind. Don’t get me wrong, though; having a bit of fun every now and then in the dream world can definitely improve the quality of your waking life. We all need some time to ourselves, and for some, those unconscious hours each night are the only chance they get.
Quite interesting. Basically, he asked for his biggest fear and got a cheap shock effect.
While I certainly think it was a spooky experience (being lucid certainly did not help), I agree with most people that this could not very likely have been his greatest fear.
Me too! I was amazed at how Lucid Dreaming combined with daily mantra meditation could cause such a profound change in the way I saw the world and how I percieved my life. Mentally and Spiritually, it seems that Lucid Dreaming can do no wrong. Now to get it into the mainstream media so we can get the general public to smarten up.
It has helped me alot, just from entertainment. I don’t know how I could get through each boring school week without LDs. It’s like a sandbox mod. You can do whatever you want!
Lucid dream is a sanctuary. It’s my place to do what i like, simple as that, and my place to escape such things as gravity and physicalforces and limitations.
Although… to me, there is also a downside. The downside is that I begin to focus on my sleeping to much and it’s like I don’t even wanna live in the normal world, becuase I have
this better, amazing world!
It sorta…in a sense…makes me not appreciate life as much.
[color=green]I do martial arts training in dreams and I think that combined with my other LDing has allowed me to grow spiritually.
As a matter of fact, I think it has improved my waking martial arts.
Other than that I think it is a wonderful way to express your creativity, too bad noone else can see what you do!
I wish someone would invent a dream recorder so you could get dreams on tape and view them on a TV.
And another great RL impact is that you always look forward to go to sleep to have another great adventure!
Ya know how in life, there’s always that guy who never talks, just listens, hides in his corner, and never has much to say? Yeah, that used to be me.
Ya know that guys who’s there, willing to do just about any crazy thing (besides harmful things) just for kicks, and just seems to be trying to make as many friends as possible? Yeah, that’s me now.
Like my school just had to learn swing dancing for the 1920s part of history. Boys were paired with girls. For some reason, I seemed to be the only boy who said, “Oh, OK. Cool.”
They call me Crazy! If they’re right, it’s fun and fine to be Crazy.
(I’m not saying that wouldn’t be a nice thing to have, though 
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(Only I stay up way too long reading ld4all forums now… 
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