I often think that the reason why we are not normally lucid in dreams is, simply, because we are not lucid in WL. We very seldomly look at our surroundings with a sense of wonder or inquiry, and we bring this mindset in our dreams.
In many religious traditions it is said that even in our waking state we are “asleep” (hence the idea of spiritual awakening). For me, the first step towards “waking lucidity” is the recognition of this lack of awareness. And trying to observe myself and my surrounding with an active, inquisitive mind is the first step towards dream lucidity.
This attentive outlook on reality awakens a certain acuity, similar to that experienced in meditation. The senses become sharper, there’s an intense perception of the body, of space, of sensory impressions, and awareness of oneself.
Does this relate to your experience at all?
(Mmmh, I feel I might have gone slightly off-topic here… my apologies! )
This was one of the first things I learned when I started lucid dreaming. I felt like I was awake for the first time in my life. I had been sleepwalking through life before, never being in the moment and aware like I was at that point, after a lucid dream.
im enjoying this discussion, thanks for kicking it off Susan! lucid dreaming also taught me a lot about what awareness means in waking life. the part about being honest with yourself is harder… i can be honest with myself about most of my own failings but when it comes to other people i always somehow manage to find excuses for them when i should know better. i wonder if dreams can help with that.
also its great to see so many lucid dreams! go team!
the librarian greedily accepts the notebook from Koal44, expecting it to contain many great stories, or perhaps even a publishable diary… yes, literature contains some great notebooks indeed!
Not much today. But I do have a question for you, Obliverum. Le Bateleur claimed the “reality check in dream” () twice in one day (and in one dream)! This seems like something that should only be claimable once per day. Is it claimable multiple times in one day?
the librarian expresses satisfaction with the comforting consistency of Letaali and PremiumOtter’s DJ entries, RCs, and meditations throughout the challenge thus far
i know it may seem theoretically easy from an outside perspective to write consistently in a dj and do an rc and a tiny bit of meditation every day, but we know that these things are not easy, they are not to be taken for granted, and they matter.
whoops, posted at the same time as Cornelia (and also james, hooray for more consistent work!)
my intention was that reality check would be claimable once per dream. i know what counts as one dream or two can be subjective, and while some dreamers struggle with FAs that feel like very different dreams others experience them as one disjointed dream.
i hope i have clarified the rules, and it is up to Le Bateleur’s judgement whether they want to change their accounting or whether they do perceive FAs as separate dream experiences. i hope either way some of you will share how you perceive RC’s, because i frequently struggle with rc strings, especially where lucidity is involved. it can be quite intense!
i also am relieved Cornelia is lending her lc experience and numeric attentive life skills to double check things and make sure i havent missed anything, because some life bullshit is making me not good at that right now!
i am now so curious about this! hmm, maybe there’s some threads i can dig up… RC strings during lucid dreaming are so annoying and difficult…
Hi Cornelia, you’re probably right. Thanks for pointing that out. I was pretty sure I read somewhere that you can claim it multiple times, as long as it’s not one RC right after the other. But perhaps I just imagined it, as I can’t find it again! I am happy to un-claim one of them.
Tonight was a very good one. I found a book in a ND and had the longest LD I have had in a very long while… definitely more than a year… It actually ends a long chain of dreams crashing into darkness at the first sign of lucidity. I also had a good attempt at my personal goal, but recall little of that part and am not very satisfied with the result. The conversation was with a dull DC, and was not very fruitful or interesting. So I’d like to update my goal: Ask a smart DC about the nature of their reality!
Week 1
Sun: dj, morning rc, personal rc, sf dream, book, meditation, personal goal (7)
Mon: dj, morning rc, meditation, book, rc in a dream, short ld, personal goal (9)
Tue: dj, meditation, personal rc, personal goal (4)
Wed: dj, morning rc, dream RC, short lucid, personal rc, meditation, personal goal (9)
Thu: dj, morning rc, book, longest lucid in 1yr
EDIT: Right, Obliverum, posted the same time as me!
I do tend to perceive FAs as separate dream experiences, but for the purpose of this challenge I’d be more inclined to consider them as being part of the same dream.
FAs are a bizarre thing and I hope the morning RC will slowly seep into my subconscious! I once had a chain of 4 FAs one after the other, I was lucid and wanted to wake up, it felt very much like Inception. Since I started keeping a regular journal they’ve become a recurrent theme in my dreams, especially when lucidity is involved. For sure they’re the most common dream sign I can find.
[spoiler]
Week 1
Sun: dj, personal rc, meditation
Mon: dj, personal rc, meditation
Tue: dj, personal rc, meditation
Wed: dj, personal rc, meditation
Thu: dj, personal rc, personal goal, meditation[/spoiler]
Le Bateleur bows down, presenting a music book to the librarian.
Second day without meditation, feeling very sloppy.
[spoiler]Sun: dj, morning rc, personal rc, sf dream, book, meditation, personal goal (7)
Mon: dj, morning rc, meditation, book, rc in a dream, short ld, personal goal (9)
Tue: dj, meditation, personal rc, personal goal (4)
Wed: dj, morning rc, dream RC, short lucid, personal rc, meditation, personal goal (9)
Thu: dj, morning rc, book, longest lucid in 1yr, personal rc (9)
Fri: dj, morning rc, book, personal rc (4)[/spoiler]
1 ND here, no tasks. The second dream I’ve had this week where I’m in school, and not one book. At least it’s a bit meatier, recall-wise.
[spoiler]
Week 1
un: dj, personal rc, meditation
Mon: dj, personal rc, meditation
Tue: dj, personal rc, meditation
Wed: dj, personal rc, meditation
Thu: dj, personal rc, personal goal, meditation
Fri: dj, personal rc, personal goal, meditation[/spoiler]
the librarian bustles in and starts short when she glances toward the book return slot.
“what have we here… four books?” her eyes fill with greed as she goes to snatch them up.
“oh! The Hobbit! what a wonderful book to have in our collection!” she goes to add it to the shelf and hesitates next to the scifi section. “hmm, i wonder if it is time to get started on our fantasy selection? perhaps a project for tomorrow…”
she settles the book onto the empty shelf next to the scifi dream collection, and takes a look at the next book in her pile.
“music! how lovely, how grand, second only to silence.”
she places the music book next to some of the other recent miscellaneous finds.
“next: ‘The Old and New + 1°09’’, i wonder what that means?” she flips through the book and decides to categorize it as metaphysical.
“and… what have we here?” she turns her attention to the big white book left in her hands. she reads the gold lettering aloud: “‘Incarnations’. interesting, perhaps another for metaphysical?”
she opens the book, eager to properly categorize it.
the great librarian blushes and closes the book.
the great librarian pauses a moment and then re-opens the book.
the great librarian will be mysteriously occupied for a short while, but will return inspired and invigorated with a new set of challenges and plans to add books to her collection.
)
2nd reality check
One of my favourites… Been re-reading it recently again 
