Tell me about how your friends/family/colleagues react to your interest in Lucid Dreaming

Are they supportive? Have they also taken an interest? Do they think you're some new age weirdo? I'll start

I'm not the kind of person to hide bits about myself from people. When they ask what's new I'll tell them about my new interests however odd or socially unacceptable they may be. Strangely people react more to the fact that I watch professional Starcraft 2 matches on TV than when they find out I put a lot of effort into becoming aware in the Dream State - but I digress.

A few co-workers have given me the "Damn son, what the hell did you put in your coffee?" look.

My girlfriend had a fleeting interest - she started a dream journal for a few weeks but I don't think that it went anywhere beyond that.

My roommates are tolerant of my LD ramblings but havn't taken any interest themselves. One of them was actually extremely excited that he was in my first Lucid.

A few close friends found it very interesting and now ask me almost every time we see eachother if I have dreamed anything exciting.

My family just thinks its another weird thing I'm doing and have not really payed it any mind.

How about you??

I've gotten my sister interested in it, but she doesn't seem to be all into it because I mention some of the techniques and she just won't do them.
I tried to get my mom to take interest, she doesn't care at the least. That's all I've told because everyone else gives me the weird looks and I get enough weird looks because of doing nothing so I refrain.

My family: my dad called me nuts. My mom has no interest on it. My sister showed a little interest but that's only because she's a nice sister.

My 2 (only) friends: one of them, despite not thinking the topic is as fascinating as me, still hears me a lot about it, and understands it's important. He tried it for some time, but he looses patience too fast. My other friend at first loved the subject, now she avoids talking about it, which I'm guessing it's her polite way of saying "I really don't care anymore"

And the people (colleagues) I told about lucid dreaming, are like "yeah, meh, okay".

Who needs people right :horse:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PennyRoyal

I'm not the kind of person to hide bits about myself from people. When they ask what's new I'll tell them about my new interests however odd or socially unacceptable they may be.

---

Good for you, man! There's little point in hiding away the things that make you happy. Let your friends know you for who you are. Life's too short to live any other way.

My 3-year-old was very interested when he overhead me telling my wife about an LD. He's even had (or seems to have had) a three or so lucid dreams himself! :smitten: They've more or less stopped for the time being, but it was very cool when he would tell me about them. Wonderful, honestly.

My wife has very little interest in any of this stuff. She wants to just black out when she falls asleep. :cheeky: I think she wishes I were less of a sleep-freak but she tolerates it.

As I shared my interest w/ more and more friends, I've found that a bunch of my friends have pursued LD in one fashion or another. By opening up, I learned that I have five non-DreamViews friends that have tried lucid dreaming themselves (four of them successfully, and two are still active.) That was way cool to find out. When I first started out, I wasted a lot of time feeling all alone in pursuing LD. But my isolation was self-imposed!

Some people think it's strange when I mention it, but for the most part, touching on the science helps people feel comfortable that what you're talking about has a firm grounding in reality. Most are intrigued and I really enjoy talking about it now. Unfortunately, I have convinced only a very small number of people to try it themselves. Ah well.

I've found that the more fluidly I can talk about what's going on chemically and electrically w/ the dreaming brain, the more readily people accept the idea of lucid dreaming. Hey, normally this part of your brain doesn't work when you're dreaming. You switch it on and you experience the dream as if you were awake. People seem to get it when you talk about it like that. I also find that referencing the movie "Inception" is a tremendous help in bridging the gap with people that don't get what I'm talking about at first!

I stopped talking to people IRL offline, about dreams about 10 years ago. My (now ex) husband tried to convince me and everyone else that I was insane because I payed close attention to my dreams, kept a journal, and talked openly about them. People who would've cared about it are dead by now.

Well, my mom and grandma likes hearing my dreams or my grandma likes listening to my moms dreams. It seems like an ancestor thing to do. But when it comes to personal dreams i keep it to myself and not share it with family, but i would put it on my Dream journal :)

My family mostly thinks it's weird. I don't really talk about lucid dreaming with them, and whenever I go on DV, I usually move into my room to avoid the awkward moment where someone comes up behind me and says "oh, you're still doing that lucid dream stuff?"

But all my friends at school think it's pretty cool. I used to talk about it with my friends more. I've got one friend that is a lucid dreamer, and another that keeps a DJ but doesn't practice lucid dreaming. Although I'm probably the most active of us. I usually keep quiet about it.

Most are disinterested, but once, when I was flying to my home town, I had a HORRIBLE bout of vertigo and went to urgent care. I spoke to the doctor, he gave me some stuff, and we started talking about getting me on an anti-anxiety for my stomach issues, which most doctors determined was anxiety based. We talked for over an hour about lucid dreaming and writing, and he shared his dream techniques, his favorite dreams, etc. Then, he said I should get lucid and ask the dream what's wrong with my stomach.

It was a really positive and empowering experience.

Now, that I moved, I meet a lot more enthusiasts, which is very encouraging.

I'm always shocked at all of these stories of people who are against lucid dreaming. I've never met a single person in my life who found it to be strange or uninteresting when I talked to them about it, and I've met several people who got into it independently of me and people who don't do it but who have talked to many others aside from me about it. Some of my family members have had lucids and others find dreams in general to be quite interesting. All of my friends (yes, all) have had success with getting lucids or were born as naturals. Most of them have also experimented with supplements. I talk about dreaming to almost everyone I meet, and even the people who don't really try to become lucid still become more aware of their dreams. I know a woman who doesn't seem to care about becoming lucid that much but now has incredible recall and updates me on her craziest dreams every time I see her, and she didn't pay attention to them at all before. I guess I just live in a good area for it, but I honestly can't imagine why anyone wouldn't at least find it intriguing even if they didn't pursue it.

I guess I don't talk to my family about it all that much. I often talk to them about my dreams but I don't talk much about my pursuit of lucid dreaming. I'm not sure why ... I guess they might find it a bit weird, but maybe not.

I talk to my friends a lot about it and they think it's cool. They're always interested in hearing about my dreams. One of my best friends has lucid dreams pretty frequently, so we talk about it a lot.

I went into a huge rant and am very tired, and my wording and grammar is terrible, with a lot of repetitition. Sorry.

[rant]

I sometimes feel actual annoyance toward people who don't care about LDing or think it's stupid or whatever. If I explain the point of it to them, by telling them the experience can be exhillerating. You're basically creating a virtual reality in your mind. You can do anything: go skydiving, fly, have amazing sex, fight dragons, know what it feels like to swim in a batch of chocolate pudding.... LITERALLY ANYTHING. And it feels the same as it does in real life!

It's got to be the most irritating thing when, after all of that, they're just like, "but what's the point? It doesn't affect anything in real life."
:shock: :mad: WHAT? You don't think it would be worth it because there's no point? There's the funness and exhilaration! You get to experience things you never have before. What the hell is the point of achieving things in your real life? It allows you to reach your goals, which you want to reach so that you'll be happy because you'll have more money or whatever. The whole reason you do anything is to ultimately fulfill your desires. So why not have LDs and fulfill some desires along the way, while you would have been sleeping anyway, without much cost?

I get the feeling that, if a real virtual reality machine came out that did exactly what dreaming does, these people would be all over it. But they aren't all over lucid dreaming because they think it's just a dream, it's boring. They've had them since they can remember so they just don't care, they refuse to realize the potential. But a virtual reality machine would be all new and shiny, and even if they couldn't create their own world and it was just like a game or something, they'd find it fun, worth paying thousands of dollars to have. Lucid dreaming is like one of those non-existent machines but better, since you can create whatever you want. And it's FREE money-wise. And it's relatively easy, considering how amazing the result is.

To not want to LD just seems.... irrational. They don't understand their desires, they take real life way too seriously. And I'm not saying that the dream life is exactly the same as real life. In real life you're likely interacting with other real people, and things affect your physical body, and changes are permanent, while in dreams they aren't. But the feelings and sensations are real, and the fact that you can subject yourself to whatever you want should make it worth pursuing. What sane person could say no to being able to own some virtual reality machine in which they can create and experience literally whatever they want, for pretty much no cost? How can so many people think that LDing is stupid? I can only conclude that they're either being irrational or they fail to understand what a LD actually is.

[/rant]

I told my family (brothers, parents, grandma), because some of them had some experiences but did not know that this had a name. My father didn't know about Lucid Dreaming, so he believed he did not have any. He then told me that, in some nightmares, he kills himself in the dream, because he knows that he is dreaming and death is a way to wake up. I told him: "That's a lucid dream! You have it!"
I told my grandmother how to overcome a recurring nightmare. Last dream, she became lucid, remembered my tip and she did it.
I'm teaching them more techniques.

I didn't tell my friends yet. I will tell only if i know that he/she is an open-minded person.
About those who think we're crazy, i believe that we should make them see that they have too. They just don't know it. Many of them certainly had a nightmare and, in the dream, they just wanted to wake up. This is already a start of a lucid dream. They knew it was a bad dream. It worked with my father.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dianeva

It's got to be the most irritating thing when, after all of that, they're just like, "but what's the point? It doesn't affect anything in real life."
:shock: :mad: WHAT? You don't think it would be worth it because there's no point? There's the funness and exhilaration! You get to experience things you never have before. What the hell is the point of achieving things in your real life? It allows you to reach your goals, which you want to reach so that you'll be happy because you'll have more money or whatever. The whole reason you do anything is to ultimately fulfill your desires. So why not have LDs and fulfill some desires along the way, while you would have been sleeping anyway, without much cost?

I get the feeling that, if a real virtual reality machine came out that did exactly what dreaming does, these people would be all over it. But they aren't all over lucid dreaming because they think it's just a dream, it's boring. They've had them since they can remember so they just don't care, they refuse to realize the potential. But a virtual reality machine would be all new and shiny, and even if they couldn't create their own world and it was just like a game or something, they'd find it fun, worth paying thousands of dollars to have. Lucid dreaming is like one of those non-existent machines but better, since you can create whatever you want. And it's FREE money-wise. And it's relatively easy, considering how amazing the result is.

---

It's hilarious that you put it this way -- I had a discussion with my wife about lucid dreaming that proceeded down almost exactly the same path.

She asked me what the point of lucid dreaming was. I told her that it was about experiencing amazing things. Her counterpoint was that none of it is real.

I brought up the example of a virtual reality machine and said, "Wouldn't you be interested in something like that?" She admitted a tepid sort of interest in that sort of thing, but it wasn't a hugely exciting idea to her. (By contrast, the idea fills me with a sense of pants-wetting excitement.)

I think that it's down to the difference between hearing about something and actually experiencing it for yourself. If you've never had a lucid dream and haven't spent a great deal of time honing your imagination/daydreaming skills, I suppose that the concept seems so alien that the appeal is lost...? Frankly, it's hard for me to understand but I'm trying. :whyme:

I've kinda had to give up on my wife as far as LDing goes, and that's okay, if disappointing. Maybe someday!

It still bugs me that, if people dream (and i believe they like to dream), what's the doubt of being able to control the dream? Wouldn't they like to control it? Or do they find it boring? Ok, if we are talking about practicing the techniques, they might not want to do that. It requires time, patience, etc. But not believing that lucid dreaming exists or calling us crazy?...
Well, i guess if everybody was doing it, the mistery and the fun stopped. So, i don't care. We are a few people that have something amazing that others don't have.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dianeva

To not want to LD just seems.... irrational. They don't understand their desires, they take real life way too seriously. And I'm not saying that the dream life is exactly the same as real life. In real life you're likely interacting with other real people, and things affect your physical body, and changes are permanent, while in dreams they aren't. But the feelings and sensations are real, and the fact that you can subject yourself to whatever you want should make it worth pursuing. What sane person could say no to being able to own some virtual reality machine in which they can create and experience literally whatever they want, for pretty much no cost? How can so many people think that LDing is stupid? I can only conclude that they're either being irrational or they fail to understand what a LD actually is.

[/rant]

---

My brother, ever since we were little has been like this. Anything that requires a little imagination appears to be a complete waste of time to him/them. He should have a "That's not real life" Tattoo on his body somewhere.

Ah well, there has to be different kinds of people in the world. When I see those surgeries on TV my stomach drops to my toes and I get woozy, my girlfriend on the other hand is on the edge of her seat with fascination. Thank god for those people though or we would have no nurses and docters :P

Luckily there are places like DV so that we can talk with people of a like mind :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dianeva

[rant]...
[/rant]

---

Well put! And what really makes it funny is, a lot of these same people spend countless hours of their lives playing video games, watching moviies, listening to music, reading stories... NONE OF WHICH IS REAL LIFE!!! Derp!! :silly:

Most people don't understand what it is, and when you tell them they seem uninterested.

Others are amazed and intrigued whilst only a few of those will actually pursue it further.

Then you have people like my brother who says he's had them a few times and doesn't think much of it.

Each to their own I say, it just makes our group more special and secretive which is a fun thing to be a part of.

When they develop technology to record dreams and people start uploading them to youtube there will be an influx of people wanting to learn.

So enjoy this moment in time while you can because one day we will be looking back with nostalgia.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eonnn

Most people don't understand what it is, and when you tell them they seem uninterested.

Others are amazed and intrigued whilst only a few of those will actually pursue it further.

Then you have people like my brother who says he's had them a few times and doesn't think much of it.

---

Good categories. Those do seem to be the three reactions. I can think of at least one of each of those people in my life.

Most people who I've told about it seem intrigued though. The most common reaction is that they've heard about it before and are interested. Like my mom - she'll still ask me how 'that lucid dreaming thing is going' occasionally. And there was a professor I had once to whom I brought it up for some reason, and she seemed fascinated, and told me we'll have to talk about it when class is over because she'd love to hear about my experiences - something that never happened. I've never seen anyone interested enough to want to do it themselves. Then people like my dad and brother are completely uninterested.

The third reaction is the one that confuses me the most. The first lucid dream I can remember having took place when I was like 12 years old. I had never heard of 'lucid dreaming' before, but it was one of the most exhilarating feelings ever, and I could definitely tell it was different from a regular dream. I wanted to be able to do it again. I can't imagine that someone could experience that and not want to do it again. Maybe theirs just aren't as intense.

And then there's my boyfriend. These people confuse me even more. Often, when he tells me about some dream he had, if it was unpleasant, he'll say he woke himself up to get away from it. The first time he said this I was like "wait... you knew you were dreaming?" and he said yes. I asked him if he always knows he's dreaming, and he said he does. But he's never tried to increase his awareness or control anything. He doesn't think there's a point because it's just a dream, and his recall is poor so he remembers them to be dull and hazy. Maybe I'll ask him to do something in a dream once, just to prove that he can. I get the feeling that perhaps he doesn't have that much awareness in his dreams. Like he realizes he's dreaming, which is the only requirement for lucidity, but doesn't understand that it isn't real. That sounds contradictory but I think all of us who have practiced LDing have experienced that at some point - knowing you're dreaming yet for some reason still taking stuff that goes on in the dream seriously, failing to realize that none of it matters.

My aunt is like this too. My mom told me about a conversation they had, and my aunt told her that she always knows when she's dreaming, and even controls the dreams sometimes to change them if she doesn't like what's going on. But again, she doesn't go any further and try to create some amazing world or anything.

My husband puts up with my talking about this hobby because he has no choice. My sons tease me about not being successful. My father was actually the one who suggested lucid dreaming to me about two decades ago. :) at that time an aunt of mine who used to be a freudian psychiatrist warned me that this was a dangerous practice. my mother I don't think gets it why I am interested in this. I have actually met one person in real life who is a natural lucid dreamer! but she is more of a casual acquaintance of my mothers and not someone I know well. I have met someone who responded with "you mean day dreaming right?" And when I explained that lucid dreaming was not at all daydreaming, she was polite enough not to say that she did not believe it was possible, but I could see it in her eyes. One of my coworker admitted at he had heard of it and had some interest, but I had the sense he was not actively pursuing it. However, most people I have met in real life do not appear to have heard of lucid dreaming, and do not have an interest - they don't know what they are missing!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dianeva

Maybe theirs just aren't as intense.

Like he realizes he's dreaming, which is the only requirement for lucidity, but doesn't understand that it isn't real.

---

Yeah that's what I thought is probably the case with my brother. Hasn't experienced anything substantial and doesn't realise or understand its implications. The thing is that he is an atheist and so close-minded that if I try to explain the implications he doesn't want to hear it and won't give me the time of day to explain.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JoannaB

I have met someone who responded with "you mean day dreaming right?" And when I explained that lucid dreaming was not at all daydreaming, she was polite enough not to say that she did not believe it was possible, but I could see it in her eyes.

---

One of my friends is a lucid dreamer and whilst talking about it around some new acquaintances there was one person who would not believe it. He was saying it's not humanly possible and was so adamant about that he started to get really frustrated, we told him to look it up on the net and he said he wouldn't because he knows its not real. What I find funny about this is that here are two people telling him it's real, not one but two confirmed cases, yet still refuses to believe.


The only enjoyable experience I've had of telling someone about it was when I saw a naturopath and they asked how my sleep and dreams were. They hadn't heard of lucid dreaming so I explained to them and they were genuinely interested. I told them how I could fly straight through that window and fly around town if I were lucid right now, and you could see their eye's light up with amazement.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Eonnn

One of my friends is a lucid dreamer and whilst talking about it around some new acquaintances there was one person who would not believe it. He was saying it's not humanly possible and was so adamant about that he started to get really frustrated, we told him to look it up on the net and he said he wouldn't because he knows its not real. What I find funny about this is that here are two people telling him it's real, not one but two confirmed cases, yet still refuses to believe.

---

i remember that day lol

My Mum thinks I am insane, and looks at me like a weirdo when she barges into my room and I am writing my Dream journal, or trying to WILD with a pillow jamming my jaw shut..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Phased

My Mum thinks I am insane, and looks at me like a weirdo when she barges into my room and I am writing my Dream journal, or trying to WILD with a pillow jamming my jaw shut..

---

A pillow jamming your jaw shut? I had never heard of that as part of a WILD technique. What is the reason behind it?

I haven't talked to my family about it, only with my mom. I doubt she got any deep interest in it but whatever. My friends got into it though! I remember three of them having a lucid dream the same night, but not me. That was random... I talked to my friend about astral projection/OBEs as well, but he seemed more skeptical on that. He said it sounded like some cult, so I let that go from him.

I no longer pass on information to any friends, or family.
After telling them of events that happen in my Lucid, and non Lucid dreams, they have convinced themselves, I am potty.
And that is putting it politly.
If I have a very clear, Lucid dream, I often write it down, but it has to be very, very clear to qualify.
For some reason, these dreams seem to predict real life events with quite a high degree of accuracy.
I have dreamed dozens of this type of prophetic dream, but there is nothing to be done about the outcomes, so I now try to forget them.
Not even putting them down in my dream journal, or on here.
When I did tell people, and the events came true, they would look at me in doubt, and frown.
The people that showed interest also showed a little fear/apprehension.
I do not need that kind of attention from friends, and neighbours, so joined this forum.