False Lucid dream

hello everybody,
I started practicing lucid dreaming about a month ago, but i haven't been able to achieve 100% certain lucidity. prior to this ~4 week period, i had been practicing on and off and i once had a dream about becoming lucid and trying to fly. however, a dream i had a couple of days ago involved me becoming lucid in more detail. in this recent dream, i was standing alone in a street in a city, and i did a reality check by pinching my arm. i "became lucid" and my vision seemed to rush into focus. however, looking back at it, i'm not sure that anything actually changed. i don't remember being conscious or aware of myself dreaming except at that scene in the dream. later, the dream faded back into being a regular dream, if it had ever become anything but regular before. i'm convinced that this was not a lucid dream, and I'm wondering how i could have gotten so close to realizing that i was dreaming and actually performing the actions necessary to do so and not become lucid.
i am wondering if it has to do with my failure to write consistently in a dream journal. i've heard that the dream journal is one of the most important parts of lucid dreaming and i wonder if that's why i have been unable to become lucid. I will certainly put an effort into writing in a dream journal from now on, but please comment with your thoughts.

Dream journals don't directly affect your ability to lucid dream. They increase your recall so you don't forget your lucids and they also help you find dream signs which can then help you get lucid. As for the dream it sounds like you achieved a very low level of control and were barely conscious, resulting in both your questioning of this dream as well as the fact that it just faded back to a normal dream. You could also be forgetting some of the details of the dream which could help determine whether it was lucid or not, which is where the dream journal part comes back into play. Whether you want to count this as a lucid dream is up to you, but you're right on track for becoming completely lucid.

The fact that you didn't fully realize you were in a dream was probably just a near miss which happens to everyone. It's when you preform a RC or start questioning reality but never really become fully lucid. There's actually a thread in the Lucid Experiences section of the forum where people share their accounts of this. http://www.dreamviews.com/f13/stupid...g-lucid-29419/ This way you know you're not alone :)

I always recommend a more outlandish Reality Check. Pinching your arm or nose is one thing. Jumping to the top of a house or telephone pole is quite a different kind of reality check. Of course, you might appear loopy if others see you hopping up and down in waking life. BTW, you were almost there! Keep going! Welcome to the forum. :shadewink:

thanks guys, i'm glad to know i'm making progress. i'll be sure to keep it up. :D