Thread: Do I need a dream journal?

A dream journal is essential .. PERIOD lol

Well at first it may not be if you've got some extreme motivation. but over time I'd highly recommend it! thats how it was for me anyway.

I don't think you NEED to to have sporadic DILDs, but in my experience they are VERY helpful. I had about 3 LDs over a 3-year period, then started keeping a dream journal and had about 14 in one month alone, 3 of which were incredibly vivid and my fondest. I stopped during finals and haven't gotten back into the habit, and I also have not had a single lucid dream in over a month.

I kept a dream journal for 2 months but I havent updated it lately. When I wake up, I usually remember some dreams but I dont write them down because they are just regular and I know they arent Lucids. I have had 4 Lucids in these months, 3 WILD and 1 DILD. I seem to wake up directly from a Lucid Dream, so they are still fresh on my mind and I know they happened when I wake, and I write them down.

Yes, just as other members have said, it is EXTREMELY helpful. It may get a bit boring to write down all your dreams, but it is worth it when you get that LD.

Yep, I'd say it's pretty esssential, partly because you can look back for common dreamsigns, and that may help you become lucid. Also, once it becomes a habit, you always write in your DJ, and then the small details that you might forget throughout the day are written down immediately.

In my personal experience it's been really, really helpful. In fact, I stopped writing in mine a while back and haven't been able to remember my dreams at all. I'm still pretty new to lucid dreaming though so I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who don't find it necessary, but I sure do.

No one needs a dream journal. It does however allow you to see recurring themes much easier and thus use those to help you attain lucidity.

My experience has shown that regular use of a dream journal is definitely very helpful

thanks for the advice. I guess I should start one even though it is a major pain in the butt to write stuff down in the middle of the night.

For me it is completely required. If I stop my dj then my lucids start to go down the drain.

Ill say this: No, it's not essential. My first LD experience came totally by accident. I knew nothing about conditioning, reality checks, dream journals, or noticing dream signs. In fact I was doing exercises for a WILD under the auspices of inducing an OBE.

Having said that, I'll also say I think having a Lucid Dream is much like going across town. You don't need a car to get there. But if you want to get there efficiently, you'll want one! For some people, having a lucid dream might be like getting across the country. For others, it might be a walk down the street. It would depend on the person.

It does improve your dream recall exponentially! I can't see why you wouldn't want to take the extra trouble to start one!

Originally Posted by diablo5597

thanks for the advice. I guess I should start one even though it is a major pain in the butt to write stuff down in the middle of the night.

I have a little digital voice recorder I keep by my bed. It's right there, and all it takes to turn it on is hitting a button. When I'm too tired to write things, I can just lay there and dictate. I couldn't do it when I lived in the dorms in college because it would awaken my roommate. But if you can use it without problems, it's worth the expense of investing in an easy-to-operate voice recorder of some sort.