CanisLucidus

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #16: Alone in the Dark

A friend is showing me around some mansion, delivering this nonstop harangue about the lack of baby proofing. I'm surprised by how angry she is until we reach a second floor balcony that overlooks a huge courtyard with a fountain. Next to the railing is a strange device that invites a baby to crawl onto it and then extends over the edge of the railing to "give the baby a better view" by dangling them hazardously over the side.

Now that I've seen this dangerous contraption, I get why she's so mad. Now I'm fuming too. But when I'm done whining and stop to study my surroundings again, I notice that I'm no longer in a mansion. I'm now alone on the second floor of a shopping mall. I don't understand how I got there. Everything looks very real, though, so I decide I'm probably not dreaming. I reality check "just in case" and I'm astonished when it fails. I hit a second nose pinch. This also fails and I think, "No way. I just did it wrong." Third try fails and now I'm finally lucid.

I'm shocked that this is a dream and my vision immediately goes black. I start rubbing my hands together, determined not to let this go. I test my dream body in a variety of ways to keep myself tethered to the dream: I rub my hands over my elbows, flick my teeth with my fingernail, lick my arm, flex and prod at my muscles, slap myself in the face. Everything works and I feel solidly locked in -- I just can't see anything. This goes on for quite some time and I'm having trouble staying calm.

Unsure what to do, I extend my right hand and plead for help. "I can't see. Please, somebody help me." Seconds later, someone grabs my hand, gives it a hard yank, and I stumble forward, my vision fully restored.

Of all people, my rescuer is Julia Roberts (an actress that I do not particularly like and haven't thought of in years.) I suddenly feel like a jerk for not really liking her work.

We're on a dilapidated pier by the seaside. I demand "Super high-def!" from the dream scene and everything sharpens nicely. I hear the creak of beams and the slap of seawater against the piers, as well as the distant cry of gulls. I know that I'm right on the water and think of getting to the Cretaceous seas!

Julia Roberts shouts at me that "You're almost out of time!" and runs off down the pier. I run after her, searching for some way to get to the open water. Dream characters peer at me from stalls on the sides of the pier, murmuring incomprehensibly to one another as I pass. I keep running, wondering whether I need to try something drastic to change things in my favor. Soon the dream fades to black, this time for good.

My heart rate's noticeably elevated and I can feel blood pumping through my carotid arteries. I'm too amped to go back to sleep. I wonder: why'd I lose this one? Simple excitement? Succumbing to a false sense of urgency? Or is this all just Julia Roberts' fault? Advice welcome!

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid #15: A Leaf on the Wind

Wife and I are staying in this huge, luxurious hotel room somewhere on vacation. It's daylight outside. Wife is putting away groceries in the hotel fridge but all I want to do is sleep. I curl up in the bed and nap. Seconds later, though, I'm awake and Wife is still putting away groceries.

I'm frustrated that my nap was so short and I nose pinch RC out of habit. I'm astonished that I am actually able to breathe. I blow it off, assuming that I simply didn't pinch hard enough. On the second try I get a deep, clear breath and I'm dragged into lucidity.

I want to get out of the room and go for Task of the Month (swim in the Cretaceous-era sea.) I tell Wife that I'm having a lucid dream and that I need to leave for a while. She looks skeptical. "You and your dreams. What about our vacation?" I tell her that I'll try to get back after I finish up but I know it's very, very unlikely that I'll be able to make a roundtrip across millions of years back. Better than her getting eaten by a mosasaur. Wife asks me to "at least help me put away the groceries" but I leave before she can suck me back into the dream plot. Even though I know it's a dream I feel guilty leaving all the work for her to do.

Daylight is streaming through the door at the end of the hallway and I walk outside. There's a wobble in my vision as I cross the threshold. I paw my hands through my hair and lick my arm and the dream scene snaps back into stability.

It's clear and cool like midday in Northern California. Across a broad field of grass I see a river snaking its way toward the horizon. I imagine that this river leads to the Cretaceous ocean and will myself to rise up into the air and fly. The wind buffets me as I soar into the air and my dream body feels light, insubstantial, and kite-like. I rise higher and higher into the air and tantalizingly I see the sparkle of the sea maybe just a mile further along the river.

I will myself to fly toward the ocean but the wind is just tossing me around as I rise higher into the air. I have no more mass than a leaf or a piece of paper. I try imagine that I have on rocket shoes but they just make this weak fizzling noise and the wind noise increases to a roar. Frustration gets the best of me and I either lose lucidity or fade to oblivion.

During my two-month dry spell between LD#1 and LD#2, I'd come up with a long list of experiments that I wanted to perform in a lucid dream. I managed to try the "level of detail" ones here.

Color legend: Non-dream Dream Lucid

Lucid Experimentation (June 24th, 2012)

I'm attending a black tie party with Wife at some palatial estate. While we're exploring the grounds, I decide that I need to use the restroom. I tell Wife I'll meet with her later and go in search of the facilities.

I find them at the top of a long walkway filled with classic arcade machines ("Millipede" was definitely there.) Through the walkway door is an enormous, low-lit video arcade filled with machines and players. I find a light switch and flip it so that I can see better. Instead of lighting the room, this winds up turning off every machine in the arcade and the angry patrons look around, cursing. Badly embarrassed, I duck into the bathroom.

A Japanese couple follows me into the bathroom but instead of berating me for my stupidity, they request help with a tapioca pudding recipe that they're working on. I suggest that we return to my kitchen to work on it. We somehow blink into the kitchen and I immediately realize that this is a dream. I push my finger through my palm to RC and the left hand stretches like taffy around my finger. The Japanese couple smiles broadly and stands back to wait for me to try whatever it was I had in mind.

I experiment with clarity, committing to memory my in-dream assessment of how detailed / realistic everything appears. I say that everything looks crystal clear and can be viewed to an arbitrary level of detail. I am unprepared for how clear everything is. I study my hands (which have an unusual bend and one extra finger on the left) as well as the brushed metal refrigerator (which I assess as 100% realistic at every level of detail I try.)

My vision briefly collapses into milky gray but I manage to restabilize by rubbing my hands over my forearms. I quickly realize that the Japanese DCs still need my help. I will their tapioca pudding recipe to be fixed and they laugh, smiling gratefully. I then think about how I can rejoin Wife at the party since I no longer know how to get there. Soon afterward, though, I find myself awake back in bed.

I quickly grab the dream journal and start excitedly writing. About three lines in, I notice unusual notations in the margin. I don't understand them and have no memory of making them. Scanning back over what I've already written, I realize I can no longer make sense of any of it. I wonder whether I am actually awake. I immediately wake up (for real this time), reality check and go for the dream journal. A great way to break a dry spell!