Dullness & Dream Control

I was wondering if anyone knows how to make lucid dreams more controllable and/or rich in content?

My first "true" lucid dream was a couple of weeks ago, and it was very exciting. It was a western & fantasy setting, I had duels with a few cowboys, and I got to meet my dream character who I've always wanted to meet if only for a few seconds before I woke up.

Now I keep having either multiple lucid dreams, or a very long one with multiple false awakenings in which I successfully become lucid again. In these dreams, I always wake up in my bed, go outside, and everything is very dark and crummy - there are no people walking around and the buildings look abandoned and empty.

When I try to do something, it only works about half the time. For example, I wanted to meet my dream character again because this is one of my most important goals for lucidity right now. So I usually call his name out, but nothing happens. Sometimes I try to call my dream guide, but it's only worked once. Last time I thought to pull out a compass from my pocket that would always point in his direction, and it seemed to work I guess, but following the compass took too long (I was flying over the city) and I lost lucidity. I've also tried saying "OK he's gonna be around that corner!" and walking the corner, but he won't appear.

I'm not sure why this is happening, but my guess is that it has to do with me being on vacation. Either because I'm not doing anything all day, or because I am in my parent's house/old hometown for vacation (which is the setting for my dreams).

Any help is greatly appreciated! :)

You could try opening a door and making him appear behind it or calling him on your phone (try looking in your pocket).

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Originally Posted by Hattmanson

You could try opening a door and making him appear behind it or calling him on your phone (try looking in your pocket).

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Interesting ideas, I'll make sure to try them.

Do you have any suggestions for the lame content? I was thinking it had something to do with me sleeping like 12 hrs every night, and only having lucid dreams very late in my sleep (when I'm waking up and falling back asleep many times).

Have you tried commands like "increase lucidity" or "increase clarity now" ?
I am new to this site but I started lucid dreaming some time ago and I remember commands being a big help with gaining control in my earlier lucid dreams.
Sometimes I would spin in a circle while looking at the ground (to increase clarity) and then cover my eyes and tell myself where I would be next.
When I opened them, I was usually there. I think you just have to believe it enough!
Another method is walking through doors to enter another place/world. This could also help with finding your dream character... similar idea to you walking around corners, but something new to try, anyway.
Good luck! Keep us posted. :)

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Originally Posted by Lysah

Sometimes I would spin in a circle while looking at the ground (to increase clarity) and then cover my eyes and tell myself where I would be next.
When I opened them, I was usually there.

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That's a well documented lucid dreaming technique! Did you read about it on here before you tried it, or did you learn it by yourself?
Awesome if you learned it by yourself. Proves the technique's validity, really.

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Originally Posted by MythicDreams

That's a well documented lucid dreaming technique! Did you read about it on here before you tried it, or did you learn it by yourself?

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I heard about spinning from a friend, but I had already noticed before that if I focused on the ground, it would pull me further into the dream.
My very first intentional lucid dream was from a false awakening, so I was in my bedroom, and I remember spending ages just exploring the room and feeling the carpet beneath my feet. I remember when I looked down at the ground, everything became so much clearer. I woke up and described the texture of the carpet to anyone who would listen... :P It's an experience I'll never forget.

Alright, so I tried a few of you guys' suggestions with mixed results.

Today luckily I had two lucid dreams. In the first one, I tried making him appear behind a door, but to no success. So I tried calling him from my phone. The user interface was a little sloppy but the phone still worked. So I scroll down my contact list and his name is there! So I call him, and he replies to me in the weirdest voice ever. Since I made this character up, I had obviously never heard his voice. For some reason, however, he sounded like an overly friendly cartoon character. So I asked him to come to my house and he said OK. I waited a little while but, realistically I guess, he didn't show up that quickly. So I decided to go outside my house and experience the usual LD stuff like walking around and flying (I don't recall this part too well).

Later on, during the same sleep period, I had another lucid dream. I woke up in my house again, this time looking back on my bed. I expected to see myself lying in it so I actually appeared on the bed. I walk to the living room, where everything is all cloudy and nothing is very clear. I yell out "clarity!" and suddenly everything becomes very clear. I was a little shocked, but I tried yelling "Lights!" and a bunch of lights and candles came on. It was really cool. So I remembered that I called my character earlier, and I decided to try to call him again, this time with a voice command to my phone. Instead, I hear a ringing on the shelf next to me and see that it's his phone which for some reason is identical to mine. So I say "Hey are you here?" and he says "Yeah" from the other room. He steps out and it's him in the body of one of my cousins. I asked him why he looks like that and he began explaining, but I can't remember what he said because at that moment I lost control of the dream.

So I guess I'm one step closer. Thanks for the tips, and if you guys have any more suggestions please share. :)