Scene Changes Leading to False Awakenings
I'm not new to lucid dreaming but it is only recently that I have really become able to WILD into lucidity at will. I had 2 lucid dreams last night using the WILD method, the first one was short because I lost lucidity fairly quickly. The second one is the one I'm discussing in this post. I have had issues with dream control in the past - I am able to attain lucidity, but have difficulty controlling my environment.
Last night was kind of a combination of a breakthrough and a disappointment. Here's what happened:
I end up in a dreamscape I'm not interested in (the yard of an apartment complex I used to live it).
I recalled one of my goals - to visit a "base" I have built in my head. I haven't managed to get there yet aside from a VERY brief flash of lucidity during a WILD attempt... but if/when I can it is very useful and convenient because it contains all of the things I like and need in one location. I know it's not necessary but I like the idea of having a 'home' or at least a default location I know is always there.
I also remembered my 'magic' bag. The bag shows up in many of my lucid dreams and is phenomenally useful. It's a device I've learned to use to accomplish things in a more passive manner - I find that butting heads with my dreaming brain doesn't get either of us anywhere. I felt around behind me for the bag which should be slung around my hip, but only felt air. I tell myself, well, maybe it slipped around behind me, and start to feel there.
This is one of the first times I've managed to exert direct willpower over the dream and use a blind spot to my advantage. In the past, stuff like this would happen, I couldn't make anything happen, and I would be upset and frustrated. In the past, I would have gone "No bag :( " and been sad. This time, I was like, "No, I KNOW my bag is there. My bag is ALWAYS there." I continued to feel around until I grabbed some fabric. Brain told me it was the back of my shirt. I told brain that it will be whatever I want it to be, and right now, I want it to be my bag.
I successfully pull my bag out from behind me. It is always the same leather bag from my other lucid dreams, and looks like I suppose I have always imagined a bag of holding would look. It is a little smaller than a duffel bag but I can stretch the opening as large as I like.
I decide to use the "bag trick" I came up with but hadn't tried - I will climb into the bag, holding the edges, and use it as a wormhole to get to where I want (my base). I shove my head and shoulders into the bag (the lining is black and it always looks empty unless I want it to look full of things) and drop through it. I hang onto the edges, effectively turning it inside out and taking it with me. Once I have climbed through the bag, I open my eyes.
I see my bedroom ceiling.
At the time, I felt upset and disappointed. I believed I had woken up. In retrospect, I suspect that if I had done a reality check, I would have found that I was still dreaming. I'm 90% sure I was still dreaming. I "go back to sleep", having given up for the night. From this, I have learned that it is important to do a reality check every time I wake up. I have actually never had a false awakening - so I think. Maybe I have and don't remember, or maybe I have and never realized it. But I'm pretty sure that was one, based on what occurred.
Now, this still isn't a complete failure because, assuming it was a false awakening, it's better than my past attempts at scene changes (spinning just makes everything blurry and nothing happens).
The question is; why a FA rather than my base? Was my base not formed well enough in my mind so my dream just barfed up whatever it had instantly on hand (my bedroom ceiling)? Do I need to meditate on my location prior to attempting a scene change, if I am trying to go somewhere specific?
