Some questions regarding dream journals:

[JadeGreen]

So this is less of a serious "I need help" kind of question, and more just me wanting to open a little discussion. In some of my recent lucid dreams I have set out to investigate why, despite having practiced lucid dreaming for almost a decade and a half, (dipping in and out of various methods and intensities of practice), I have never been able to attain stable, consistent, and long-lasting periods of lucid dreams. In one such lucid dream, I was shown a large and sturdy building that existed as a dream archive. I knew the dream was telling me to compile all of the dreams I have ever recorded into a single secure and organized place. I actually have three dream journals, and while there is some overlap, they don't all contain all of the same dreams. There is the dreamviews dream journal. Dreamviews plays host to most lucid dreams or non-lucid dreams I think are noteworthy or interesting. There is one on my old computer and a new one which I recently opened on my new computer. I did also at one point in the past have a pen-and-paper dream notebook, though it never functioned as a true journal and moreso a place to document practice and write notes on dreams which I could later describe in detail on the computer. I can type much faster than I can write by hand, and the ability to copy, paste, delete and add information is very helpful if I say, recall more details of a dream later on in the day. Through the years I have noticed that there are different periods where my dreams focus on a particular theme or a particular dream sign or set of dream signs becomes relevant. So keeping these dreams organized feels like it would be kind of futile as dream signs that might have been solid lucid cues ten years ago no longer make appearances in my dreams. I also hate rereading old dreams, I find it incredibly boring. Doubly so when I am rereading non-lucid dreams or dreams which were not vivid, coherent, or were repetitive in nature. So I must ask for an outside perspective, do you think there is any value to organizing documentation of dreams from many years ago? My second question is much easier to phrase. My original reason for splitting into multiple dream journals was that I felt uncomfortable with posting about some dreams online. Some dreams back then and now might have storylines or plot elements that reference personal details of my life that I would rather are not posted online. Even within the safe and open minded culture of a place like Dreamviews. I'm more so just wondering if I'm the only one, but does anyone else keep a second private dream journal off the site, or am I the only one?

[DarkestDarkness]

Like you I did have a pen and paper journal, when I first started, and although it had some convenience to it, I'd often take long re-reading them because of my writing; like you I also found writing them took me long too, and because of my issues hand-writing has always been particularly painful for me if it's not a short amount of text. So it just didn't make much sense to continue it, although I sometimes prefer having a physical thing. Granted I could make physical copies of my digitally-written dreams but I just have not made that effort (yet). I think there is some value in keeping dreams even from years ago semi-organised but this could just be subjective, yeah. Personally this is why I value the tags on the DV DJ so much, because they make it much easier for me to find past dreams that featured something thematically specific. One thing I'd say is that I do not make huge efforts to keep any of my journaling super organised, so that it never feels like it's too much work; the only thing that's important to me as far as organising dreams goes is when they happened. For whatever reason, the chronological order is important to me. The dreams I re-read that I can't recall, I mostly just find puzzling, but most of the time some recall does return if I don't rush myself with re-reading. Although, in all honesty I don't find reading my old dreams boring at all, so I have no issue with re-reading old dreams; my dreams are rarely dull by definition so maybe that helps. I don't do it too often either, only when something specific is on my mind, so it's not as if I'm re-reading my old dreams again and again. Many times during days I'll randomly remember dreams from years ago too, and sometimes this makes me look back through my DJ, to try and figure out when they were from. As for the second question, I think some other people probably keep a private journal elsewhere. I can think of a couple of people. I don't keep a separate DJ exactly in that sense; my original entries are all on my phone, and my DV DJ entries are often retyped manually, in a way where I anonymise names and generally keep some stuff more subdued than I might have originally written (like sexual content), although in some cases I do let some more of the detail through onto the DV DJ. Private entries are also something I like with the DV DJ, which I often use for dreams where I add a lot of post-recall introspection/notes. I wish there was a much more granular control over how private a dream on the DV journal is though. There are dreams that I'd like to have as private even from DV friends, while other dreams I don't mind having as private but visible by friends and not by the general public.

[JadeGreen]

I know. I've been vaguely aware of the privacy feature of DV for a long time. I didnt understand quite how it worked but if it still lets friends see the dream, then it isn't really private. I get that. I've even gone so far as to start thinking I want to purge some entries from my DV DJ. Obviously not all of them as some of them are really interesting and might be good inspiration or potential reading for other lucid dreamers. But others seem to have personal content that I'm kind of wishing wasn't out on the web. Ultimately I have decided that on some level I am following through on my subconscious' suggestion. I will at bare minimum boot up my old laptop, extract all my old DJ entries, and probably copy over any DV DJs that I take down. I should copy over all of them incase something ever happens to DV. I've been around through a lot, seen the site change hands and such and it would be a shame if everything was wiped away. I'm getting an external hard drive to back up other things (digital art and writing drafts). I will be putting a backup DJ on there. But it's good to know I'm not the only one who's thought about it.

[Lang]

I know. I've been vaguely aware of the privacy feature of DV for a long time. I didnt understand quite how it worked but if it still lets friends see the dream, then it isn't really private. I have mine private. Do you see my DJ?

[DarkestDarkness]

I know. I've been vaguely aware of the privacy feature of DV for a long time. I didnt understand quite how it worked but if it still lets friends see the dream, then it isn't really private. Sorry, I should have been more specific. Specific entries can be made private, which lets those be read by friends if the journal itself is set to be public. But you can also set your entire journal as private, which doesn't allow even friends/contacts to see it. Might be what you want? I have mine private. Do you see my DJ? Nope.

[JadeGreen]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. Specific entries can be made private, which lets those be read by friends if the journal itself is set to be public. But you can also set your entire journal as private, which doesn't allow even friends/contacts to see it. Might be what you want? Ah. No there are entries I would like to keep public. IIRC spellbee years ago told me he likes for people to keep them up because they help other dreamers get inspiration and learn. I agree with that sentiment. But there are some on here that I will probably be taking down. Also holy moly almost 2700 DJ entries, Lang. Even if I can't see them that is one impressive DJ.

[Lang]

Yep It's Giant! So I must ask for an outside perspective, do you think there is any value to organizing documentation of dreams from many years ago? I pretty much did what DarkrestDarkness did. The only members who can see my Private DJ are the Mods, Admins. As a mod: Most of the time, I don't make it a habit to read over member's Private DJ entries even if they say that it is okay for me to read or comment unless it is something that is against the rules or it is a Task Of The Month or Task Of The Year Task entry. I can't say my entries are boring. I did notice that my dream Journal has become less detailed than it was a few years ago. I still try to keep up with every morning. I'm more so just wondering if I'm the only one, but does anyone else keep a second private dream journal off the site, or am I the only one? I have another DJ offline that I draw and write in that is even more personal without fear of judgment.

[cedwards105]

I'm more so just wondering if I'm the only one, but does anyone else keep a second private dream journal off the site, or am I the only one? Most of my dream journal is offline any more. My dream recall is usually fairly decent, but I started to feel a little awkward posting every day in here with dreams that most people would probably find boring and repetitive. I also hate rereading old dreams, I find it incredibly boring. Doubly so when I am rereading non-lucid dreams or dreams which were not vivid, coherent, or were repetitive in nature. It's interesting though. I used a text-to-speech feature on my computer and started listening to some dreams starting about two years ago. Some of them turn out to be much more entertaining than I remember, unless it's just that it's hilarious listening to a deadpan computer voice narrate them.

[Lang]

It's interesting though. I used a text-to-speech feature on my computer and started listening to some dreams starting about two years ago. Some of them turn out to be much more entertaining than I remember, unless it's just that it's hilarious listening to a deadpan computer voice narrate them. Sometimes I would do that and then realize how bad the grammar is, in the entry that I wrote.