Hey all, my first post on DV. I am deeply curious if there is any relation to conscious, mental imagery and the vividness of dreams.

I'll describe mental imagery as simply closing your eyes (when fully awake) and trying to form a tangible picture in your head. Not just thinking of the object in question, say a blue triangle, but actually seeing a blue triangle formed from the black background of your closed eyes.

Personally, I can't form any sort of images. It is pure blackness when I try to create a picture/scene. I can however slightly change the background color on demand.

In relation to dreams, mine severely lack vividness. It is hard for me to describe exactly what I see in my dreams, but it isn't much at all. This includes lucid dreams, as I am no stranger to them. I've had several, and they all seem to be severely lacking detail - nothing like real life at all.

My latest lucid dream (WILD after WBTB) proved pointless. I think I was in a room, but it was impossible to depict exactly what room I was in. I tried a couple of DC techniques (rubbing hands and spinning), but nothing seemed to help. I wanted to try and focus on specific textures or objects perhaps, but there was nothing there to begin with. I only remember looking at my alarm clock, seeing the time all distorted and blurry (not even the clock itself) for maybe a second, then it disappeared. Although, the dream did follow a logical order that I won't bore you with the details.

So my question is, can you produce images "in" your head by closing your eyes, and if so, how realistic are your dreams? If not, and you can't create pictures from the blackness like myself, how real are your dreams?