Thread: Killing DC's; a question regarding the impact it has on the mind/self

Dreams have long been notorious for showcasing our most base desires and instincts. Don't ever feel bad or guilty about something in your dreams. We are animals. Animals kill each other. Do everything you can to avoid violence and spread love, but don't expect your dreams to start becoming examples of clean, respectable ethics.

Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

Dreams have long been notorious for showcasing our most base desires and instincts. Don't ever feel bad or guilty about something in your dreams. We are animals. Animals kill each other. Do everything you can to avoid violence and spread love, but don't expect your dreams to start becoming examples of clean, respectable ethics.

I think there is a bit of distinction, here, though. We aren't talking about non-lucid dreams, in which the dreamer is being 'shown' these animalistic tendencies. It's about a dreamer who goes looking for these situations, consciously. I think there is a difference between the two. You don't?

True. In a lucid dream you can try to fight against it. I don't think this changes the fundamental nature of the dream. In most of my lucid dreams, I end up doing everything I can to try and keep things from going off the rails into sexy-violent mode. I'm sure I'm not the only one Doesn't it feel good to embrace the primal nature of the dream, sometimes?

Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

Doesn't it feel good to embrace the primal nature of the dream, sometimes?

Sure. In some situations, it does. However (and this is just a matter of personal perspective, of course), there are just some acts that I don't find appealing - whether in a dream or in waking life - and so I certainly have an aversion to consciously seeking out those types of acts, even in fantasy. For example; I find the act of rape detestable, consciously, so there is no amount of 'it's just a fantasy' that would make me feel right about performing a lucid 'grudge rape', on some chick who did me wrong in waking life. I dunno. I guess I'm just not that vengeful a person.

I've been hurt and betrayed by plenty of people in my life, but that doesn't mean I want to find out what it feels like to disembowel them with a chainsaw. It's just not something that even crosses my mind, so I guess I just don't have any way to relate to seeking out such pleasures in dreams. To each, his own, though, of course.

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

2) I do not think that using dreams to play out actual, waking-world grudges is healthy. I mean, I think it's much less about it being a dream, than I do feel it's about your feeling the need to have to play out such violent scenarios on the people you have grudges against. I might say the same thing about taking a picture of someone you don't like, and putting it on your target board, at a firing range. There is just something about using something like that as an 'outlet' (in my opinion) that seems like it might be kind of detrimental to learning to relieve your stress in less vengeful ways.

This is pretty much how I feel about the subject. It's one thing to kill a bunch of zombies or aliens or whatever to vent your anger and frustration. But I don't think it's going to be good for your mental and emotional well-being to use dreams to enact violent fantasies about actual people. It's a good idea to get closure from dreams when it comes to something like an ex. For example, using the dream to tell them whatever you need to say to them. Or summoning them in a dream and asking them what you ever saw in such a jerk (it might help you to avoid the same mistakes later if they answer truthfully).

I do totally get the idea that killing off the person in your dream might help you get some closure and literally bury your feelings for them. But my advice is that if you do this, do it in a less realistically violent way.

Or you could just do what I did to my coworkers and force them to dance to Thriller for you....

I personally wouldn't have a interest in hurting DCs, it's just not me. I see nothing wrong with people wanting to do it though. As long as some one doesn't want to hurt others in real life.

I may contradict what I just said. I have made up this game with my friend. We have several male characters who were raised in the gang life, they've been abused and have abused others (some, not all). The reason I started lucid dreaming is because my goal is to become these characters, act out there lifes. So, I will have to hurt others but it won't affect me really because in these dreams, I am them, I am acting there life/emotions and so forth. It may really be me but my emotions won't be playing a huge role. I want to experience them.

I have a huge attachment to these characters in real life and there emotions are very real to me so I think it would be awesome to be them in a dream.