The Effectiveness of Expectation?

[LucidProdigy]

I understand that it is essential for a dreamer to exude proper levels of expectation when attempting to control various elements of the dream; however, I'm now questioning the effectiveness of expectation. Two examples: 1. I was in my room. It was very dark, and I could barely see anything. I lifted my hand into the air, confidently re-affirming myself that if I expect an orb of light to manifest in the palm of my hand, it would surely be so. Even still, nothing appeared. I tried again, doubling my concentration, but to no avail. 2. I've been trapped. In all my lucid dreaming journeys, I have not been able to leave my house in the dream world. But this time was different; I've recognized the negative emotions I've been giving this dilemma, and focused not on that, but how easily I would change the dream scene. As I had been rehearsing in my mind for days prior, I imagined a circle, and placed my index finger on the circle's 12 o'clock position. I slowly applied pressure, and, moving my finger in a clock-wise direction, made a portal. I felt satisfaction as a blue-ish hue replaced where my index finger had just travelled, until a full portal lie manifest before me. Confident and calm, I took a breath and stepped through the portal. The inside was magnificent. All around me, complex 2D and 3D figures I can't even begin to describe floated in a colorful vacuum. I walked, step by step, re-affirming myself that at the end of this tunnel lie a snowy wonderland with frozen trees for me to explore. I took the last step and, to my dismay, I was back at the front of my house. In both of these examples, I made certain to maintain a high level of expectation of what was about to happen; however, both of my intentions failed. Is expectation alone simply not effective to control the dream?

[CJC]

Some is based on chance, on the REM cycle, your body chemistry, but expectation is the main bit. The first time i tried summoning a person with expectation it worked, and was easy, so ie been able to do it from then on.

[realdealmagic]

Expectation plays a big part. Couple it with visualization for the best results though, actually imagine what the light will feel like, what it will look like. Will it emit a slight humming? Close your eyes, visualise it and expect it, and it should be there If not, your brain likes to work in a logical way, so something just appearing might not work. Maybe open a drawer and expect the orb to be in there? Stuff like that

[PaschaR]

You gotta have confidence in what your trying to do,if not,it will never work correctly,iv tried the same thing with a fireball,in the back of my mind i was thinking that it would not work,so when i looked at my hand all i seen was a retarded hand with 7 crazy looking fingers

[melanieb]

You almost traveled to Narnia! Expecting things to appear is harder than having them show up in a drawer or around a corner. This seems to be the case for most people. This is covered in the Summoning Tutorial in the WIKI. Is it possible that outside locations don't hold enough meaning for you to manifest them in a dream? All the locations that show up in my dreams are places I'm visually familiar with or have some emotional context attached to it.

[LucidProdigy]

You almost traveled to Narnia! Expecting things to appear is harder than having them show up in a drawer or around a corner. This seems to be the case for most people. This is covered in the Summoning Tutorial in the WIKI. Is it possible that outside locations don't hold enough meaning for you to manifest them in a dream? All the locations that show up in my dreams are places I'm visually familiar with or have some emotional context attached to it. Trying to exert direct control has never worked for me, and it's so dang frustrating because for my goals, I'll need to be able to demonstrate this kind of control. Passive control has worked...to an extent. For example, invisioning a scenario in which an object should be at a particular location: the object may or may not be there, and if it's there, it has never functioned properly. However, I would like to focus on direct control more if possible. I really hope your second point isn't true in my case, because one of the main reasons I started lucid dreaming was to go on adventures in new and mysterious landscapes. Being confined to only location that hold relevence would be....

[melanieb]

I wouldn't worry. Lucid dreaming is a work-in-progress and evolves over time. Just because you're spending time in the house now doesn't mean you always will. Driving is something I enjoy so much I would love to be paid to drive places...maybe as a courier. I enjoy the openh road and driving is one of the skills in life I excel at. I spend a lot of time looking at my surroundings, both when I'm driving and when I'm not. This awareness translates into my dreams. Have you looked into the Awareness tutorials in the Attaining Lucidity and Induction Techniques sections of the forum?

[LucidProdigy]

^^ Yes, I'm currently trying to implement SAT into my daily life, then gradually progress into ADA. Originally, I attempted these techniques as a way to increase the number of lucid dreams I have, but are you saying that increased awareness will aid in my dilemma?

[Highlander]

You gotta have confidence in what your trying to do,if not,it will never work correctly,iv tried the same thing with a fireball,in the back of my mind i was thinking that it would not work,so when i looked at my hand all i seen was a retarded hand with 7 crazy looking fingers I would tend to agree. Whenever I have done something in an LD, like to make people appear then I had to believe that I could do it.