Gambled with my life and won

So last night I was strolling along a rooftop thinking about how infrequent my lucid dreams have been. Just for the hell of it, I jumped off the roof--a bold move since I didn't even think I was dreaming. I grabbed hold of pillar so wide I could barely get my arms around it. And, magically, I was able to slow my descent and slid to the ground without so much as a scratch. The fact that I have a fear of falling made this bold move even bolder.

I'm not sure how to categorize this LD. No induction, throwing caution to the wind. Not something I expect to repeat anytime soon.

In general, it is recommended to do a safe reality check, just in case. Would you really have been willing to die if you had been wrong, no regrets? If the answer is yes, then you need help. Come to think of it, you may need help because essentially this was a non-lucid dream in which you were willing to commit suicide, and only then became lucid, and dreaming about suicide may be a sign of depression or stress that could use help from others - friends, family, whoever you trust. I would not dismiss this just because you got lucky this time. Yes, the fact that you were dreaming is of course an extenuating circumstance, since we do not have the full power of our mental faculties and all inhibitions in our dreams, but it is still disturbing that you did dream of jumping without knowing that you were asleep ahead of time. Something may be wrong that needs looking into during waking life.

I do that all the time in dreams. They're non-lucid, but I become aware that something is weird, that I'm in that weird state where I know I can safely jump off anything and I'll either fly or drift like a feather to a gentle landing, or sometimes like you said grab onto something that lets me down easily. I think when you know you can do stuff like that you're on the verge of lucidity, or you're already lucid with low awareness.

But bear in mind - in non-lucid dreams you're not thinking straight - you do crazy stuff all the time - so it isn't like you were awake and decided to leap off a roof!

Thanks, Joanna for letting me know how psychotic I am. So on the strength of your oh so expert opinion, I'm on my way to check myself into the local looney bin; where I'll be safely stuffed into a strait jacket and given no chance of leaping from rooftops.

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Originally Posted by JoannaB

In general, it is recommended to do a safe reality check, just in case. Would you really have been willing to die if you had been wrong, no regrets? If the answer is yes, then you need help. Come to think of it, you may need help because essentially this was a non-lucid dream in which you were willing to commit suicide, and only then became lucid, and dreaming about suicide may be a sign of depression or stress that could use help from others - friends, family, whoever you trust. I would not dismiss this just because you got lucky this time. Yes, the fact that you were dreaming is of course an extenuating circumstance, since we do not have the full power of our mental faculties and all inhibitions in our dreams, but it is still disturbing that you did dream of jumping without knowing that you were asleep ahead of time. Something may be wrong that needs looking into during waking life.

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I suggested talking to a friend or family! In case you are depressed or stressed. :(

And yet I'm not depressed. Nor am I stressed. In fact, I've happily gone my entire life without the thought entering my mind of leaping from a rooftop. But you know best and so I'll be seeking professional help ASAP. Hopefully I'll get it before I jump from the next rooftop I see.

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Originally Posted by JoannaB

I suggested talking to a friend or family! In case you are depressed or stressed. :(

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No no no, I do not know best. I am glad to hear that you are well. Feel free to completely disregard everything I said. Or feel free to laugh at me.

To be fair to Joanna, the name of the thread IS "Gambled with my life"... considering she has no idea who you are, is it really that surprising that she got concerned?

Oh, and I do have an unfortunate tendency to suspect people of depression whether they are or not because I've had some history of it myself, though I have never jumped of a roof in a dream, though I wouldn't be surprised if tonight I do, now that you have put the idea in my head, I'd probably deserve a dream like that.

When I was going through a bad phase (thinking about suicide all day everyday), I had a dream where I became lucid and thought "all I want to do is die", so I killed myself.

Looking back, it was a huge waste of a lucid dream, but... it was what I wanted at the time...

JoannaB was just trying to help, she wasn't being mocking or sarcastic or anything like that. Suicide in a dream could be something to be concerned about but jumping off a roof in a dream without the intention to commit suicide isn't as concerning, at least in my opinion. Because in the world of that dream, jumping off a roof might not equal death. Also like Darkmatters said, we do crazy stuff all the time in non-lucid dreams

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Originally Posted by martydee

And yet I'm not depressed. Nor am I stressed. In fact, I've happily gone my entire life without the thought entering my mind of leaping from a rooftop. But you know best and so I'll be seeking professional help ASAP. Hopefully I'll get it before I jump from the next rooftop I see.

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Good for you. But joannab already explained that she only said it just in case. No need to continue to be mean.

In all fairness, you are on a dreaming site, posting your dream and asking what it was. If you don't like the answer, you can just thank the poster and say she was wrong. No need to be mean.

Chances are you had a very slight awareness that you were in a dream in the back of your head, you just weren't aware of your awareness.

^ As strange as that sounds I actually agree. I've experienced it many times, it's like being liucid without knowing you're lucid, though that doesn't seem to make any sense. Subconsciously lucid maybe? Head about to explode..

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Originally Posted by Darkmatters

^ As strange as that sounds I actually agree. I've experienced it many times, it's like being liucid without knowing you're lucid, though that doesn't seem to make any sense. Subconsciously lucid maybe? Head about to explode..

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Subconsciously conscious in your subconscious?

That sounds about right, Dark matters. It's the same way with dreams that SHOULD scare the heck out of you. For instance, I had a dream where I was in a demon-infested house. Now, if that happened to me IRL, as much as I like paranormal investigation, I'd probably die of a freaking heart attack I'd be so terrified. BUT, I wasn't. In my dream, I didn't really seem concerned about MY safety, only the safety of the people who owned the house. It was as though somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was a dream, even if I wasn't aware of it.

There must be something to that, Darkmatters; it would make for an interesting study :)

~SilverWolf~

:) Glad you've gradually worked out the spelling of my name!

Yeah, I don't have a good name for it and can't think of a good description, it's one of those dream states that defy ordinary description. You're not actually lucid, but you know you're in a certain state that you find yourself in frequently where the normal laws of physics don't apply and things are very changeable, and where you have nothing to fear. But you seem to believe that this body is actually your only real body, and that the people around you are real people and that the world you're in is a real place (as bizarre as it is).

LOL!!!! Yeah, it took me a bit. I'm used to capitolizing the first letter of each part of usernames, largely because that's how I usually make my own usernames (ie SilverWolf, LoneSilverWolf, etc.)

It is bizarre, and I was just talking to SilentDream about this today, when she casually asked me if I still had nightmares. TBH, I'm not sure if you can classify a dream as a nightmare if your dream self isn't as scared or fearful of a situation as he or she should be. It is a strange feeling though, and I can't help but wonder if you couldn't somehow use those moments to achieve lucidity if you could just get marginally more self aware at those points.

~SilverWolf~

OP that is definitely not a safe reality check.

When i just started lucid dreaming, i was jumping through the wall and on the other side was nothing, like computer world of textures, so i felt down and i was falling falling falling then i saw water and felt into it. I think you all played CS, i am talking about wall at cs_mansion map on CT side :)

Falling is cool, it was my basic thing that i could do in the beginning and i enjoyed it a lot. But be careful, you might get a habit of jumping from the building or balcony and one day when you wake up you might not be sure if you are dreaming or not.

It wasn't an RC, if his dreams are like my similar ones. In my case when I leap I already know. There's a sort of burst of understanding, but not consciously, where I seem to recognize the sensations and know that I can't die or even be hurt by jumping off a roof. It's usually when I realize I'm standing on the roof of a tall building, something I have never done in waking life but used to do a lot in dreams. I guess it became a dream sign before I knew what that meant. Heck, maybe they actually were lucid dreams - wish I could remember them better. But it would have been before I had ever heard of lucidity or Stephen Laberge.