I was able to learn DEILD rather quickly. I assumed learning WILD would be just as easy, and have been struggling with it for a few weeks... several rather unpleasant experiences, feeling threatened and uncomfortable no matter what else was going on in the dream.

Then last night, after a WILD attempt, the strangest thing happened. I woke up flooded with memories of practicing WILD as a youngster, maybe 6 or 7 years of age. At the time WILDing just seemed like the thing to do, and it was easy for me. Curiously until last night I had forgotten all about that part of my childhood other than that I always thought of that bedroom as "the haunted room at Grandpa's."

Here's what I remembered after last night's WILD.
Sleeping over at Grandpa's one night I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to dream... I didn't realize I always dreamed, because for the most part, I only remembered WILDS. That night, my WILD turned into a nightmare in which I was being chased by an incredibly powerful evil spirit, and I couldn't wake myself up. It caused me to feel a physical sensation of pure terror. The closer it got to me, the worse the sensation.

I ran through the house and locked myself in the upstairs bathroom, but it was only seconds before this force or whatever it was broke down the door, in desperation I smashed the window and jumped out, the idea being I would fly away, and it would never catch me. But I couldn't fly, and I went crashing to the ground... at which time I woke up in bed shaking and in a cold sweat.

A few weeks later, I decided it had been just a nightmare and gave dreaming in my own room a try. That ended in an even worse experience with IT and ended my childhood WILDING career for good.

So much for the past.

I decided that tonight I'm going to DEILD to enter a dream state, and then I'm going to find IT, whatever it is, and deal with it.

I feel a little stupid about this, that at my age this IT still scares me, but advice from people who have dealt with similar situations would be appreciated.

On the plus side, this whole affair has given me the inspiration for a short story.

Niall