Thread: Do you keep your interest in lucid dreaming a secret from others?

Originally Posted by AstralVagabond

Well, the first response at least sounds reasonable, even if we disagree with it and find it's worth the effort. But the other two? Dang.

Haha, I was thinking about using that gif!

Yeah, the first one is understandable but I thought it was odd because like me that person is also learning Japanese, which I think requires just as much patience and determination. That's also why I was thrown by their responses, they are usually open minded about things like that because they get made fun of for learning Japanese.

I've told quite a few of co-workers about it. They find it very interesting and are always asking me complex questions that I don't know I've also got a few friends that are into it. I just started getting into it about a month ago. Haven't been able to dream for the past few years, but ever since I started getting into LDing, although I haven't had one yet, I'm dreaming more frequently and I love it!

Originally Posted by Plashanko

I'm dreaming more frequently and I love it!

You know, everybody dreams at least 5 times a normal sleep period. You just don't remember it.

To Mismagius and AstralVagabond, I feel compelled to add:



I'll tell people once in a while, and I usually get 0 interest from them. The hippies like it, though, so I talk to them. My dad thinks it's really odd, but has recently been forced to come around a bit since my daughter also started LDing. Now he accepts it as possible, but he doesn't really get it.

In general, I find that people get really uncomfortable if you tell them about any sort of dream you have had. It's not polite conversation or something.

Originally Posted by Sibyline

To Mismagius and AstralVagabond, I feel compelled to add:



I'll tell people once in a while, and I usually get 0 interest from them. The hippies like it, though, so I talk to them. My dad thinks it's really odd, but has recently been forced to come around a bit since my daughter also started LDing. Now he accepts it as possible, but he doesn't really get it.

In general, I find that people get really uncomfortable if you tell them about any sort of dream you have had. It's not polite conversation or something.

("Muggles?"
"Non-lucid folk.")

Jeez, this thread is so depressing. Who knew you could meet so much negative backlash for this kind of thing? So, really, the people being discussed here are like the Dursley-type muggles in some ways - so uncomfortable with the extraordinary and quick to look down on people trying anything fantastic or unusual. (And oh, lucid dreaming is such a fantastic ability to have! Surely like creating a world where you can do magic of your own...)

Yeah, I don't get why people don't like it when you talk about your dreams either. If it's not obviously related to something personal that isn't appropriate for the given conversation, what? What am I doing? Opening myself for a villain to psychoanalyse me and calculate all my weak spots with the crucial knowledge that I dreamed about a giant turkey flying in a spaceship and consuming the entire town's bagel supply?

Originally Posted by AstralVagabond

("Muggles?"
"Non-lucid folk.")

Please, can we make this official? Perfect moniker. It should go in the Wiki and everything!

I do agree with lots of sentiment here. But I would rather think of it as we are the lucky ones, because we have received this gift of "interest". I count my lucky stars and say a little "thank you prayer" everytime I think about how lucky I was to find out about lucid dreaming and Dreamviews. Sheer coincidence (or was it). And a truck load of interest.

I feel sorry for people that don't have this interest. But i also don't feel sorry for them. I mean, do I want someone who is interested in some sport or art to feel sorry for me, because I have not discovered the thing, that he had discovered and enjoys thouroughly? No, I don't. If I had any interest in it, I would pick it up. But I don't. And it's ok that way. We are all different with diff interests. I'm sure people in lets say yoga forum [insert any other interest] are calling everybody else a muggle, because yoga is so good for you, yet we don't care.

Agreed again, that LDing is special. And I count my lucky stars for discovering. It's also on top of my list of things to 'discover' early on in my next incarnation.

Keep it a secret? What difference does it make? Most people won't care one way or another, and if they get judgmental then the jokes on them because they've revealed to you just how little they know. Besides with all the research and studies done on lucid dreaming, it's become almost mainstream with movies like Inception getting attention.

Yes and no.

At first I told family. Not well recieved. So I slowed down. Then I couldn't resist any more, told some friends, and even worse reception. So I told myself "I'm not telling no more". Just last week, a coworker asked me if I believe in ghosts. And that opened the floodgates. I said "yes, because I have been a ghost in my OBEs". Turns out he had a LD before as well.

So, I'm still not telling, but if someone seems like he is "worthy", I'll give it a try.

Originally Posted by gab

Yes and no.

At first I told family. Not well recieved. So I slowed down. Then I couldn't resist any more, told some friends, and even worse reception. So I told myself "I'm not telling no more". Just last week, a coworker asked me if I believe in ghosts. And that opened the floodgates. I said "yes, because I have been a ghost in my OBEs". Turns out he had a LD before as well.

So, I'm still not telling, but if someone seems like he is "worthy", I'll give it a try.

I understand the whole "worthy" part. Some people are cut out for this, and others are not.

I typically allow people to bring up the topic as well. But that's how I am about most things, I wait for the topic to present itself, wait for an opportunity to weigh in, and blow everybody away with my extensive knowledge of said topic. And then they're all like, "Damn sometimes I forget you're actually smart and not just a total fuck."

The reactions I get from people are usually something like "aha...", followed by attempts to change the subject.

Yeah I know that it's not "important" to make people practice lucid dreaming, but it's fun to share awesome things with other people, and it becomes kind of frustrating when people are so put off by lucid dreaming when lucid dreams are obviously one of the coolest things anyone can experience.

That's actually really cool, calling non-lucid folk 'Muggles'! I should start calling people that if they show signs of being Dursley-ish.

Haha! I didn't know that joke would get so big. Well, Oxford Dictionary already defines 'muggle' as 'a person who is not conversant with a particular activity or skill,' so... (No, really. Look it up. )

"Muggles", haha great term, but I would suggest that it should be reserved for those who actually are against lucid dreaming and discourage you from practicing it.
It would be slightly unfair to call people muggles just because they haven't quite discovered lucid dreaming yet, because chances are that they would love the idea if someone mentioned it to them.

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

"Muggles", haha great term, but I would suggest that it should be reserved for those who actually are against lucid dreaming and discourage you from practicing it.
It would be slightly unfair to call people muggles just because they haven't quite discovered lucid dreaming yet, because chances are that they would love the idea if someone mentioned it to them.

As a comparison, Morpheus is a lucid dreamer, and Neo starts out as a muggle.

Ah, good point. Although in Harry Potter terminology muggles are non magic folk, so even if someone isn't against lucid dreaming they could still be considered a muggle since they are not lucid dreamers themselves.

Originally Posted by Mismagius

Ah, good point. Although in Harry Potter terminology muggles are non magic folk, so even if someone isn't against lucid dreaming they could still be considered a muggle since they are not lucid dreamers themselves.

Ah, I see your point.
Well, when I think about it almost everyone who doesn't seem that familiar with lucid dreaming tend to dismiss the subject as quickly as possible, so... yeah. xD

In school, my English teacher gave everyone in the class the opportunity to talk about anything you wanted to for a minute to practice public speaking. So, what did I talk about? Lucid dreaming of course. I went and stood in front of the class of 30+ people, explaining the very basics of LDing, such as being able to do anything you want, yada yada yada etc. The reaction I got from the class was.. nonexistent. I was surprised. No one said ANYTHING. No "wtf"s, no "cool"s, not anything. They just sat there in total silence.

That was a couple months ago and to this day no one has ever brought the subject back up to me. I'm just appalled how some people can literally show no interest in such an amazing thing like lucid dreaming.. Oh well... I guess one of the cool things about lucid dreaming is that its so esoteric, but I hope for a day that humans will be more open minded to more things.

</rant>

Originally Posted by mahoogie

In school, my English teacher gave everyone in the class the opportunity to talk about anything you wanted to for a minute to practice public speaking. So, what did I talk about? Lucid dreaming of course. I went and stood in front of the class of 30+ people, explaining the very basics of LDing, such as being able to do anything you want, yada yada yada etc. The reaction I got from the class was.. nonexistent. I was surprised. No one said ANYTHING. No "wtf"s, no "cool"s, not anything. They just sat there in total silence.

That was a couple months ago and to this day no one has ever brought the subject back up to me. I'm just appalled how some people can literally show no interest in such an amazing thing like lucid dreaming.. Oh well... I guess one of the cool things about lucid dreaming is that its so esoteric, but I hope for a day that humans will be more open minded to more things.

</rant>

I am actually quite ambivalent about this.
I do want to tell other people about it and make it more appreciated and well-known, but at the same time I kind of like how it is such an underground activity that only we seem to know about.
I have always been a sucker for underground and unusual stuff, and I feel like part of the charm about lucid dreaming might be lost if it becomes too mainstream.

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I am actually quite ambivalent about this.
I do want to tell other people about it and make it more appreciated and well-known, but at the same time I kind of like how it is such an underground activity that only we seem to know about.
I have always been a sucker for underground and unusual stuff, and I feel like part of the charm about lucid dreaming might be lost if it becomes too mainstream.

Yeah, same here. Of course, lucid dreaming will still be awesome even if a lot of people know about it; but I love being the only one in, like, probably my whole school who knows about this secret, underground gold mine except for the people whom I've told about it.

Still, I wish most people didn't have such irksome reactions about it when they do hear about it and I wanna get some of my friends in on it. The more the merrier in the circle of friendship!

I've talked to a few friends about it; some seem interested, a lot don't believe it's possible. Nobody has tried to burn me at a stake yet though

I really don't understand why so many people have such problems realizing the potentials of lucid dreaming.
Doesn't everyone occasionally feel extra invigorated after a pleasant dream, and doesn't everyone feel gloomy after a nightmare?
Obviously their dreams affect how they feel in the mornings, and since I am sure most people have experienced occasional lucid dreams, why is it so hard for them to simply combine these two scenarios - realizing you are dreaming and intentionally creating those pleasant experiences?
I mean, purple tigers with 800 legs don't exist, but I can easily imagine one because I understand the concepts "purple", "tiger", "800" and "legs".
Lucid dreams can be broken down into equally intuitive components - "dream" and "self-aware".

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I really don't understand why so many people have such problems realizing the potentials of lucid dreaming.
Doesn't everyone occasionally feel extra invigorated after a pleasant dream, and doesn't everyone feel gloomy after a nightmare?

Actually, I normally feel relieved most of all after I have a nightmare because, upon waking up, I know that what happened in the nightmare is over and not real. But everything else you say is true! I just don't get what people's problem with this stuff is.

Originally Posted by Mismagius

Well I'm a big Harry Potter fan, so I'm fine with that

Harry Potter fans unite!

Originally Posted by AstralVagabond

Actually, I normally feel relieved most of all after I have a nightmare because, upon waking up, I know that what happened in the nightmare is over and not real. But everything else you say is true! I just don't get what people's problem with this stuff is.

I just asked my brother why he wasn't interested in lucid dreaming.

His response: "Just because. It isn't interesting."

Me: "Not at all?"

Him: "Nope."

I never knew he was that boring... Makes me wonder how much he really knows about lucid dreaming. Maybe I'll make a "5 Reasons Why You Should Try Lucid Dreaming" and put it on his desk or something... (Controlling dreams and doing whatever you want, of course, being #1.)

Oh yeah AND my father thinks it's cool, and a couple of my friends.