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

Originally Posted by Oakoi

I have three solid friends who are actively practicing it right now. It's nice to be able to converse face to face and having that support, most definitely.

Oh, definitely nice to have real life friends who also practise lucid dreaming. I found out yesterday that a friend of mine lucid dreams, so we had a really long conversation about it yesterday!

Originally Posted by Oakoi

This has been my experience with being a an open book about it.

lol I actually started a youtube channel of my journey. It's going to mainly consist my dream journal entries. I told most friends/people on my facebook that at one
point i have most likely dreamt of them. I asked if they would like to be tagged,notified, have a code name etc.. 90% Said they would like to be linked to the video(s) once done.

That's a really cool way to keep track of your dreams! Good that you would notify your friends on Facebook too.

AHA! I just got someone to try to TELL ME about Lucid dreaming after i subtly brought up sleep paraysis

Very interesting topic. I don't tell anyone except for my best friends and my girlfriend. I also make videos about lucid dreaming, and don't want anyone from my school to see those videos.

I talk about lucid dreaming pretty openly, but people's responses vary.

My mum thought I was hallucinating and was worried about it at first, but she's grown more comfortable with it over the years, especially since she's seen me teach other 'normal' people to lucid dream in that time.

My brother didn't care at all, until he had a lucid dream himself. Then HE came to ME to talk about it, and said, "Now I understand why you're so interested in it!"

Some friends have told me straight out that they think it's bullshit and they don't believe in lucid dreaming. I don't really care whether people 'believe' in it or not, but I feel a little bit uncomfortable in those situations, because it means that they think I've been lying about my experiences all this time.

Most people find it interesting though, and some are keen to learn themselves.

Topics I don't talk about with most people are the more supernatural ideas, like shared dreaming, astral projection, etc.
I think it's important not to lump them in with regular lucid dreaming, because people are sceptical enough as it is.

I'm willing to share the knowledge with those who are interested or want help, but I try not to impose it onto others and I try to avoid sounding like a pretentious prick while talking about it. I know how to hide my powerlevel. I'll usually keep it simple if I discuss it with others, because few of my friends are aware of the mechanics of LDs or even dreams in general.

Lol I'm waiting for the day when I catch someone doing a RC in public.
I'll calling them out xD

I guess one reason why lots of people are uncomfortable about lucid dreaming is because they sound a lot like an LSD trip.
In fact, I have heard some lucid dreamers getting those reactions from people, like "dude, are you on acid?".

I don't want to keep my lucid dreaming a secret. My hope is to find other perspective lucid dreamers or experienced lucid dreamers that I can converse with daily. As for people thinking I'm weird, I told my girlfriend about it and she is pretty spiritual so she was very interested.
Congrats on your first lucid dream!

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I guess one reason why lots of people are uncomfortable about lucid dreaming is because they sound a lot like an LSD trip.
In fact, I have heard some lucid dreamers getting those reactions from people, like "dude, are you on acid?".

Why.

Why do people act like this.

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I guess one reason why lots of people are uncomfortable about lucid dreaming is because they sound a lot like an LSD trip.
In fact, I have heard some lucid dreamers getting those reactions from people, like "dude, are you on acid?".

It's a shame just how close-minded some people can be. We all dream, for God's sake! It's just that some of us take greater profit of it. I think people have a problem of either ignorance or jealousy. They either know nothing about sleep and dreams and just sleep through it all without a care, or they secretly believe it sounds cool and "hate" you because they are too lazy to try themselves and so will never be able to experience it.

When I first came across the whole lucid dreaming thing, I was so curious I started gathering information about it right away and couldn't wait to get started myself. It's hard for me to understand how some people can react in certain ways.

Originally Posted by martakartus

It's a shame just how close-minded some people can be. We all dream, for God's sake! It's just that some of us take greater profit of it. I think people have a problem of either ignorance or jealousy. They either know nothing about sleep and dreams and just sleep through it all without a care, or they secretly believe it sounds cool and "hate" you because they are too lazy to try themselves and so will never be able to experience it.

When I first came across the whole lucid dreaming thing, I was so curious I started gathering information about it right away and couldn't wait to get started myself. It's hard for me to understand how some people can react in certain ways.

I agree completely.
I think one reason for these kinds of reactions is also that people are so used to thinking of the physical world as "all that exists" - and when someone mentions lucid dreams, which practically sound like other worlds - then people find this absurd and react like "what? no!".

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I agree completely.
I think one reason for these kinds of reactions is also that people are so used to thinking of the physical world as "all that exists" - and when someone mentions lucid dreams, which practically sound like other worlds - then people find this absurd and react like "what? no!".

... But that's so irrational!

Ah, well. Too bad for them! More for us, I guess! (However that works...)

I tried telling my friends 2 years ago in 8th grade, but they just laughed at me. A little while ago while I was waiting for the bus, a friend of mine brought up lucid dreaming or something like that and they said that they were trying to have lucid dreams and we talked about it for a bit, but he doesn't really talk about it.

I think one of the reasons why lucid dreaming is not more widely spread is because it's something that requires daily practice during months and years, and the vast majority of people are just not willing to do it. Those of us who are determined to work for it, though, see the endless possibilities this offers us in the long run. I am not very experienced yet and I look forward to having more lucids more often, but thinking of what I'll be able to do in the future is motivation enough for me to keep at it. But I have to admit I'd love to know someone personally I could share it with, it would make it much more fun. It's a shame the people around me don't care much about it.

Originally Posted by martakartus

I think one of the reasons why lucid dreaming is not more widely spread is because it's something that requires daily practice during months and years, and the vast majority of people are just not willing to do it. Those of us who are determined to work for it, though, see the endless possibilities this offers us in the long run. I am not very experienced yet and I look forward to having more lucids more often, but thinking of what I'll be able to do in the future is motivation enough for me to keep at it. But I have to admit I'd love to know someone personally I could share it with, it would make it much more fun. It's a shame the people around me don't care much about it.

Actually, I've only been practicing (at least an active interest in) lucid dreaming since earlier this year - but I first found out about and did some research on it back in 2012. The reason for this is that, though I thought it was really neat and saw the potential value of it when I first heard about cultivating the practice, I didn't have enough motivation to actually get to practicing all the techniques required/recommended for it.

I still have problems with motivation so I haven't made as much progress as I could have now - but it was all in the decision. On the other hand, some people don't seem to show any interest in even considering it. Though you're right - maybe some people are just jealous of those who can put in the effort...

I've also been really working for it only for the last few months, but seems like you've had more success than me though I don't have trouble with my motivation now. I guess motivation comes and goes every now and then, but it's easier for me to keep motivated since these last weeks I've shown clear signs of improvement.

Now I'd like to find someone in my surroundings I could teach things to (they say teaching is a good way to get better yourself), but of course I'm scared of what some people's reactions towards the whole thing can be. Is there a way to present the subject to someone so they feel curious and don't think you're crazy right away?

i dont tell anyone but my friend knows cuz hes into it too. i dont tell anyone because people like to associate it with "hurrr have lucid dream to bang hot gurlzzz!!!" and i dont even feel like trying to explain to them f that business

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I actually told my mother about lucid dreaming today, and I showed her this image and explained it.
It felt like a good time to do that, because she has been talking about her dreams three days in a row now, and she has also studied sleep and dreaming, so she seemed open to the subject.

Her reaction when I said that the counting test had been carried out during a dream was something like "Im not sure I understand" followed by a puzzled look, but then I think she understood what I meant and she was like "ah, alright", but she wasn't particularly interested in talking about it.
I also reminded her that she had actually said herself that she once had a dream where she told herself that she was dreaming, and that it was like that.

I guess this whole thing means that she knows that lucid dreaming exists, but doesn't fully realize the potentials they offer.
Maybe she believes that lucid dreams cannot be controlled in a practical way.

So how is the progress coming along with your mom? My mom is also interested but she is not very motivated to write down her dreams every morning. I told her to try recording them and she is going to try.

Originally Posted by TwitchLucidity

My family thinks its interesting, but to be honest they don't care.

Im the same way, actually when I told my parents about me trying to induce lucid dreams (before I ever had 1) my dad tried to tell me it was a waist of time and not possible. I told him!

It seems like many people report getting strange reactions where they share lucid dreaming stories; I on the other hand was surprised with many "been there-done that" type of answers! I asked my family if they've heard of lucid dreaming, and the reply was "yeah, every night." Asked co-workers, and they had countless lucid stories of their own! I was pleasantly surprised with how simple it was and how knowledgeable they were. Even if you get a few head shakes, the chance of finding out a person you've known for years is keeping it secret also is well worth it. Now I can keep lucidity on my mind all day at work with discussions strengthening my future dreams! It's more common knowledge than I thought. Here I thought I stumbled upon a valuable secret but in reality I was chasing the bandwagon!
-Rudy