Fears of success

[ZenLD]

So while I was meditating today, I realized I had a small fear that surfaced during my practice. Part of me I think is holding me back from my goal to daily lucid dreams and I'm uncertain if others have similar fears, but maybe you had similar feels before and have some good advice or pep talk to help settle this lil fear. Fears of success regarding LD First there's the novelty of regular non lucid dreams. They are pretty cool sometimes and the plot and story are like a interesting first person movie. There's usually lessons involved in the dreams and I'm afraid of losing the novelty of the randomness and random life lessons in them. But maybe it's unfounded since you could get clearer stories or messages in lucids where you can ask DCs questions instead of trying to figure out obscure metaphors in non lucid. Other one is lucid nightmares. I had a couple, a few involving being trapped (although I think i recognized the childhood event that may have caused this and it stopped happening) and one where a DC is drowning me. While these kind of things can happen in nonld, it's much more terrifying when you are aware and things are crystal clear. Maybe I oughta face my fears regarding it, however I'm hearing stories of Ld nightmares persisting even in experienced lucid dreamers. Thoughts?

[lenscaper]

I'm pretty new at this so take my thoughts with that in mind........ I have found early on that I am achieving a degree of lucidity in my non-lucid dreams and that has eased me toward the fearless goal of sustained complete lucidity. I embrace the process and I really like watching those plots unfold around me with the passive but clear knowledge that I am dreaming. I have also found that the negative events (nightmare scenes) that I have experienced since I began this journey have snapped me into lucidity and complete control of the scene.....so I now look forward to them if they want to come along.

[ZenLD]

Those are some excellent points lenscaper I had also gotten the increased lucidity or control in non lucid s and forgotten how it dramatically reduced the amount of bad nightmares I had. There's a less of a running away but more of moving towards something now. I also had a nightmare recently where the main villain of it asked "is this the full power of a lucid dreamer?" and that snapped me into lucidity. Quickly I decided to nuke the whole scene with suddenly realized powers and that woke me up however

[TravisE]

First there's the novelty of regular non lucid dreams. They are pretty cool sometimes and the plot and story are like a interesting first person movie. There's usually lessons involved in the dreams and I'm afraid of losing the novelty of the randomness and random life lessons in them. But maybe it's unfounded since you could get clearer stories or messages in lucids where you can ask DCs questions instead of trying to figure out obscure metaphors in non lucid. I see no reason one can't continue to have randomness when lucid. It's just a matter of what you decide to do. I've seen many people here say they prefer to let their dreams play out unaltered even while they are lucid because they find it more enjoyable than just controlling everything like a god. When you're lucid it's entirely up to you whether, and to what extent, you interact with or manipulate the dream content. Other one is lucid nightmares. I had a couple, a few involving being trapped (although I think i recognized the childhood event that may have caused this and it stopped happening) and one where a DC is drowning me. While these kind of things can happen in nonld, it's much more terrifying when you are aware and things are crystal clear. Maybe I oughta face my fears regarding it, however I'm hearing stories of Ld nightmares persisting even in experienced lucid dreamers. When your lucidity (a.k.a. self awareness) is at a strong enough level, it shouldn't really be possible for dreams to be scary at all, I think, because you recognize everything you experience as merely a set of mental constructs. If lucidity is weak in a particular dream things might be scary, but if you fully understand what is taking place it shouldn't. Then again, I personally can't recall ever having had anything I would call a “lucid nightmare”, so maybe I'm just an oddball. But my experience is pretty much that if I realize I'm dreaming in a dream, nothing can be any more scary than something I might happen to see in a movie or read in a book. I've had a few unusual lucid experiences (especially in what appeared to be NREM sleep rather than the usual REM dreams most are familiar with) where strong emotions of fear existed, but when lucid I was still able to recognize that the feelings were merely a part of the dream along with whatever dream imagery (if any) was present, and this recognition allowed me to “separate” myself from the feelings in a sense and just observe them with the same interest and fascination as with all other types of dreams.

[lenscaper]

I've seen many people here say they prefer to let their dreams play out unaltered even while they are lucid because they find it more enjoyable than just controlling everything like a god. When you're lucid it's entirely up to you whether, and to what extent, you interact with or manipulate the dream content. I have been wondering about that aspect. I enjoy seeing what my subconscious brings up while I am lucid. I am finding insight in those seemingly random scenarios. I had wondered if others also enjoyed that kind of lucidity.

[acillis]

i read in *some* book years ago that its a good idea to not control all dreams or being lucid in all dreams. that its a good idea to have free dreaming every now and then. to let the subconscious do its own thing every now and then. free dreaming

[lenscaper]

free dreaming I like that term. It is what I tend to do a lot. I really enjoy being absolutely lucid but just letting my subconscious handle the plot line. I think there are lessons there for us.

[ZenLD]

Thanks guys I feel like that I'm getting over this.