Where have I gone wrong?!

hello all,
im a newbie to this site, and i guess a newbie in general.
ive always had what i suppose now is a gift with dream imagery and recall, for instance, i can recall dreams i had years ago, (even one or two when i was 8 yrs old, even one when i was 5!)
Anyway, when one of my closest friends opened my mind to the theory of lucid dreaming, i was fascinated. nothing had ever made more sense to me. i immediately fired up the net and read a bit about it, and within days i was writing down 2 or 3 dreams a night, with great vigor. in about 4 weeks i had my first lucid dream, and concurrently with my personality i guess, i was very calm in the state and felt very natural in it.
Now, that was July last year, im a uni student, and in August i got my first job as a video store clerk. Since then, i have had so much less time to my own thoughts, and have had less dreams written down in my journal than in those first two months alone.
my friend that i had this to share with lacked dedication, and is too drawn up in the supericiality he sees in the waking world around him alone.

however much i love my job (and i do!) I feel it has been rather detrimental to the world that only recently opened up for me. i still dream vividly, and recall 1 or 2 a night on average (only a week ago i had an afternoon nap and had 3 lucid dreams, then awoke one after the other, just went back to sleep and straight back in!) and write one down every now and then.
The thing is i am now so exhausted when i wake from dreams, because i get a lot less sleep, that I fall asleep thinking 'I should write this down...'

lucid dreaming has opened up so many possibilities to me, so many ideas and thoughts that run through me in the waking world are jstified by all those experiences. i would hate to forget and become close-minded to it all by getting too caught up in the clockwork life that so many people solely exist in.
is it just a motivation factor? do i need someone to talk to about it all (because i dont have anyone like that.)?
what other advice can you throw my way to wake me up to myself? so to speak...

Welcome to the forums!

To attempt to answer your questions:
LD'ing seems to fit in fine with my schedule. Sometimes (when I wake up during dreams) I'll feel really messed up, But other times I'm fine.

Welcome dude!!! :sunflower:

Have you looked through the tutorials yet?

Hi. :-P

First of all welcome to the forums!

On your first comment. Yes, people do remember dreams from long ago, especially ones from their childhood. Many remember powerful nightmares, or very vivid dreams that impacted their subconscious a great deal. These impressions are nice to recall sometimes.

Second I believe that lucid dream IS the mechanism from which you can take a break from a monotonous society. It IS a way in which you can live out your fantasies, control your desires, and lighten up and just have some fun.

I think you found the right place here. Lucid dreaming is really a great activity that should never be given up on. Talk to us and we’ll help you keep your motivation.

To keep your motivation try out something new every time. Flying and exploring the vastness of the dreamworld is just two of the extraordinarily fascinating activities you can pursue in your sleep.

Good luck. :-P