It's awesome the first thousand or so times, then it just becomes another drug. Which is still awesome... it just loses its excitement, or something.
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It's awesome the first thousand or so times, then it just becomes another drug. Which is still awesome... it just loses its excitement, or something.
Yes.
IME, lucidity is always good...kind of like what some people say about sex and pizza - even bad lucidity is still pretty good. A few minutes of awareness could be the only thing I recall from a dream, or just enough to get me out of harm's way in a nightmare.
Personally, I don't believe dreams are messages from the subconscious at all. I think they're random. But even if you do become lucid, your "subconscious" will still be doing most of the work, filling in most of the blanks and providing its own pace and scenery in the areas in which you're not actively trying to change the dream. (And heck, sometimes it can outright thwart your attempts to change the dream. I've had lucid dreams where I've tried to fly but I couldn't. So I settled for something else.) Your sphere of control in a lucid dream is probably rather small. You can make yourself fly or get out of a pickle, but you can't dictate every moment of every dream scene. At least, not at the level of aptitude I've reached from my on-and-off experience.
In fact, your "subconscious" does most of the work in your waking perception, too. You actually see a lot of things that aren't there, and fail to see a lot of things that are there, in your waking life. Not to mention that there's some arbitrariness to the assignment of the particular sensation of "red" and "blue," for instance - we don't have to see these colors the way they do. The way we see them is the whim of the human nervous system.
Meh. I doubt dreams are random. Nothing is truly random when it comes to life. For whatever reason, they seem to reflect our stresses, desires, or subconscious thought (as in, something that you weren't aware you were thinking of earlier in the day). As for 'messages.' The origin of the dream's theme should be obvious to the dreamer.
Messing with messages? Nah. Lucid dreaming has enabled me to explore past my normal, mundane dream scene (work, home, friends) and into a unique planet all my own. I think it gives my subconscious a fool-proof form of imaginative expression. As for whatever biotic function pure dreaming provides: even experts can't lucid dream all of the time. Even then, they don't have complete control.
As mentioned, the prerequisite of recall allows you to interpret the origins of your dreams. Lucid dreaming, for so many reasons, is in no way harmful.
Lucidity is THAT good. I've done a plethora of drugs, and LDs top all, always, even if they suck.
Everyone has probably said this but... yes. Lucidity really IS that good.:D
OK, everyone calmer now? I thought I'd step into the ring and put forth my two cents worth. BTW, some of the behavior in this thread has been noticed and discussed in the staff forum.
Dreams are such strange things. I'll let you in on a secret. NOBODY KNOWS EXACTLY WHY WE DREAM. That said, although we don't know all there is about it, we DO know a good many uses of dreams.
I've been studying sleep and dreams most of my 46 years on this earth, here are a few things I've learned:
Dreams DO carry messages from your subconcious.
Dreams help you sort out things you have learned and experiences you have had during the day.
Dreams are probably not messages from aliens.
You should not try to control all of your lucid dreams, instead, reserve at least half of them and just go with the flow. You can learn a lot more from your subconcious if you do so.
Lucid Dreaming is probably one of the most amazing things I have ever learned. It is a vehicle for exploration, knowledge, fun, and fantasy.
Lucid dreaming experience should not be compared with those that are chemically induced. A lucid deam is much closer to visions than trips.
In the end, it's all about balance. So, Please dream non lucidly, dream lucidly without control, and dream lucidly with control. Doing these three things will help keep you mentally healthy and happy! :D