The Loneliness of Lucid Dreams

[jamous]

This has probably been mentioned in another thread, but not that I've found. That said, I'd like to know how common loneliness in lucid dreams is. Recently, I've noticed how lonely I am in them. Sort of like, "this is amazing, but who cares, if I have nobody to share it with?" Don't get me wrong, it's worth it, but it just sort of adds to the distrubing surrealism of lucid dreaming. A lucid dream at it's fullest is unsettling enough as it is, entering another plane of reality and all, but when you throw in the notion of being completely alone literally "in your own little world," it's rather almost emotionally taxing. I dunno, it just sort of feels fucked up. Unbelievable, but unbelievably fucked up as well.

[westonci]

i dont know about you but I see a lot of my friends, and family in ld's. It depends on the level of control and how long the LD last.

[Abra]

Interactions with others... In a lucid dream, we know they are false. I could let my sister fly, too, but her real self will not reap any enjoyment... That's why I tend to seek out dream characters that bear no resemblance to people I know in real life. That way I can be in my own little world with my own little people, too. It's much easier to continue a dream plot with someone you only know in the dream because it prevents the falsification in real life you'd experience with familiar dream characters.

[MrBeelzy]

I've never thought this way. Lucid dreaming is a personal experience and that is fine with me. When I see people I know in dreams and they do something remarkable I always think of telling them in real life when I can. My close friends are aware of what lucid dreaming is, although they can't achieve it for themselves, so I can share experiences that way.

[Vex Kitten]

Why not try engage yourself in and explore the world you've created instead of focusing on the loneliness you feel. Perhaps more dynamic dream scenes would help you enjoy your lucid dreams. And yeah, I know that's easier said than done but worth a shot.

[jamous]

mr beelzy:I think you've really got the idea, I like that perspective. Why not try engage yourself in and explore the world you've created instead of focusing on the loneliness you feel. Perhaps more dynamic dream scenes would help you enjoy your lucid dreams. And yeah, I know that's easier said than done but worth a shot. I suppose I was being a little dramatic. I DO enjoy my lucid dreams, and do not focus on the loneliness. I just can't help but notice it. It's a very bizarre thing lucid dreaming. and westonci: for me, it is undeniably obvious that the characters in my dreams are NOT true exterior consciouses, and that's the problem. It isn't that I'm literally alone in the dream. and abra: interesting philosophy. I will have to see in future LDs if that helps any, creating more obviously fictional characters.

[Comoquiendice]

This isn't always the case though. I've shared dreams with my grandma. She's great at LD's. I still haven't been able to stay lucid for two long, but I've met up with her in forrests, replicas of my hometowns and on trains. In the dreams, i used to usually assume that she was just a figment of my imagination, but when we had our first shared dream (on a train running through the middle of a jungle) I walked up to her and tapped her shoulder asking "Grandma?" but i couldn't maintain lucidity and i woke up. The next morning she tells me at breakfast that she had a dream and that i was in it. She said she was on a train traveling through El Salvador (in central america--ie Jungle!) and that i came up to her and tapped her on the shoulder--and then just faded away, physically. After that we came up with a code word for when we meet in dreams. Now, this doesn't mean that everytime "she's" in my dreams its my actual conscious grandmother--in fact sometimes thats how i know i dreaming--- but what i'm saying is, i think its possible that we don't have to be alone while lucid. i have no methods for inducing this, sometimes it just happens. But its facsinating when it does.

[GandalfTheBrown]

WOW. That is pretty awesome. I really like this thread, I've gotten a lot of insight from it. As for what Unseen Wombat was saying, about how real life is like a dream in that we are all really alone... I don't think that's quite accurate. In a dream, you are talking to constructs of your own mind, your subconscious. With what Comoquiendice was saying before me, there may be some mind connection going on that we haven't been able to explain yet, who knows. But the bottom line is that dreams are mostly just you, yourself, and you, talking to people you create, people you dream up, literally. So it would follow logically that the dreams would be lonely. No matter how extravagant the dreamscape, or how exciting it may be, it is only you in the dream, and for the purposes of this argument, you might as well be sitting in your bedroom playing with action figures, making them talk to eachother. Hell, you could even talk to them. However, any sort of real, genuine satisfaction that you would get from real interpersonal relationships with other, real people will not be there, since the people in your dreams are really as hollow and empty as a G.I. Joe. A dreamscape is basically an incomplete, subconscious construct of your real, waking life. That's not to say that they are worthless, they're actually very beautiful, and a unique expression of how you view the world, through your own filter, presented solely to you. BUT, to be so sad about your life that you seek escapism in a dream world is... well, sad. Unseen Wombat said, "Maybe this is another way of looking at what the religious people have been saying all along. Life is just a lucid dream. When we die, that’s when we truly wake up and the real reality begins." Have you read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis? It's about a man who dies and goes on a bus to heaven, with some other souls who are coming from hell to visit and see if they like it and want to stay. In the book, Heaven is more real than "real life" (a philosophy that is consistent throughout all of Lewis' books) and much more real than hell. It is described really well, I forget exactly how, but what I do remember I wouldn't be able to do justice, so I'll just leave you with my recommendation.

[Lahan]

To counter act lonely feelings i felt within dreams i usually summoned characters whom I've regarded as personal heroes (draco from the movie dragonheart is the most reaccuring DC). Whenever I would talk to them, though i knew I was essentially talking to a reflection of my inner self, my memory of the character was enough to give the DC enough essence to feel as though as I was talking to someone who wasn't me. When i applied that idea to my own waking life, it made me appreciate being awake and around other people so much more, because i know they are individual people. Of course, then there is the philosophical argument that the real world is not much different than a dream world. I guess basically what i'm trying to say is that, for me, feeling lonely was a choice. If i feel happiness and love when i am around characters, awake or dreaming, then it doesn't matter who i'm around, real or not ^^

[Selmuir]

If you feel alone go talk to somone