Thread: emberassed that I told my family

I know that there are already a bunch of threads like this but I just feel like saying it so oh well. I've already tried telling my dad about lucid dreaming once and he just thought it was total BS. Then I mentioned something about it today and he heard me and started talking about it, and because he was seemingly open-minded about it at the moment I just started going on and on about it, telling him practically everything. And the whole time he was just laughing and saying "okay okay I believe you" but it didnt sound convincing. I kept explaining trying to get him to understand but I guess I was digging myself a bigger hole and now I feel really emberassed about it. He keeps saying that it's just a vivid dream and it's only a theory made by a scientist who wanted to make a name for himself. He just wont believe me. Why do people think it's so weird? it's not that hard to understand!

lol- ah yes, those magical scientists are at it again with their craazy theories. I know what you mean, it's not really that hard to comprehend the concept of lucid dreaming. Don't feel embaressed though, it's not your fault he isn't interested. Just keep it to yourself until you find someone who you know will find lucid dreaming interesting. The way I explain it to people is "becoming conscious within your dreams- it'd be like me telling you now that you are dreaming".

Peace, good luck.

Well, it's his loss, really. That's what I'd tell him.

Some people just have a hard time imagining that anything interesting in life might be possible.

Ah well, that's why you have a community like Dreamviews - to share your interest in lucid dreaming freely. I don't really talk about it to my family either, because although it would be neat if they were into it, in the end I just want to deepen my own experience and skill in LDing so I don't really care if they believe in it or not.

Some people just don't choose their words properly when explaining lucid dreaming. All you have to do is say, "Sometimes when I'm dreaming, I'll see something really bizarre, and after wondering about it for a while, I'll finally realize that I'm actually dreaming. Have you ever had an experience like that?"

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

Some people just don't choose their words properly when explaining lucid dreaming. All you have to do is say, "Sometimes when I'm dreaming, I'll see something really bizarre, and after wondering about it for a while, I'll finally realize that I'm actually dreaming. Have you ever had an experience like that?"

Well he heard me say the words "lucid dreaming" to my friend, and he asked what it was. So I said
"it's when you realize that you're dreaming and can control what you do." he asked why I would want to do that and I said
"Because you can do what you want with the dream and it feels like you're awake." So he laughed and said stuff like
"sure... okay. So how would you even know that you're dreaming if you feel like you're awake then?" and I told him about reality checks. I said absolutely nothing about the internet and mentioned that I've done it before, so it's not that he thinks I just got over-excited about an ad. And the way I said it didn't sound like voodoo/magic, it just sounded like... well...dreaming, but in a different way. Where do you suppose I went wrong with that? My dad usually seems so interested in psychological things like that.

But for some reason afterward he said "well if I could lucid dream I would probably do something like talk to animals" as if he was interested, but still didn't believe me.

I dont know what's worse though, someone like my dad who thinks it's too weird to be true or someone like my sister who doesn't understand that a lucid dream is better than any normal dream and wonders why in the world I would want to do something like that.

Heh. My Dad told me to get a life, yelled at me, and told me to "cut that shit out." My family gawks at me now, and some people have gotten the suspicion that I am getting into witchcraft or something. (Which totally isn't true !)

I think you've got it lucky.

My mother thinks the whole concept of lucid dreaming is rubbish.

Thankfully both of my parents are very open to the idea of lucid-dreaming, and my mom has even had a few of her own. However, being in college, I am surrounded with my friends/peers rather than my family, and although some have thought the idea of it interesting, none seem to take it seriously.

You should tell your dad about how it's been scientifically proven when they had the guy move his eyes in a pattern every 10 seconds while dreaming. People usually believe things if Science is involved lol.

When you tell someone about it, they imagine that you are falling for an advertisement and you're overly excited about it. Just ease it into them. Don't talk about it like it's something you read online, but something you discovered on your own. I've mentioned it to my family, they don't really mind, they think it's just a little hobby that I've acquired.

omg! i totally feel you there. i tried telling my boyfriend. he openly laughed and said, "rachel, thats sleepwalking." and then i tried to explain what it was. now eveeytime he sees me he makes fun of my lucid dreaming. he thinks im making it up and i dont know what im talking about (if i were making it up, why are there so many people just on one site talking about it...?)

hun just come here and let it all out. we're gonna be excited for you here!!!!!!!!! if the people in ur outside world dont appreciate LDing, you know you have this site. just keep it up and dont ever think lucid dreaming is stupid or anthin.

Originally Posted by drmrgrl

(if i were making it up, why are there so many people just on one site talking about it...?)

Honey that's about the farthest thing from a useful statement in support of lucid dreaming there could possibly be. Just warning you not to accidentally use it when explaining LDing to someone.

Like I said before, I really think that the only problem is our choice of words when we try to explain this stuff. We have to be careful. Otherwise, people automatically put up a bunch of barriers to the idea because it's easy to make it sound like some sort of religious cult or voodoo magick or... I dunno, psychedelic drug hallucinations... I don't blame them, really.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

when explaining LDing to someone.

hahaha thats funny. i got so sick of trying to tell people what it was and then getting stupid responses and shit that i finally said "omg. just look it up and then come talk to me"

Originally Posted by lagunagirl

it's just a vivid dream

But, his saying that to disprove it doesn't make logical sense! Yes it's a vivid dream, vivid enough for you to know you're dreaming! He just shot himself in the foot

My brain is hurting now

I have a feeling that if I'd tell my family, they'd laugh behind my back...

People are having a hard time to believe in odd things.

I think the main problem is getting someone to actually listen. It seems that your father didn't listen, or think about what you said. The concept of Lucidity is very very simple. Saying that it's just a vivid dream only shows that he formed his opinion the second you mentioned Dreaming, probably because he wasn't interested. If you really wanted, you could convince him, but it depends if he's willing to listen. In the end, LDing was proven by Laberge, and the "theory" has existed for hundreds or thousands of years in buddhism, and different tribes around the world.

I just told a friend via MSN after an awesome WILD I just had.
He just kept sending me emoticons like this:
I think he thinks I'm weird now. Bleh, whatever.

I think lucid dreaming is definitely one of those things that you just can't appreciate until it's happened to you. It's no reflection on your ability to explain, and no reflection (necessarily) on their open- or closed-mindedness. Try explaining the taste of chocolate, the love of God, sex, or an amazing song, to someone who hasn't experienced it themselves, and they just won't get it, you couldn't possibly make them understand.

I had my first LD when I was a child, and it was amazing beyond description! I think if someone else was trying to explain it to me, and I had not experienced it myself, my reaction would have probably been, "Whatever." I mean, it might sound interesting to me, but unless you've experienced it for yourself, it's going to go right over your head like whenever someone explains anything that's interesting to them.

I ordered Stephen LaBerge's book "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming", and then read it myself, and left it in the bathroom for them to read, and eventually my Mom and Dad both picked it up and read it and were interested in it.

Thats the best way I think. Let them figure it out on there own afterwards.

My mom and dad both were into the idea of it, and my dad tried the MILD technique even because he was interested in it enough. My mom wasn't so much interested in it to the point where she would purposely try for them, but she's like me in the sense that she's interested in dreaming, and she's even had a few of them herself. So she doesn't discount it, but she doesn't actively try for Lucids. My Brother is the one who's hardest to convince. He knows about it, but doesn't care to hear about it or try to have them, because he says "Its just a dream.", and no matter how I explain it to him, he just shrugs it off as being a dream and so doesn't care.

Anyway, the best bet, would be to get some Lucid Dreaming material, and leave it where you know they'll read it (the bathroom like I did for example), and maybe they'll get into it more often and understand it better.

Wow, I never even thought Lucid dreaming could garner such a negative response. I feel really lucky now, all the friends I've told about it have been completely accepting. One even managed to have a few lucid dreams of her own. I don't think I've ever talked to my parents about it. Hmm, I should try, they're doctors, and lucid dreams are sort of related to medical science, I guess.

This certainly deters my desire to tell someone I know about my quest for lucidity. I told my friend about lucid dreaming but failed to mention (intentionally) that I was going out of my way to try and develop this skill. All in all he seemed rather nonplussed and I was like don't you think that's awesome? All he said was "I don't remember my dreams." and I said you could if you started a DJ. End of conversation. Some people just don't get the awesome potential of LDs. I rarely remembered my dreams before I started my DJ but that didn't stop me.

I can't believe people keep running into that problem. I don't see how people in their right minds could think lucid dreaming is not possible, and it is really crazy to think it is some kind of superstition voodoo hocus pocus stuff. Any time you run into somebody who is not only going to assume that lucid dreaming is impossible but also that you are a liar, I think there is a way to get that person to either admit what you are saying or else sound like a complete moron. Ask him/her if it is possible to dream that you are running. Then ask if it is possible to dream that you are flying. Ask if it is possible to dream that you are invisible and teleporting to other universes. Next ask if it is possible to dream that you are juggling bicycles with elephants on them while surfing down a volcano. Then.... ask if it is possible to dream that you are dreaming. Keep asking for a yes or no answer.

"Yes": That means you made the person understand.

"No.": That means you made the person understand and feel the need to lie about it.

Refusal to give a yes or no answer: That means you made the person understand and feel the need to lie about it and feel the need to dodge the question.

If it is somebody who thinks you are a Salem witch for lucid dreaming, ask the paranoid individual why dreaming about dreaming is witchcraft type stuff but dreaming that you are juggling bicycles with elephants on them is not.

I study psychology for my A Levels and one topic was sleep and dreaming, which I did very well in, no suprise. Two years of LDs and Dreamviews helped. Anyway, at one point we were learning about studies into the existance of lucid dreams. On psychologist trained himself to be able to achieve lucidity. He created a system of communication based entirely off blinking, which he could do while dreaming.

In the experiment, when he went into a lucid dream (which was shown by a change in brian patterns read by a brain scanner) , his colleagues communicated to him with the blinking system. This among psychologists is a very strong study and solid evidence that lucidity does exist.


I don't get why some people find it so hard to believe. After all, it is all in your head. Nothing really unbeliveable about it. People believe in much more... unlikely things. Gods and whatnot. Compared to the existance of an all-powerful being who created the universe, what is so hard to believe about a dream with your own awareness?

I tell my family nothing of lucid dreaming or of my dream journal because I know they would think it's complete BS.