Lucid Dreaming as Escapism

Frankly, my life right now is not good. I am in my last year of law school, with no desire to practice law and (more importantly) no job. Although I'm in the best shape of my life, I am lonely and losing hope. I drink too much and too often.

Basically, sad as it is, my dreams are the best part of my day, and I have thrown myself into developing LDing skills. I'm afraid that my motivation (a desire to find a life better than my real one) may not be healthy. Any thoughts? Should I not attempt to develop my Lding while my RL is in such turmoil?

I feel ya, man. :? Are you in the States? Trying to find a job is insane these days. Which is why I temporarily escaped to South Korea, heh.

Well the thing about LDing is that many times it can be a fantastic way to help work out your RL problems. You can probably improve yourself mentally a great deal from some good LDs.

Stephen LaBerge talks about this in more detail in his book EtWoLD, so I'd suggest reading it if you haven't already.

That's rough. I feel for you CT. However you are not alone. Many people find they don't want to work in the field of their degree (this happened to me and I ended up completing a second degree to do what I really wanted to do). You don't have to practice law for the rest of your life. You could do it for a while and then do something else. You never know what doors are going to open. Or, you may end up finding an area of law you enjoy.

I don't think you should worry about LDing being an escapism. I'd be thankful for having it. It's wonderful and yet so few people know about it! Just make sure to keep balance in your life. Physical activity is always a good remedy for the blues. Endorphins are released when you exercise and these make you feel good mentally. You could take up some form of partner dancing for example.

Someone posted some dancing bananas once when I was a bit down and they cheered me up so here's some for you (doncha just love how happy they are!)

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:

Take care
DQ

That reminds me, I know of a guy who worked as a lawyer for years and then quit to teach English in Korea and LOVES it. I agree with DreamQueen that you don't have to practice law forever. My degree is in Economics and I'm certainly not going to be an economist.

Thank you all for the responses; I appreciate the sense of community I get here. Funny thing is, I was on these forums, browsing, during my first ever law school class two and a half years ago. Diff. name and all, but those were good times. I love Dreamviews.

this would make a good story for a book for a movie. someone who escapes the harsh reality in lucid dreaming where they are actually free.

but really i hope things work out for you..

I find that the community here is really great. Everyone is really nice and supportive.

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Originally Posted by lucidspark64

this would make a good story for a book for a movie. someone who escapes the harsh reality in lucid dreaming where they are actually free.

but really i hope things work out for you..

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I'm actually working on a movie script with that premise, using my dream journal as script-fodder!

It's late so I can't write as much on this topic as I'd like, but here's a big lesson we learn from lucid dreaming: We have much more control over reality than we think. Reality is affected by our perceptions, which are affected by our emotions and expectations. Change how you feel and think, life changes accordingly.

I would discourage you against escapism, because your happiness will become dependent on the escape activities. You don't want that, because there will be times when you don't have cash for alcohol, or go through a dry spell without LDs.

I would suggest that you channel your energy into creative outlets. I'm not discouraging you from LDing, but don't think of your LDs as an escape from the real world, think of them as a medium for self expression. If you don't have the control to use your dream environment like that yet, try something more common in the meantime, like drawing, writing, or improvising with a musical instrument.

Finally, start meditating. Just something as simple as spending 15 minutes each day sitting with good posture, focusing all your attention on breathing with your stomach, and repeatedly counting your exhales up to four. Meditation will improve all aspects of your life quickly and easily, so I really hope you'll dedicate yourself to it and experience the positive changes firsthand. Good luck!

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this would make a good story for a book for a movie. someone who escapes the harsh reality in lucid dreaming where they are actually free.

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Watch The Good Night.

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Originally Posted by Mertruve

Watch The Good Night.

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Never heard of this, any info?

Sorry to hear about your situation my friend. Life isn't too chipper for me either and I would like to escape right now at this very moment and LD.

Escapism... this was partially my motivation and still is. I recommend if you are seriously feeling down that you focus on alleviating the causes of your depression. Once you are in a little bit of a better mindframe, then I highly recommend learning to lucid dream. But learning it while severely depressed can be frustrating and disheartening, and make that depression worse. Sometimes it would hurt more than it would help.

If you'd like me to elaborate I can, but I think you get the point. I'd give it some time. Keep a DJ and play with dream signs, but do not dedicate a lot of time and effort until you have sorted your life out a bit.

My .02