Newb lookin for tips

[Stryke]

Hello all, i just joined this forum about 2 weeks ago and im liking all the info every1 has to share. Anywhoo im just gonna dive right in to where i am dream wise, and Im not sure what the technical terms are for some things so bare with me please So after startin a dream journal about 2 months ago i have reached the point where i pretty much have 100% dream recall, maybe not quite 100% but it is pretty much every night, most nights its multiple dreams. i didnt origionally start a dream journal in hopes of attaining lucidity, or to even change my dream experience at all. i was just interested in documenting my dreams, nothing more. but after attaining decent recall, lucidity came on its own i have come to the point where i am quite often aware of the fact that i am dreaming, i believe thats is what lucid dreaming is right? but i am not yet able to control the world around me. On 2 separate occasions i have been WELL aware that i was in fact dreaming, so aware that i was trying to explain to the people around me that this world wasnt real and that it was all a dream, but no1 believed me. when i woke from this dream i couldnt stop thinking about it. How could the other characters be unaware of the fact that it was a dream if they were all just projections of my own consciousness? the dream looked and felt so vivid that it may as well have been the real world. since it was so vivid and no1 else believed it was a dream i began to dwell on the idea that i might be dreaming when im really not. in the middle of the day at some random time the thought "this might all just b a dream" would pop into my head. it was then that i began doing research and found this website. i learned about dream signs and such, i began doing reality checks like finger thru the hand and pluging my nose. they seem to work, sometims the thought if being in a dream still lingers in the back of my mind, i think "ok my finger didnt go thru my hand, so wut, i still might be dreaming". but i feel im pretty reasonable about pushing those thoughts out of my mind and moving along with my day. Now my goal is to attain complete 100% lucidity, and become capable of manipulating the world around me however i wish. My hope is that having such abilities in my dream will make it impossible to question reality, since i wont be able to control anything in reality. i am currently trying 2 techniques to improve my lucidity which seem to easily trigger my lucidity but have not yet IMPROVED it. The first thing i tried was focusing on a picture next to my bed for a long time. I have used meditation and deep prayer to improve my quality of life for many years now so i am quite sure i am focusing on the picture with the correct state of mind. But my idea is that i will ONLY look at this picture as i lay in bed just before i go to sleep, so if i encounter the character in the picture or simply see it anywhere other than my bed my mind will instantly think "wait ur not supposed to b here, ur only in my room. i think im dreaming" the second technique is very similar to the first, only with music instead of a picture. i chose a calm soothing song but it has a very distinct and recogniseable melody. i ONLY listen to it in bed and i have it on repeat so it plays thru the whole night. So as the same idea with the picture, if i hear the music at any point and im not laying in bed, the wheels in my mind start turning and i become aware that i am dreaming soon after. the picture and the song have only worked 5 times (song twice pic 3 times) in 17 nights of attempt. ok i kinda wrote more that i originally planned but that pretty much my story. If any1 has any tips for me or simply wishes to discuss their dream life experiences im very interested in your input.

[Stryke]

also... if this post belongs somewhere else please let me kno. thanx

[changed]

Welcome Stryke. Both of those methods are great ideas. Good luck with your dreams.