Not quite "Never remember my dreams"
As a child, I had intense lucid and semi-lucid dreams. At the age of seven or more, I remember being aware in a dream that I needed to go to the toilet and that I should wake up to do so. However, I somehow decided that the alternative dream toilet would do the job perfectly. Oooops.
Since adulthood, I've been one of those people who used to say "I don't dream". Technically, I knew this wasn't true, that all humans dream. But I never recalled them, so it might as well have been true.
I've come to realize that I do dream a lot and that I usually remember my dreams first thing in the morning, although I almost always forget them later. I've found that when I remember a dream in the morning, it's still like a memory of a film. By breakfast, I remember it like still images in a holiday album.
I also notice that on the verge of falling asleep, at any time, I have what I have just learned is called 'hypnagogic imagery": that is, a movie-like run of images and impressions of people and events real and imaginary - and often very weird. It's a bit like an opium dream, it seems to happen whether or not I pay attention to it. If I don't, well, it's like sleeping through the film.
For the past few days, I've tried to keep a dream journal. One of the biggest challenges is making myself sit up, turn on the light, and write, rather than just lying in bed. Everyday so far, I've waited too long for the memory to be really fresh. Still, I hope to persist and to overcome this challenge.
I've also read LaBerg's book: fascinating. It's interesting that he insists that everyone can learn to dream lucidly. When I look at this and other forums, I see many people, even motivated people with good recall, don't make great progress. I don't know whether I'll be like that. To be honest, at the moment, recalling dreams clearly seems to be a valid goal in itself. If I find that I can dream lucidly as well, it will be very interesting.
Ha. I just remembered something from a vipassana meditation course I did: the teacher explained that one very good reason for the rule of silence was to discourage participants from sharing their experiences with each other. People are just too competitive, he said. If one person says he has tingling sensations, you'll all want to have tingling sensations. I can see the validity of that. On the other hand, I do feel like I may have a lot to learn in the way of techniques and methods from other dreamers here.
Which is why I joined the forum.
Hello, everybody.
