Returning to dream journal after seventeen years.

**mettw** · 06-01-2012 07:09 AM

Hi everyone,
I originally got interested in dreams almost two decades ago when I took a short course at university on Freud. We had to keep a dream journal as part of the course and from there I started hanging out on alt.dreams. I also contributed to the "Electric Dreams" ezine for a while until my Honours thesis started taking up too much of my time. I had perhaps four lucid dreams before I started to dream that I woke up and wrote down my dream and then woke up and couldn't remember anything else about the dream. I took that to mean that I didn't want to keep a dream journal any more.

Four nights ago I started to keep a dream journal again after a break of around seventeen years. At the moment I'm just getting fragments of dreams and not the great epics I sometimes got before. I'm hoping this time round to get into lucid dreaming more than last time. Before I didn't really put any effort into trying to induce them.

It'll be an adventure seeing how far I can get this time!

Matthew.

**Highlander** · 06-01-2012 10:49 AM

Hi Mettw. Welcome to DV.

Yes a DJ will definitely help you by building up your recall abilities. You will also notice your own common themes and personal dreamsigns as well during your quest.
If your goal is LD, well you have the experience from last time. However there are plenty of tips on this site to help you.
Find an induction technique that suits your particular lifestyle and fits in with your life, rather than the opposite.

Me? I use a WBTB technique after about 6 hrs of sleep. I tend not to 'experiment' with the earlier sleep/rem stages as I like a bit of (uninterrupted) sleep.

Good luck.

**RommiH** · 06-01-2012 04:59 PM

Good Luck!

**Mancon** · 06-01-2012 05:34 PM

Hey, mettw! Welcome to Dreamviews

That course sounds pretty interesting. Anyway, like RobStar said it's great you started keeping a dream journal. They can help you recall your dreams better, look for dream signs, and are just good to have around. How much do you know about lucid dreams already? It sounds like you might have a basic understand of everything. I suggest you check out this thread as it has some good tips to get you started. Here is a list of the main techniques to help you get lucid. Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

**mettw** · 06-02-2012 06:54 AM

Thanks for the encouragement.

Last time I just tried doing reality checks to induce lucid dreaming, but I could never quite get into the habit of always checking my watch twice to see if it changes. I've read through the intro stuff on this site, but I still have trouble remembering what all the acronyms stand for. I'll have to go over it all more carefully when I start getting better dream recall.