I have been studying the idea of lucid dreams for about a year but just recently came across this site. I don’t know for sure if I have even had a lucid dream yet. I guess what confuses me is what being lucid feels like. Here is how I can best describe it:

My room is in a basement, so when I go to bed it is extremely dark, the only light coming from a small night light. One night I awoke (could have been a false awakening) looked over to where the nightlight normally glows and saw just darkness. I immediately assumed it was a dream, because I had just replaced the bulb in the light. As I got out of my bed and walked everything just felt too real to be a dream. The way the carpet felt on my toes, the gentle breeze from my ceiling fan, everything! The next thing I know it is morning and my alarm is going off, and the night light is on.

Was this whole experience just a drowsy midnight experience or can lucid dreams in fact feel as real as waking life??

ps: sorry this was so long winded