I just realized something

I really have no idea what I want to accomplish when I become Lucid. I have thought about it for a while now. People often post that you should know what you want to do and program it before you go to sleep. I really just want to explore, ya know? Just see what it is like.

It is kind of like having sex for the first time. It is not like you sit there and think.... I am going to get in this position, then that position, then do this, then that..... You just kind of need to experience it first before you can make any kind of decision as to what you are going to do with it.

Having only been lucid once, for a very short period of time, I really feel like I just need to experience it before I can decide what I want to do with it. But on the flip side, could this lack of conviction (for a lack of better words) be holding me back? Could my indecision be hurting my progress?

Anyone else have similar feelings at first, or did you know exactly what you wanted to do?

i still feel the exact same way. each time i've been lucid i am suddenly overwhelmed by knowing what's possible in a lucid dream, but the most extravagant thing i've done is generating fire from my hands...i am still fascinated by just wandering around and indulging in all of my senses--i think that's as good a goal as any. i would be very surprised if not knowing exactly what you want to do has any effect on your progress. it's easy to become impatient with lucid dreaming, especially after you've had a little taste...but patience and positive thinking are guaranteed to yield results.

you can want to just explore, thats fine. but sometimes you do know what you want to do in a lucid dream. like some people want to fly. i know i did, i jumped out the window right away very first lucid dream i had and succeeded, thank god. :-P i think its pretty unnecessary to map out what you want to do step by step because when you turn lucid, you most likely wont even follow it anyway. as far as less specific stuff, you can want to do it without thinking "Ok, im going to fly in the air, turn 90 degrees, fly a little lower, then skyrocket up, know what i mean?

next lucid dream i have im trying to go joyriding in my car. that should be real fun. :lol:

I've now had around 20 LD's since I started and I am just now getting to the point where I can plan what I want to do before hand.
I think if you feel the need to have a goal in your LD's you could start with something not too specific. Like "I'm going to make my lucid dream last as long as possible". Then next time say "I'm going to make my next lucid dream last even longer than the last time".
There's no need to have an ultra specific goal like - I'm going to go visit my dead uncle Harry and ask him why he ran over my tricycle when I was 5 - :?

You say you just want to explore, than make that your goal.

And if you are worried about a lack of conviction. Just focus your intent on becoming lucid, on realizing you are dreaming. That should be your number one goal.

You know, I wish that I would have realized why our grade-school teachers pushed goal making on us at a young age. I'm realizing more and more that with some things in life, it makes things easier to simply decide where you want to end up or what you want to end up doing so that you have a point of reference.

It can be the same thing with dreaming, depending on the person. I like to say that it helps to decide ahead of time what you are going to do when you become lucid. It saves one from having to take time to think about it and can also just be a tangible goal. If your goal is just to explore, maybe decide on how you're going to travel, in what direction, etc. Or you could just make it a goal to look around where you're at and see what's there. Your options are pretty open.

I hope this was helpful in some way. :)

-Amé

well, maybe just have something more general (yet somewhat specific) laid out in your mind.

for instance, program your subconcious to have you become lucid in a forest (if that's a place you'd like to explore), and for it to be interesting, and last 3 minutes.

then just explore and learn with whatever lucid comes your way....and chances are it will somewhat resemble what you aimed for.


your sex analogy was a good one...but even though one probably shouldn't plan out every little action, it doesn't hurt to pick a cute girl instead of an old flabby mess...or an elephant or rose bush ;) try to incubate the general nature (lucid, decent length, fairly stable), and leave the rest to happen spontaneously