Thread: I'm Having A Problem

I think you need to not equate lucidity with control.

A lot of people that enjoy lucid dreaming don't exert any sort of control over their dreams, at all. They simply are aware tha they are dreaming, and allow the dreams to continue as is. There is nothing "wrong" with that. There is nothing "anti-lucidity" about that. Even still, you are more attuned to the subconscious connections your mind is making while you are sleeping. You can learn a lot from that. You can actually analyze the process as opposed to being completely subjected to it, which you can choose to do, anyway, at will, if you can alter your awareness with practice.

It's all in how you look at it. You're shying away from controlling and changing your dreams, while at the same time giving up all of the other benefits of concious dreaming.

Originally Posted by Torrent

Ive found i have a problem lucid dreaming because whenever i regularly dream, i wake up just being glad i had a good dream. It's that i like regularly dreaming so much already that i dont have the motives to continue into lucid dreams. I feel like i already have a good thing going, and why ruin it by trying constantly to make it better then it already is. I mean, the grass is always greener. Whenever i wake up without a lucid, i dont really care, because i had a dream anyways. I remember just about all my dreams. And all the ones i've written down have no similarities whatsoever between them.

I want to lucid dream, but it just isnt that important to me, because as long as i CAN dream, im happy.

Jeez i need help, i really do want to lucid dream at least once.

My mentor is helping me a lot, but theres only so much one person can do.

I need an array of opinions.
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So you like regular dreaming. I do too. I really like lucid dreaming better, however first off, as Oneironaut said lucidity and control are not dependant on each other. In fact you can have either one, or both. Furthermore, you sound like you feel that you have to choose between lucid dreams or non-lucid ones. Just because you learn to, and have some lucid dreams does not mean you are going to be giving up regular dreams at all. You can have the best of both worlds really. Also from another recent post around here someone said

Note this is from a different thread:

Originally Posted by Torrent

...I have no problem thinking of everyone having their own mind, and my dream world being created by something other than myself.
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Basically saying that control is not ultimate. It can be, but if you "turn over" all but your own conciousness and actions then you find yourself in a living dreamscape. That is, it is pretty much like a regular dream except you can choose your own actions, and know it is a dream.

I had a lot of trouble finding the words for the last thing I said there. I hope my point is clear hehe.

One of the things I get from your post is analogous to:
I am happy with a VW Beetle, but I'd like a Ferrari.

You might feel guilty about wanting the Ferrari, when the Beetle certainly performs it's function. I kind of get the vibe that you fear if you try to lucid dream you may lose some of your good dreams. The point I guess I am trying to make here is you can have the Beetle AND the Ferrari. Anyway I hope I have been of some help. I'll leave you with this thought:

One of the real beauties of lucid dreaming, I think, is that it can be exactly what you want it to be.

Control is cool but I really think it is equally cool just going along with your dreams and not worrying about it. Its sometimes great to see what your mind can come up with.

I know the feeling of locing regualr dreams. Just after I started LDing, I started having greast vivid and very entertaining dreams. The thing is, do you want to go through an amazing experience drunk or sober? If you're drunk, you miss out on the little things and don't remember half of it. I see lucid dreaming like that, lucidity just allows you to experience your regular dreaming better. That can be a goal you can work towards?

Well i understand what you guys are saying, but learning to LD seems like so much work, writing in a journal, trying techniques, reality checking, dreamsigns... The most progress ive made so far is being able to go into sleep paralysis when i want. But then i just sit there... in SP... and i cant go any further.

Its like, i want the ferarri... but it's too much work to go out and buy it, do all the paperwork, get insurance...

if we're still using that analogy. lol.

Most of the time i become lucid in the last 5 seconds of my dream, in which case i try to do all the things i've wanted to do, but with not enuf time. Like punt a baby, but in mid air have it turn into water. I've never gotten to do these things because i cant lucid from the beginning.

And i really dont want to go to sleep, only to wake up at 3 in the morning, then go back to sleep. That'll just piss me off if it doesnt work.

Originally Posted by Torrent

Well i understand what you guys are saying, but learning to LD seems like so much work, writing in a journal, trying techniques, reality checking, dreamsigns... The most progress ive made so far is being able to go into sleep paralysis when i want. But then i just sit there... in SP... and i cant go any further.

Its like, i want the ferarri... but it's too much work to go out and buy it, do all the paperwork, get insurance...

if we're still using that analogy. lol.
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It is a lot of work for some people, but it is well worth it, at least I think.

Originally Posted by Torrent

I feel like i already have a good thing going, and why ruin it by trying constantly to make it better then it already is. I mean, the grass is always greener....[/b]

Ok, but in this case, the grass actually IS greener. You have to open yourself up to the possibilities of lucid dreaming. Put a little bit of work into it at least, read some of the posts here about the amazing experiences people have had and I guarantee you will be so happy you stuck with it.

Think of the coolest thing you could possibly ever want to do. Flying, breathing underwater, whatever. And try to be creative and make the scene look amazing while you're doing this really cool thing. Now think about the fact that you could actually get to experience this cool thing in a lucid dream. Something you'll NEVER be able to do in real life, you now have the opportunity to experience on some level.

I don't know about you, but that's worth the work to me. The grass is sooooooooo green.

Most of the time i become lucid in the last 5 seconds of my dream, in which case i try to do all the things i've wanted to do, but with not enuf time. Like punt a baby, but in mid air have it turn into water. I've never gotten to do these things because i cant lucid from the beginning.[/b]

Ahh, that may be the problem. You associate control with lucidity. You first goal as a lucid dreamer is to just become lucid and stay that way. Don't try and control it immediately, just be satisfied with being lucid. If you say you like regular dreaming, just knowing you are in a dream should be enough. Also, I don't find lucid dreaming that much work, just a WBTB now and then keeps me from losing my ability

Originally Posted by taihen

Ahh, that may be the problem. You associate control with lucidity. You first goal as a lucid dreamer is to just become lucid and stay that way. Don't try and control it immediately, just be satisfied with being lucid. If you say you like regular dreaming, just knowing you are in a dream should be enough. Also, I don't find lucid dreaming that much work, just a WBTB now and then keeps me from losing my ability
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Note that I said it was a lot of work cause I am putting almost my entire existence into it right now. It's not like there is anything else to do until I go back to college on the 21st.

After a few nights sleep i've realised that when im dreaming, (last night) i knew i was dreaming... so i must've been lucid. But when im in the dream, i dont remember that i can do all sorts of amazing things, so i just go about the regular dream.

How can i realise i can do things, because i already know im dreaming.

Congrats on your first lucid!

The key is: practice practice practice. Your first lucid isn't very likely to be super-lucid and an exact replica of reality, but the more you have, the more your abilities will 'blossom'. Just keep writing down and practising whatever techniques work best for you.

But i dont even know HOW i became lucid. And in my dreams i never think about any of the journals i've written, so it seems like a dream sign is impossible. In my dreams i never think about anything but my dream.

It's like a block from the real world when im dreaming. I dont think about anything, people, my room, i dont use my conscious memory at all.

This is confusing and frustrating.

Originally Posted by Torrent

Ive found i have a problem lucid dreaming because whenever i regularly dream, i wake up just being glad i had a good dream. It's that i like regularly dreaming so much already that i dont have the motives to continue into lucid dreams. I feel like i already have a good thing going, and why ruin it by trying constantly to make it better then it already is. I mean, the grass is always greener. Whenever i wake up without a lucid, i dont really care, because i had a dream anyways. I remember just about all my dreams. And all the ones i've written down have no similarities whatsoever between them.

I want to lucid dream, but it just isnt that important to me, because as long as i CAN dream, im happy.

Jeez i need help, i really do want to lucid dream at least once.

My mentor is helping me a lot, but theres only so much one person can do.

I need an array of opinions.
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Well, you may have a very good point.

Lucidity is ONLY necessary if one's Dream Persona had been seriously off track and out of line. If one's Dream Persona were consistently acting crazy, behaving inappropriately, with too much fear.. or whatever kind of problem, THEN Lucidity would make sense in that such behaviors and attitudes could be corrected with the intercession of the Waking Self.

But if the Dream Persona is behaving itself admirably... if one can perceive no problems and is happy with one's Dream Persona, then why disrupt Normal Dreaming with the Discontinuities imposed by Lucidity?

Indeed, one must always keep in mind that Lucidity is only something of a recent Fad. People used to do a great deal of Dream Work even before Lucidity. Find an old copy of Dr. Ann Faraday's "Dream Power".. and except for a brief reference on Lucid Dreaming on page 109, all Dream Work can be done with Suggestion.

Indeed, as an example, here is an elaborate essay... ( http://www.awgp.org/english/books/sleep_dreams.pdf )almost a complete book on Dreams and Dream Work... written by an Indian Sanskrit Scholar who was careful to include every facet of human knowledge that ever been applied to Dreams and Dream Work... but his sources were a bit dusty and he doesn't have a single word to say about Lucid Dreaming. And even then there is every promise and potential that Dreams can be of tremendous Spiritual Value.

Without Lucid Dreaming, yes, indeed, Life would still go on. It really was not so bad before those various New Age Gurus started telling lies about and selling tickets for Lucid Dreaming.