Confounded by Complexity...

I'm no expert, but it looks like a a good portion of people do not take full advantage of lucid dreaming, if the vividness of the dreams people have been saying is true. They fly, they have sex, they smoke drugs. Wow, how exciting. Why not do more? My head spins at all the possibilities. I get the feeling people just walk around doing whatever they think is cool, without putting thought into making their dreams works of art. (I'm an artist so this may be different for some...) Yes, that lady is attractive, beating up your neighbor is cool, driving a Jaguar is nice. Well, I guess some people just like the simple pleasures...

If you are one of those people that listen to (usually theatrical) music, the kind that sets a mood and creates an moving atmoshere, you probably know what I am feeling. If I need to explain further, for those of you that like said music, download music that really makes you think deeper than bf/gf relationships, or driving cars, or being cool, or being on the beach... download music that instead puts you somewhere.. Some people might think I'm lame, you probably fall into the former category. Here are some simple instructions to finding what I am talking about (If you have been agreeing so far, that is...)

1. Find a movie that really stirred you up, some epic or atmospheric movie.

2. Find and buy that movie's soundtrack.

3. AT NIGHT, when you have not talked to anyone for a while, start contemplating everything. How far mankind has come as a species, how small we are in a world so large, how huge a number 1 million really is...

4. After this, listen to the music in chronological order. Try to close your eyes but not fall asleep. Try to really think about the atmosphere...

5. When you finish, you should know what I mean.


If you need any ideas, I will say my favorite (Thinking of movies can be hard...)

The Da Vinci Code (Whether or not you agree with the content, the music is wonderful) If you need one or two songs, Chevaliers de Sangreal first, The Citrine Cross second). (I understand some people are very touchy about this book, I thought it was bad, if you wanted to know, but Hans Zimmer tries his best anyway...)



If you need a composer, I would say Hans Zimmer/Alan Silvestri/Harry Gregson-Williams.

Please take into account the fact that I am an artist, that I may see the world differently, and that this may look like a waste of time. This is not for everyone... As always, sorry if I talked a lot, but I will not say I rambled ;) I tend toward longer posts...

EDIT: Also, I would like to say that this community is great, this is a very good forum for LD'ers.

I know what you mean. Actually what you are talking about is a major goal of mine. Not about the music, but something beyond just regular fun. Not that I don't enjoy the fun :P . The only problem I have is that I don't try hard enough at all. I don't have enough discipline... I stopped writing in my DJ after just a few weeks. Because of that I don't expect to have much recall. All I do now is get suprised when I get a LD, which usually lasts for less then 5 minutes. I'm focusing more on WILDs and Hypnagogia, trying to learn how to control or induce hallucinations, which would help with dream control. I don't need recall for WILDs since I expect to wake up soon after.

If I succeed at WILDs I'll have to face my real problem though. Every time I get into a LD I "spawn" in my home. Ofcourse I want to get out, high above the clouds, or into the mountains, any peaceful natural landscape would do. But nooo... there is always something there to stop me. I jump through the window to fly away, but a black hole sucks me back. I think I've spent 70% of my LD time trying to get somewhere. I've never really stopped and enjoyed myself since my first LD, where I jumped around trying to do everything possible.
Basically all I probably have to do is that Neo, Matrix thing... freeing my mind and all that. That's hard to do if every LD is a suprise. Yeah, I'm still a newbie.

Vance, great post and I very much understand what you're saying.

I would like to think that once the "newness" of having lucid dreams wears off and a person gets all the "super hero" stuff out of their system, they will be more willing to really "stop and smell the roses" as it were with respect to lucid dreaming.

im trying to grasp what your saying and yes i have realized how small we are some nights when i just think. but do you have a goal? ----my god that music is inspiring, do you know any more?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aceboy

im trying to grasp what your saying and yes i have realized how small we are some nights when i just think. but do you have a goal? ----my god that music is inspiring, do you know any more?

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I don't really understand what you are asking me about a goal, to the contemplation you mean?

Yes, I do know more, that is probably one of the most inspirational though, but you can find a lot more heroic ones from Hans too...

Well, here's a quick compiled list of music and their themes (At least, to me)

I'll try and make this not too much of a review... These are of varied themes...

Kingdom of Heaven
Crusaders
Burning The Past

Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
One Day

A Knight's Tale
Modo Niger

The DaVinci Code
Chevaliers De Sangreal
The Citrine Cross



Now, if you wanted purely atmospheric music, you could find tracks on these to fit that, but it would be better to point out the "theme" tracks before going on to the really long, slow ones.

To try and keep this related to lucid dreaming, try listening to music like this in general while visualizing. (If it fits, of course)

So, if you really like the darker feel of the DaVinci Code, thinking about candles, parchment and passageways, go get the tracks you can listen to for atmospheric value. There are some 5 minute tracks that just have faintly swirling strings and voices...


Sorry about the seeming unrelatedness of this to lucid dreaming... I was just using it to describe my point. Any more questions are welcome though :)

Actually, alot of people use lucid dreams for more than just cheap thrills.

There was a masterlist of things to do in lucid dreams once... I think BillyBob compiled it and created the thread. If you can find it, check it out.

It's in my sig :)
More ideas than you can stick a shake at!

Some notable ones for me:
- Speak to your subconscious
- Write a poem (if you can write and read)
- Walk into a room of people and telepathically read all their minds simultaneously (apparently this can cause some strange side effects)
- Try to dream share (even if it's a fake one, it's fun) - trick = make a portal to that person, imagining how they feel to you
- Change into the opposite sex and experiment
- Fly a dragon

There's so much more, just read the thread :)

Also don't forget the Lucid Task Of The Month. Often an interesting task pops up, and looking through past ones can be interesting too.

It suprises me, you speak of people as if they are from another species. Possible you don't mean to, but everyone is equipped with the same abilities, despite what one will tell you. Artists, everyone has a right brain, just not *as* developed as another. Analytical, same thing, no one is without a left brain, just not as developed. Some might think DaVinc was a genius, meh. He simply, funny I use the word simply, but anyways he simply developed both sides. Isn't it uncanny how a lot of "geniuses" contested to imagination being better than knowledge? Now I have gone off topic a lot. The point I am trying to make is, you are no different than anyone else, and it suprises me that you speak so shallowly of others and what they like to do.

After reading the post twice, I do not find it offensive. I said that I was an artist, not a genius. But that is entirely not the point.
I will try and explain this as civilly as I can.

"Why not do more?" was the statement I was making, or at least helpfully trying to get people to think about. I did not call anyone shallow, I did not condemn anyone, I said some people like simple pleasures, and if they want to keep it that way, alright! I was merely suggesting the idea of using an aesthetic atmosphere to paint dreams. I also mentioned at the end of the post that this forum has a great community. I was just mulling over the vastness of the dreams you could create, so I was curious as to how the majority of the people on this site used it, then I simply interjected a statement about what I thought was the majority. So, the point of the entire post was to find people who do the same thing, not denounce the people who just want some fun at the end of a day. (Which is a good way to dream ;))

Some parts of the post can be taken callously, and I could remove those if you would like.

As to your comment: "The point I am trying to make is, you are no different than anyone else, and it suprises me that you speak so shallowly of others and what they like to do."

I think you looked at the post the wrong way... I was asking a question, not making a statement. :)

By saying I was an artist I was not giving myself a title, just trying to explain my overall mindset.

PS: Where did you get the idea that I was a genius, or a condescending one at that? :P

PSS: I look up to this community, rather than down on it.

Vance, thanks for the music.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vance

I'm no expert, but it looks like a a good portion of people do not take full advantage of lucid dreaming, if the vividness of the dreams people have been saying is true. They fly, they have sex, they smoke drugs. Wow, how exciting. Why not do more? My head spins at all the possibilities. I get the feeling people just walk around doing whatever they think is cool, without putting thought into making their dreams works of art. (I'm an artist so this may be different for some...) Yes, that lady is attractive, beating up your neighbor is cool, driving a Jaguar is nice. Well, I guess some people just like the simple pleasures...

If you are one of those people that listen to (usually theatrical) music, the kind that sets a mood and creates an moving atmoshere, you probably know what I am feeling. If I need to explain further, for those of you that like said music, download music that really makes you think deeper than bf/gf relationships, or driving cars, or being cool, or being on the beach... download music that instead puts you somewhere.. Some people might think I'm lame, you probably fall into the former category. Here are some simple instructions to finding what I am talking about (If you have been agreeing so far, that is...)

1. Find a movie that really stirred you up, some epic or atmospheric movie.

2. Find and buy that movie's soundtrack.

3. AT NIGHT, when you have not talked to anyone for a while, start contemplating everything. How far mankind has come as a species, how small we are in a world so large, how huge a number 1 million really is...

4. After this, listen to the music in chronological order. Try to close your eyes but not fall asleep. Try to really think about the atmosphere...

5. When you finish, you should know what I mean.


If you need any ideas, I will say my favorite (Thinking of movies can be hard...)

The Da Vinci Code (Whether or not you agree with the content, the music is wonderful) If you need one or two songs, Chevaliers de Sangreal first, The Citrine Cross second). (I understand some people are very touchy about this book, I thought it was bad, if you wanted to know, but Hans Zimmer tries his best anyway...)



If you need a composer, I would say Hans Zimmer/Alan Silvestri/Harry Gregson-Williams.

Please take into account the fact that I am an artist, that I may see the world differently, and that this may look like a waste of time. This is not for everyone... As always, sorry if I talked a lot, but I will not say I rambled ;) I tend toward longer posts...

EDIT: Also, I would like to say that this community is great, this is a very good forum for LD'ers.

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I understand that some people thought this post was a tad bit offensive? I'll show you the parts that they probablly were talking about...

1.) In the first bold area, you generalize alot of people, and it kind of comes off as you portraying yourself smarter then others... especially with "wow, how exciting."

2.) "Well, I guess some people like their simple pleasures.." Once again generalizing.

3.) "If you think I'm lame, then you must fall into the former category." Kind of rude actually...

4.) "I am an artist." Kind of like number one, but you're just portraying yourself with higher importance.

Now.. don't take all this as a bash or something, I don't have anything against you. I'm just trying to show you what you might have said that would have irked people the wrong way. Just try and think of how an outside would view your post... In any event, try not to generalize alot of people.. it leads to trouble.

Personally, I don't think it was offensive at all ;)
Well, maybe with the exception of implying that things like lucid flying isn't exciting.

Well, it won't let me edit the post twice, if a moderator would like to remove the parts as stated by AmazeO XD that would be great :) Sorry if anybody took offense. :oops:

Don't take it personal Vance, I am sure it wasn't your goal to really put those thing out. I was having a bad day sort of, so maybe I read a bit too much into it. I sort of have this mindset, where it angers me when folks talk about being so much better than another because they are into finer things. Anyways, just chill, and don't worry about the post.

I think it's fair to say you're right that people don't take full potential.

For instance, a House-mate of mine has the ability to lucid dream naturally, yet he didn't realise that you could do anything you wanted; he actually seemed lost for words when I mentioned all the possibilities he'd been missing out on. He enjoys his dreams just fine, but didn't realise there was so much more.

Whilst I'm personally a huge fan of using superpowers, in future once I've had more opportunities to see what I can do, I'm looking forward to using LDs for all kinds of things. The trouble is though, that you really would need to plan something out first if you wanted a specific experience. When you're omnipotent, it's easy to get lost in the possibilities!