I thought it might be interesting to ask

What are people looking to gain from learning to Lucid Dream? I'm curious what the responses would be, though I'm guessing it could be anything from 'because I want to bang chicks all night long, lolz!!!1!!!!!!111!!!' through 'flying, woo!' to 'I wish to transcend these ephemeral chains and soar above the limitations of this frail world with my soulmate at my side.'

What do people want out of this?

For myself, I'm trying to unleash my creativity, and because I've always liked the idea of it, ever since lying in bed listening to Bono singing 'She's going to dream up the world she wants to live in, she's going to dream out loud' on Zooropa.

I'm not long into this- I started a dream journal on monday, but I think I might be making progress. This morning I woke after a dream where I did something irresponsible that left someone dependent upon me on her own, and got frightened, but then went 'oh, hang on, this is a dream, she'll be ok!'

It'd be interesting to hear what other people's first steps have been...

I personally started lucid dreaming just for the fun of it, but quite a lot of people here will say that they started LDing to explore their subconscious, and, as you said, some started it to unleash their creativity.:)

I personally don't think you should explain the reasons for LDing. Probably because it's hard to see them all to begin with. So I "use" lding for everything. For the experience.

I, even tho I haven't exactly got one yet, would use it to enjoy sleep more. I'm usually a grouch in the mornings, but if i enjoy sleeping through LD's, then I would become more enjoyable in the morning. Plus, I want to see the creative things I can do! XD

I would like to understand what dreams actually are. I've never bought the idea that they are just random creations of the brain. LaBerge talks about "schemas", mental models that we all have for stereotyped situations. He claims that dreams are somehow activations and variations of these preexisting schemas.

I don't buy it. Dreams are very mysterious and interesting things, and I intend to get the facts. : )

Because it makes anything possible

For me it was more of a "Hey look, a cookie!" *Eats cookie* kind of situation.... Except with LDs. And I don't eat them. >.>

mmm, cookies.

My goals are to just get to know my self better and have fun. Yes, there may be sex here and there, but that isn't the main goal. My main goal is that I always thought it would be cool to go on some sort of an adventure. I think it would be fun to go in a "dongeoun" in a dream or something and have to solve a bunch of puzzles, or kill things.

everything

It's still new enough that I spend most of my time trying to live out action movies and do crazy things like control the weather and the elements and the sky. But when that wears off... I want to try everything. The science fascinates me, the ability for creativity fascinates me, the ability to speak with your memory of the deceased, the ability to experience things that I will not have the opportunity to before I die (ie travel to certain places in the world), the ability to "timetravel", just.... everything! :boogie: I'm not sure you can even make a list!

Fun. Creativity. To prove that I can.

I found this place twice by a complete coincidence after first hearing about LDs. I decided I should check it out, dsounded cool, and sionce then I've been trying to increase lucid recall by whatever methods happen to appear most feasible for any given period of time.

Hey Prof. Personally, I sought this site out to try and help me comprehend these 'other' dreams that I would sometimes have. I didn't know they were called 'lucid' until I started researching. Seems a lot of people have heard of the phenomenon and are actively pursuing it because it sounds like it would be fun, not the other way around. Because it happened to me randomly, the idea that you can practice for and control ld's is what brings me back to this site. Fascinating stuff.

well im still new to this site but ive been lucid dreaming for about 5 years now, and maybe even b4 that im not sure. ive always been facinated with dreams even b4 i could control them, but when i found out that i was able to do so randomly i started to search around on the net and found out how it was done and tips to help get in to a lucid state. as for a reason y i do it... hm, well i guess its just the fact that i am free to do anything that my imagination can come up with like flying, teleporting, superhuman strength, and even exploring the universe and beyond excites me. its a high not even the most powerful drugs can beat.

This thread is really interesting! I personally am hoping to be able to become more creative through LDing. I also would like the opprotunity to be able to explore the worlds of different movies and books in my dreams, just for fun.

I´d say my motivation for LD-skills lies in the possibilities to reach others beyond the borders wich our bodies constitutes. How many times haven´t I felt the total powerlessness and melancholy in being trapped in a certain body, in a certain position in society as well as the social networks that´s out of my reach? How many times haven´t I been longing for spending time with a special person untouched by all the physical and social laws that rule pour lives? I want to experience and love with people I care about beyond what´s possible in my ordinary life, giving the term soulmates a rightousness.

i wanted to get away from this savage world that shows no mercy...a place of peace is what i seek

I find dreams fascinating. Mine are usually so vivid and I always feel like there's some significance to them, even if it's not the whole "dream interpretation" kind of thing. The whole topic really interests me and you can have some pretty amazing experiences during lucid dreams.

It's a fairly unique and interesting ability. I'm scared that I am using it to have closure on the one girl I've never had, because she would never allow me to have that. Now she's the girl of my dreams in more than one way. I also hope to create a mental sanctuary to help combat panic attacks and stage anxiety. This way, falling asleep is more of a pleasure than a task.

If you don't mind me asking, was falling asleep a task beforehand? Was it difficult to do, I mean? I ask because sometimes I find that difficult, and have general issues with anxiety too, I guess, which mental self-discipline seems to keep at bay. Part of what I'd like to do is to master my own sleep, and investigating dream recall, focussing on sleep, Lucid Dreaming seems a good way to start going about that.

I'll admit to suffering from Emetophobia. And for some reason as a child I believed that people got sick right before they went to sleep. Hence, my fear of night. I'm a performer, so this transferred to my panic attacks during concerts - which is always wonderful. Then my interest in lucid dreaming came around and a lot less time was spent laying in bed worrying about not getting sick. I've only just begun with lucidity, so I can't say it's helped the performance aspect much, but hopefully there is more to come with that. Both aspects of LD'ing and Astral Traveling focuses inward, which strengthens my mind. Through training, and growing, one day I hope to rid myself of these foolish time wasters and live life!

I lucid dream because that is the way my mind works. I have them wether I want them or not. Now that I understand the potential of lucid dreams I try to do more than just think "oh, I'm dreaming again" and go along with the dream.

I now persue it for several reasons, even some I don't really understand.