Hi everyone .

I found out about lucid dreaming a few days ago from friends, and it is really interesting me. Lucid dreaming is defiantly something I'd like to try. My friends described it as "a real picture of the subconscious mind" , and "similar to what is possible in the Matrix" . Obviously, I'm not chasing a Matrix simulation, however it sounds pretty awesome.

I've read everything on the main page on attaining the ability, and getting lucidity in dreams, along with some snippets of info everywhere else. The same couple of questions haven't been answered though... How realistic is it? How open are the possibilities of control over lucid dreams? (example: only minor control over surroundings or full control over physics, objects and the world) and is dream recall / a dream journal totally required? Lets just say people I know wouldn't be very accepting if they found a dream journal under my bed - hehehe.

Thanks in advance, glad to be here.