Are Lucid Dreamers just tourists?

[Chafu]

One of the most surprising things I ever heard in a LD was when I was behaving particularly obnoxiously and a DC turned to me and said: "You are just visiting, we have to live here." Like something a local would say to a tourist. It got me to thinking that perhaps the dream space is not something our individual mind creates but is a universally shared space that we have access to through dreams. I certainly took the DC's words to heart and started to behave much more respectfully towards the "locals" and in return I have been treated much better myself as well.