I am logging this now at 5:20am...after an extended and very powerful lucid experience. To induce lucid dreaming is not hard...at all for me...as it's easy to discern between what's possible and what's not while dreaming....the hard thing is "maintaining" the control experience and "convincing" the brain to take you places within the dreamscape...it doesn't want you to go to. In fact...tonight...i had such control for such a long time...that i was beginning to get a very slight sense of pain..from mental stress due to forcing and fighting with my brain over control of my surroundings. This has made me realize that at it's very extreme...lucid "control" dreaming is not always good, as the brain is fighting to show you the things it needs to reflect back to you...it's own reflections and view of things...in essence...sometimes...you need to just let the brain do it's thing, as the dream then...instead of becoming a learning experience...with the brain in control...becomes merely a playground...with the brain eventually...almost becoming upset...that it cannot do what it wants or really..."has" to do...and you may not benefit from what it has to show you psychologically. One other thing i noticed...was that the brain simply refused to do some things that i wanted it to....for example...near the end of this self controlled experience...i very conciously...kept trying to go see my deceased grandfather...but it simply would not let me go...it was a constant struggle to try to make my way to the street where my grandparents house was...it was as though...it was almost...impossible...even though...i was in control of this dream. So therefore it's almost a conclusion...that ultimately...lucid control...is at it's best when the ratio is 70 percent control by your concious mind...and 30 of the brain inputing random events that you can choose to deal with as you wish....this doesn't upset the brain so much. One more very important observation...because of this extended fight to control the dreamscape...when i "slowly" awoke...there was much more more of a sense of feeling that i was still dreaming even though i knew i was awake....as though the sense of reality normal to waking...had been significantly lessened...which seemed at the moment...not a pleasent experience...

June 23/04 dreamtime - roughly ...4:00am...through till around 5:20am