Thread: Lucid Dreaming Fundamentals -- With Q & A

Originally Posted by dianhsuhe

Wow tons of great info. thank you for taking the time!

I apologize if you have answered this already (I did not see it above) but my main issue right now is stabilizing my LD's. I have LD'd a few times in my life but since finding this site and using the techniques described I LD nearly every night. I have read alot about stabilizing and I study my hands very closely, I say "stabilize lucidity" and "anchored in lucidity",move very slowly and touch everything I can but my LD's are fairly short, maybe a minute or two. I have been avoiding flying, teleporting, and summoning lately in hopes to just have a longer more stable LD. Frankly, if I could have a 30 minute dream where I was just walking around slowly I would be happy. My feeling is that I need to train to stabilize before anything else really matters even though I have flown, teleported to the Chichen Itza, etc.

What do you recommend for a newer LD'er in the ways of LD stabilizing?

Thanks in advance!
James

I haven't spoken directly about stabilizing because I am sure that strong self-awareness and memory skills will make stabilization an afterthought. In the meantime, though, I do have one odd suggestion...

Instead of avoiding flying, teleporting, and summoning, why not try to do them instead? The effort you make to get these things to happen might take your mind off a struggle to stabilize and at the same time you'll be doing the things you really want to do. Sometimes thinking too much about a thing -- like stabilization -- will guarantee that it never happens. Sometimes "just walking around" is by far the hardest thing to do in a dream.

So I guess from this post you've sensed my general opinion of all these stabilization "techniques." Sure they might work, but do they work because you're rubbing your hands or spinning, or is it because your awareness and memory are strong enough to create an expectation of stabilization that must be adhered to because it was your expectation? I have a feeling it's the latter. So then if you care a little less about losing lucidity, and more about enjoying it, you might find your LD's both lasting longer and including the stuff you want then to include...

Originally Posted by Sageous

then if you care a little less about losing lucidity, and more about enjoying it, you might find your LD's both lasting longer and including the stuff you want then to include...

Wow I just confirmed that with myself lol. Many people say that it's very normal that your first lucids end within the first 5 seconds. But my first lucid I was so engaged into the experience that I didn't even remember of stabilizing or wondering if something would work. I even closed my eyes (was trying to teleport) and the dream didn't end. Funny seems most of the mental obstacles are just silly thoughts we have like "maybe it won't work" or "wonder if I can do it". Personally I believe that's why when random ordinary people have a lucid dream it usually is a very vivid experience: since they don't even know they are in a lucid dream, they don't worry about stabilizing the dream or that kind of stuff!

About memory, I would like to post here this video about the famous mnemonic of places:



Did you apply this (or other) memory technique in order to improve lucidity in any way?

Originally Posted by zoth00

Wow I just confirmed that with myself lol. Many people say that it's very normal that your first lucids end within the first 5 seconds. But my first lucid I was so engaged into the experience that I didn't even remember of stabilizing or wondering if something would work. I even closed my eyes (was trying to teleport) and the dream didn't end. Funny seems most of the mental obstacles are just silly thoughts we have like "maybe it won't work" or "wonder if I can do it". Personally I believe that's why when random ordinary people have a lucid dream it usually is a very vivid experience: since they don't even know they are in a lucid dream, they don't worry about stabilizing the dream or that kind of stuff!

So true. I often wish while reading many posts here that people would be required to have that initial LD, plus one more brought on by their own independent efforts, before being allowed to look at this site (or talk to their friends about LD'ing).

I know that's impossible, and truly undesirable to those who've never had an LD but want one because of what they've heard about them. But it would help people new to the art to understand that it's the dream -- and the desire/intent to be lucid within it -- that matters, and not the technique used to get there. So much time seems spent prioritizing technique here -- especially WILD, which as I've said before is hands-down the most difficult to use -- that I worry that newbies are thinking that the technique is the goal, rather than the dream; that if they just master WILDing, then the LD's will begin to pour in. That, sadly, is not true -- if you are not mentally prepared to be in a LD, you can be the best WILDer in the world and still only have five minute LD's, if any. And of course, the only prep necessary are those fundamentals, mixed with clear intent and expectation before sleep. What is equally sad is that, even once lucid, people caught up in the "techniques" may tend to forget while spinning or rubbing or whatever that they are in a wonderful, fantastic place, and prolonging often comes simply by enjoying -- rather than worrying about -- the moment. At least, that is what I think!

About memory, I would like to post here this video about the famous mnemonic of places:

Did you apply this (or other) memory technique in order to improve lucidity in any way?

I wish. I think Mr. Bell is a little confused when he says he is no different than anyone else -- sort of like a billionaire saying money doesn't matter. I actually once tried adopting a version of Da Vinci's Memory Cathedral, which is essentially the same idea (by another uniquely equipped thinker), and couldn't get past the first step. I don't think my brain is wired for this, and must make do with what I have (or lack, I suppose). So I'm stuck just remembering as best I can, which tends to be in manner that runs at polar opposites to Bell's -- I try to carry whole ideas or images into the dream, and then reduce them to bits I can handle to become and remain aware. This works nicely for lucidity,especially strong lucidity, where the "big" ideas don't need reduction, but wouldn't help much to remember playing card positions or that "that DC over there was a guy I met on a train Tuesday, so this must be a dream". So yes, if I could remember like Mr. Bell I definitely would, because his method seems near perfect for finding reminders in a dream that "this is a dream." Learn it if you can...

Originally Posted by Sageous

So true. I often wish while reading many posts here that people would be required to have that initial LD, plus one more brought on by their own independent efforts, before being allowed to look at this site (or talk to their friends about LD'ing).

I know that's impossible, and truly undesirable to those who've never had an LD but want one because of what they've heard about them. But it would help people new to the art to understand that it's the dream -- and the desire/intent to be lucid within it -- that matters, and not the technique used to get there. So much time seems spent prioritizing technique here -- especially WILD, which as I've said before is hands-down the most difficult to use -- that I worry that newbies are thinking that the technique is the goal, rather than the dream; that if they just master WILDing, then the LD's will begin to pour in. That, sadly, is not true -- if you are not mentally prepared to be in a LD, you can be the best WILDer in the world and still only have five minute LD's, if any. And of course, the only prep necessary are those fundamentals, mixed with clear intent and expectation before sleep. What is equally sad is that, even once lucid, people caught up in the "techniques" may tend to forget while spinning or rubbing or whatever that they are in a wonderful, fantastic place, and prolonging often comes simply by enjoying -- rather than worrying about -- the moment. At least, that is what I think!

Thank you! I'm so glad other people hold this view; that lucid dreamers (and unfortunately particularly those with little experience) become so hung up on technique, 'what number of reality checks in a day coupled with hypnosis, subliminal messages, binaural beats, ad nauseum, will make me lucid', that they distort the whole principle of lucid dreaming into some complex formula and never see success because they have no faith in their own ability. Lucid dreaming is an art, not a science; no technique is truly reliable, because there's no method in which 'x' input produces 'y' output every time, so much depends on the individual.
What truly frustrates me is to see threads made by people with no lucid dreams about a genuine problem only to have replies from about five or six people who also have no lucid dreams, who unwittingly pass on second-hand misinformation, and so false ideas spread. But I'm ranting now. I just think there's a strong element to forums that isn't conductive to the success of the individual.

Originally Posted by Sageous

I haven't spoken directly about stabilizing because I am sure that strong self-awareness and memory skills will make stabilization an afterthought. In the meantime, though, I do have one odd suggestion...

Instead of avoiding flying, teleporting, and summoning, why not try to do them instead? The effort you make to get these things to happen might take your mind off a struggle to stabilize and at the same time you'll be doing the things you really want to do. Sometimes thinking too much about a thing -- like stabilization -- will guarantee that it never happens. Sometimes "just walking around" is by far the hardest thing to do in a dream.

So I guess from this post you've sensed my general opinion of all these stabilization "techniques." Sure they might work, but do they work because you're rubbing your hands or spinning, or is it because your awareness and memory are strong enough to create an expectation of stabilization that must be adhered to because it was your expectation? I have a feeling it's the latter. So then if you care a little less about losing lucidity, and more about enjoying it, you might find your LD's both lasting longer and including the stuff you want then to include...

What a great thread! I think I will hold my questions until I finish reading the full thread(going slow; jumping around the forums - probably too much; on page 2 of the thread currently). I have been working mostly on awareness lately and feel I am making good progress thanks to this and various threads including Lidybug's clear light perspective(found thanks to this thread!). In the meantime, I hope no one minds me referencing the quote above from all the way back on page 2. I just wanted to say that I used Sageous' suggestion quoted above in my LD last night, though I didn't remember to at first.

Spoiler for what I did in the LD:

There was a woman I wanted to interact with on some romantic level(to be determined) but knowing it was a dream my kneejerk reaction was that I told myself to stabilize first and was examining my hand..This time it did look weird and was quite vivid (the previous time I did this in a Lucid FA my hand looked quite normal). I think there were 6 fingers but as I started to count them the dream started fading so this is when I remembered the suggestion above and no longer seeing the woman, decided to take off flying and enjoyed it. I was flying in a white scape with nothing to see so I tried to think of some place interesting and it starting turning grayish, still flying. Not satisfied with the progress, I imagine I am in space and I see a planet and start looping around it from pole to pole. The planet most resembled earth.

Awesome thanks! I had thought that flying and teleporting could unstabilize the LD but saying "stabilize lucidity!" has not worked much better- lol

I will try to be more aware and see what happens!

Originally Posted by dianhsuhe

Awesome thanks! I had thought that flying and teleporting could unstabilize the LD but saying "stabilize lucidity!" has not worked much better- lol

I will try to be more aware and see what happens!

Happy to help; good luck!

And remember: if you think something will destabilize your dream, it most likely will...

Interesting video. From the card bit, I am inclined to agree that even though he seems normal, it's more like a Rain Man type talent. The second half where he shows the other guy how to memorise things should work though. I've noticed this myself when I go for a walk listening to an audiobook and then I do the same walk (without listening to anything) another day even months later and I remember exactly what was happening in the book at certain places on my walk.
I wonder though, is this the same kind of memory we want to train for lucid dreaming? For instance memorising the cards seems like a very specific association game. I guess all kinds of memory tools are what we want though.

Originally Posted by FancyRat

I wonder though, is this the same kind of memory we want to train for lucid dreaming? For instance memorising the cards seems like a very specific association game. I guess all kinds of memory tools are what we want though.

You make a good point here. To me it makes more sense to remember big, single things (like that my real body is still asleep in bed, right where I left it, or perhaps what my dream goal tonight might be) than specific details. After all, even if you have the best mental machine in place for following the path to a specific detail, what if that detail -- or the path to it -- never shows up in your dream?

The only exception to this is that a person working Bell's card technique (or Da Vinci's Memory Cathedral) might have a tendency to activate his brain's memory function during the dream, if he is making this kind of disciplined effort to remember something -- that's a good thing, no matter how it happens.

Before you knew that you where lucid dreaming, did you find your ability to control your dreams frightening?
You say that you should think about and be aware of your sleeping body. When thinking about it, are you at all worried about the fact that it is totally unprotected and there is nothing you can do about it? If so, how do you stop yourself from worrying about that?
Thanks for a great thread and all the interesting answers!

Originally Posted by Insikt

Before you knew that you where lucid dreaming, did you find your ability to control your dreams frightening?

Never. I found it empowering. From the beginning I knew that whatever I encountered or created in my dreams was a part of me, or at the very least directly connected to (or overseen by) my psyche. This almost instinctive confidence meant a lot to me as a fifteen-year-old, and that may have made all the difference...

You say that you should think about and be aware of your sleeping body. When thinking about it, are you at all worried about the fact that it is totally unprotected and there is nothing you can do about it? If so, how do you stop yourself from worrying about that?

Nope. I had no more worry than I would have while lying awake in the dark at night -- after all, wouldn't I be asleep in a safe place, as protected as ever, and wouldn't I remember that as well? So I suppose "remembering" must include remembering correctly, without inserting unnecessary fears or imagining possibilities that would not exist if you were awake in bed at that time. Keep in mind that the reason you're remembering your sleeping body is not to point out scary separations or juxtapositions, but to remind you that physical reality "rests" someplace other than in the world of your current dream. No more, no less.

Excellent thread + post, Sageous.
Could you go into further elaboration on awareness?

Self-awareness is nothing more -- or less -- than being aware that you are here, that you have an effect on everything around you, and everything around you has an effect on you.

How do you keep this awareness up? Do you consistently think of the outcomes out how you influence your environment and society?

Originally Posted by fOrceez

Excellent thread + post, Sageous.
Could you go into further elaboration on awareness?

How do you keep this awareness up? Do you consistently think of the outcomes out how you influence your environment and society?

At the risk of sounding like I'm dodging the question, let me offer up this dodge:

Self-awareness is not something you keep up; it is something you adopt as part of your life. No, I rarely think of the outcomes out how I influence my environment and society*. That would invite intellectualizing -- and therefore consciously overstating -- my participation in reality. That would be a bad thing, and it would both empower my dream-character-me to lucidity-busting levels of arrogance, and annoy my waking life friends and family. No, self-awareness is more of a condition than a pursuit. Better yet, it is recognition of a condition -- basically the knowledge that "I exist, and my exist has an impact on reality, and reality has an impact on me."

It's not a case of considering outcomes. Rather it's a case of understanding that outcomes will exist, even if my basic instincts don't care about that fact. To leave the "Here & Now" and start predicting outcomes would not be helpful for self-awareness in general, and I think would cause damage to successful LD'ng (if you get in a habit of predicting outcomes, that attitude might manifest in your dreams as a sort of expectation mapping system, removing surprises and any real growth).

Dodgy enough for you? No? How about this: there is no real technique for building self-awareness. At least not that I know of. Any suggestions I make are simply some things that worked for me, and might not necessarily work for you. This is because self-awareness, and awareness in general, is not a mechanical skill set or a thing that your brain can be easily rewired to accept. It's a condition of existence that all sentient creatures are bathed in constantly, but rarely recognize. In a sense, keeping up self-awareness is just a matter of keeping your mind's eye open at all times. Very simple to say; very hard to do. Okay...maybe not so simple to say!

Bottom line: I am afraid that this answer was no help. But if this thread survives, I'll likely have opportunity to try to address it again, and hopefully by then some magically clear, dodge-free explanation will have occurred to me. It's weird; I sit here with a clear viewpoint of self-awareness -- and its importance -- but it is such a bitch to find the words that describe it beyond being aware that you are here, that you have an effect on everything around you, and everything around you has an effect on you.

* As an aside, consistently thinking of the outcomes out how I influence my environment and society is a very good, mature, thing to do on a social level. If everyone practiced it, the world would be a better place. And, though it is certainly a happy byproduct of self-awareness, this activity is not a way to actually build or maintain the condition. I thought this needed to be pointed out, because the difference is significant.

great answers, Sageous! have you had a dream guide or smth like that?

Originally Posted by ekspresis

great answers, Sageous! have you had a dream guide or smth like that?

Thanks! And no, I've always been pretty much on my own.

As far as I know.

But if someone's been guiding me, they've been pretty damn quiet about it, and are sure taking their time!

This sure is a great thread and I shall definitely take my time reading through the first two pages.

Originally Posted by fOrceez

This sure is a great thread and I shall definitely take my time reading through the first two pages.

Thanks... I truly hope you find some value...or at least something useful...in all those words!

This thread is pro.

Sorry for the minimal contribution, but Sageous is covering all his bases and doing an excellent job at revealing the major problem that exists nowadays for up and coming LDers. If you take a look at the best of the best from the community at large, (such as Naiya, Hukif, and quite a few others you've probably never heard of) you'll find two things in common:

1. They all learned the art their own way, forged their own path, often without even discovering online LDing communities until much later on.
2. Each of their methods are based upon the fundamentals presented here: self-awareness and memory.

And again, we have Sageous, who didn't follow the "traditional" approach that many newbies are being shown. Yet his success and experience is evident.

The results are clear: to be a truly successful LDer, you need to dig deep and focus on the fundamentals. What's more, it's going to take you years of hard work to pull it off, and the only true shortcut is being given the understanding of how to get there.

Great thread, Sageous. Do you think you could expand a little bit on what you mean by 'memory' in the context of dreaming? I'm not quite sure I understand.

Originally Posted by 1234567

Great thread, Sageous. Do you think you could expand a little bit on what you mean by 'memory' in the context of dreaming? I'm not quite sure I understand.

Sure. In the simplest of terms, memory in the context of dreaming is the same as memory in the context of waking... sorry; that sounded way cooler in my head.

But it's still true. When I speak of memory, I'm talking about remembering, during the dream,* that you have a waking life existence, that you consciously stepped away from that existence a few minutes ago, and that you still have a sleeping body right where you left it. This might seem a little silly at first glance, but it is critical toward drawing your waking-life awareness into your dream. This is the case for two major reasons (and plenty more, most likely):

First, the core of non-lucid dreaming consciousness is that you cannot remember that the dream started a few minutes ago (most non-lucids have a built-in assurance that the current dream scene is both real and has always been there), and that you are sure that your DC body is the real thing. Remembering that stuff I said above should free you from this core, and allow your self-awareness to assert itself with proper waking-life awareness. This action will redefine the “reality” of the dream, the rules of the dream, and perhaps even the dream itself. So, you can't have true -- or strong -- waking-life awareness in your dream if you do not remember that the DC body you are currently occupying is not your physical body.

Second, once you’ve passed this initial hurdle, you likely will have switched your memory circuits back to the “on” position, from the “off” position that is naturally set during sleep. This will allow you to remember your current dream goals, prolonging techniques, the waking-world histories of the DC’s populating your dream (giving you opportunity to wonder/explain what they’re doing there), and a host of other things. Basically, you will be truly awake in the dream when memory is turned on, and waking-life awareness (aka: lucidity) will have opportunity to prosper.

It is possible to have low-level LD’s without memory switched on, but you’ll never get much further than that initial feeling of “knowing” this is a dream. For instance, you’ll still be surprised by events around you because your dreaming mind is still in control, you’ll have a lot of trouble doing things like flying because you still believe your DC body is real, and you might for the same reason have a tendency to believe that the other DC’s around you are the real things, and not just avatars of people you know (or don’t, as it were)... now for the dream-sharers out there, there’s no reason not to believe that those avatars represent actual people trying to contact you, but you must remember that they are just representations and not the real thing; there is a difference.

It is also possible, with memory absent, to have a non-lucid dream in which you think you are lucid. I get these "False Lucids" all the time, as my dreaming mind obliges my expectations and gives me all the things it thinks I want to fulfill my current LD fantasy. So I do all the cool stuff without a grain of waking-life awareness or control, all because I failed to remember my true nature and condition -- and the fact that this whole world was created just moments earlier.

Bottom line: the memory I speak of here is, I suppose, nothing more -- and nothing less -- than the memory you access during waking life. That it must be present during a LD seems to me to be a no-brainer -- while I’m awake. When I’m asleep, and memory is turned off, the story is much different, and it can take real effort, and strong self-awareness, to access waking-life memory.

Here is one quick hopefully helpful hint to ease that effort: it is a good thing to always include some mention of memory during your RC’s and when you set your intention before sleep. For instance, when practicing RC’s during waking life (and everyone should be doing that!), don’t just confirm that the clock didn’t change, or that your hand still has five fingers, but also confirm that you remember exactly what you were doing say, fifteen minutes earlier. And when you set your intention, add a simple “I will remember” to your stated plans.

As usual, I see that I went on for far too long, and I’m not sure if anything I said is unclear. If it is, let me know and I’ll take another shot…

* Note that the memory I speak of has nothing to do with dream recall. Dream recall is important in general, but for different reasons.

Everything in this thread is absolutely brilliant - sorry for clogging up your notifications by liking almost every damn post!

Your explanation of memory makes a lot of sense to me - and was how I'd started to have a lot of my lucids. Instead of a sudden burst of awareness and RCing I'd simply be able to notice and feel that everything around me wasn't real - the awareness that I am not awake and am dreaming. I've sort of lost this due to the way school/work/etc tend to take over every now and then.

Have you taken many breaks in your long time lucid dreaming? Do you have any tips for balancing your dreaming and training your memory/awareness with every day life and worries?

Thanks Dark_Merlin!

Originally Posted by Dark_Merlin

Your explanation of memory makes a lot of sense to me - and was how I'd started to have a lot of my lucids. Instead of a sudden burst of awareness and RCing I'd simply be able to notice and feel that everything around me wasn't real - the awareness that I am not awake and am dreaming. I've sort of lost this due to the way school/work/etc tend to take over every now and then.

Well get it back, man! See below...

Have you taken many breaks in your long time lucid dreaming? Do you have any tips for balancing your dreaming and training your memory/awareness with every day life and worries?

I've taken a few breaks -- though rarely on purpose -- over the years. The most major one was an almost-ten-year gap in the late '80's-early '90's when I allowed the "joy" of career and its accompanying dollars and materialism to take a front burner to my dreaming quest, which in turn was put on a small back burner at a very low setting. When I finally "woke up" one day to the fact that I was leaving behind the one thing I wanted to do in life just for the thrill of riding a train to Manhattan every day, I realized, in hindsight, how easy it can be to lose my grip on the esoteric stuff as waking life gets more hectic, complicated, distracting, and above all, comfortable.

I then thought long and hard about just what you are asking -- well then, how can I establish a balance? After a time I realized that you really cannot. Waking reality, especially in the West, is simply not conducive to developing spiritually; the two just don't get along. So instead of trying to balance -- which I had incorrectly thought I had been doing during that stretch -- I established priorities. "Dream Stuff," as my wife calls it, became the project, and everything else was secondary. I stayed at my job for ten more years (got a few promotions, a BMW, a house, and lots of other stuff in the process, so materialism was still quite active), but now I was more focused on dreaming...I blew dust off a book I had started in the '80's, finished it, and then wrote another -- both heavily based on my dreams and my opinions of them; I bought LaBerge's toys -- like, all of them -- and discovered that there was no quick fix in regaining my lucid skills; I read extensively, and ultimately got involved in that newfangled Internet thing in the early '00's. I did more, but my point here is that I got back to dream work while still succeeding at my job and living comfortably.

About 80% of what I term "dream work" was working on my self-awareness (memory came much later). Ironically, dealing with work -- and with being a commuter Zombie -- became much easier as I built my self-awareness and found a sense of Self. In a sense, you find the daily grind much easier to bear when you know that, in the end, none of it matters and it ain't all about you!

I took a couple of shorter breaks in the last few years, especially after I retired (at 42) in '04 to a life of dreaming, writing, and art. Part of the retirement included fixing up the old house we moved into, and that can be extremely distracting. But in time I reset priorities and the dream stuff stayed mostly on that front burner.

Did you see any "tips for balancing your dreaming and training your memory/awareness with every day life and worries?" Me neither, though I was sure I'd included them... I guess the only real tip is that self-awareness is not something you can fit in to your schedule; it needs to be a major part of your life, especially if you want to bring it into your dreams. It is literally an attitude that needs to be a part of you, and not a skill. Regarding memory, which in this case is a skill, there are lots of routines, exercises, and RC's you can jam into your day to strengthen it. I won't recommend anything specific, though if you can get something like LaBerge's P.E.S.T. that I mentioned somewhere above, that would help.

So I guess the bottom line here is that if you want the fundamentals to work for you, you must make them important to you -- more important than short-cuts, techniques, or any of the ancillary stuff they talk about here. Sorry it took so long to say that, thanks for staying with me if you did. If you want me to be more specific on the awareness bit, let me know and I'll try, but bear with me if I keep speaking in circles about it...

I suppose the priority is something I've been trying to figure out - do I decide to put dreaming as the main priority or do I let school and work take priority over it? It's a personal choice and I know somewhere down the line I'm going to choose dreaming - it's just a matter of when, for me.

I get what you mean about it being an attitude - when I was in that self-aware mindset it was when I had put dreaming above all else, was meditating every day, working on my DVASA guidebook etc. When it really becomes a part of who you are and is a part of everything you do it just carries over naturally to your dreams! It makes a lot more sense now

And don't worry about typing out long winded explanations! I don't think there's any short way around gaining an understanding for this other than experience or reading lots, and lots, and lots and lots.

Originally Posted by Dark_Merlin

I suppose the priority is something I've been trying to figure out - do I decide to put dreaming as the main priority or do I let school and work take priority over it? It's a personal choice and I know somewhere down the line I'm going to choose dreaming - it's just a matter of when, for me.

Yup.

I get what you mean about it being an attitude - when I was in that self-aware mindset it was when I had put dreaming above all else, was meditating every day, working on my DVASA guidebook etc. When it really becomes a part of who you are and is a part of everything you do it just carries over naturally to your dreams! It makes a lot more sense now

Yup.

And don't worry about typing out long winded explanations! I don't think there's any short way around gaining an understanding for this other than experience or reading lots, and lots, and lots and lots.

And Yup! Thanks for understanding!

I reckon all of us wouldn't mind retiring at 42 'to a life of dreaming, writing and art', sounds awesome

I think the balance between daily life and dreamwork is an issue that worries us all. I know what's usually on my mind when I should be thinking about study...