Lucid Dreaming...

Ever since I started lucid dreaming in November 2005, I opened up a whole new opportunity to try out and experiment with everything I could experiment... the impossible, the weird, in essence, all I could think off. In fact, it is limited to what I can think of. What I could not imagine would not manifest itself in my dreams, and what I could, would do so (whether intentionally or not).
So when I woke up this morning I was kinda frustrated that I missed an important dream sign... Signs that tell you that you are dreaming that is. After 89 lucid dreams since then, I thought it'd be easier. It turns out it's not.

I am actually quite surprised that when I let my friends know about this hobby of mine, that many did take interest, and quite a few have it every now and then.
This whole new world lucid dreaming opens up is very fascinating if you really think about it. Having a good lucid dream beats daydreaming, because well firstly, you are asleep and getting good rest that you really need, and secondly, it feels realistic. I was cut in a dream before and felt it hurt. It was so real that I thought I must have really cut myself somehow while sleeping, so when I woke up I checked... and what do you know? my skin is perfectly fine there.
Well, to continue, because the dreamland is absolutely controlled by your mind (what else could? you're asleep during that time) it just makes anything conceivable possible!

I am quite sure most would have heard of how the unconscious mind controls our dreams, which is why most of the time we cannot explain why what happens in our dreams happens. But with lucid dreaming, you end up being conscious while in your dreams. Taking control is not necessary, but the key idea is that you know that you are dreaming during that point, and you also have better memory recall anyway. So with your conscious mind awake, while your unconscious mind is also awake...that is my theory... it really makes that state a very powerful state.

My idea is that, while doing any stunts or actions on purpose in a lucid dream, you involve both parts of your mind rather actively: To do the creativity and reason logically what to do or what you want to do, as well as recollect memories to help you remember what you want to do in that dream requires the conscious mind. Then this information is passed on to the unconscious mind to render all the information for the five senses, as well as render the behaviours and simulate the real time environment as based on your past recollections, and all done in an instant. Really powerful isn't it?
E.g. you decide you want to be on a street with a few houses with big gardens and many trees. It is supposed to be a clear day and probably with a gentle breeze.... and that's basically all you need to actively think! The unconscious mind does the rest. It renders the shape, colour, texture, of the houses, distance, layout of the entire area, and does rotations, adjustments to compensate for the houses distances (I'm speaking computer sense here), lighting conditions, shadows. It renders the smell of a what it would think a day like this in a place like this would be. Noises of traffic? (default happens to be off for me, even though I live in a city. Probably cause I don't like it.) Then finally, the real time behaviours of the people down the street, the trees and leaves swaying in the breeze. All these are processed by the unconscious mind based on memories and experiences of the past all recollected and processed instantly!

So far I think the most fantastic thing is people. I occasionally look for someone whom I know in my lucid dream, and it is really stunning because they would appear and act so normal. It's as though the mind has recognised that each and individual person's character has a pattern, and using this, is able to simulate the reactions of that person in that environment. Even words that I have not heard them speak before come out clear as though I have actually heard them in real life.

Wonderful tis the mind...