awareness is bad

[johoiada]

i read naiya's guide to wilds and dilds this morning(thank you so much) and it mentioned that you should build up awareness during the day and try to be lucid while awake. so i figured that i would test my awareness today and see where i stand. so i tried to keep my mind focus on lucid dreaming and that reality is subjective. i thought that i would be able to hold this relatively good state of awareness for a couple of hours but it turns out that i was only able to hold it for about 15 minutes. after that tons of unwanted thoughts started to rush into my brain and i would try to clear them out but the kept pushing as if someone else was thinking for me. the thing is that i am always forgetting and misplacing things so my awareness is crap. and how do i know if i am aware. is it when i am aware of my surroundings? is it when i am aware that i am awake or alive? what does it feel like to be aware? and how would i be able to feel the difference between dreaming and reality? i know its a lot of questions but any comments would be greatly apreciated.

[TriGoon]

I've found her advice to be very helpful. I interpreted it just to mean to be aware through your day. Some people, as they go through life, focus on one thing at a time. They'll decide they need to go to work, and while they drive they're thinking about work. Then they get to work, but they don't really remember the drive. If you were aware during that drive, you coulda pointed out that traffic might have been heavier/lighter than usual, a sign was down, etc. If you focus on one thing while dreaming, then you'll only be aware of that thing, and you won't realize that tons of other things are unnatural. So I've just been making a conscious effort to be aware of what's going on around me. Seems to be helping, I've had 3 lucids over the last week, all of them from just being aware that things weren't fitting together. Though only one was over 10min.

[Supernova]

Be actively observing and interpreting the world around you instead of passively, as most people do much of their day, you'll hear people refer to this as being "on autopilot"

[johoiada]

So I've just been making a conscious effort to be aware of what's going on around me. Seems to be helping, I've had 3 lucids over the last week, all of them from just being aware that things weren't fitting together. Though only one was over 10min. by being aware of whats going on around you what do you mean. for exemple right now i'm in school and as i'm typing this should recognize that there are other people and try to focus on everything?

[allensig3654]

the thoughts that come rushing into your head should not be ignored. Observe the thoughts but do not react to them. Eventually thoughts will become weaker and you will be more in the moment, which is the same as being aware. There is a great article on this, but I can't find it on this computer. I may post it later when I get home.