Welcome To The Machine

[FreshBrains]

Well, gonna start a Dream Journal here... I think it will help, anyway. I'll write down what dreams I remember, and try to recollect them while typing. That always helps for me, since I can write so much more than I could by hand. Anyway... To bed I go! And for my first post... WHAT I SHALL ATTEMPT TONIGHT?! I will try WBTB, at around 5:00 AM, since I normally awaken at 6:00. I will use quiet music this time, as opposed to my awful alarm clock. That thing is about as subtle as using chuck norris kicking you in the face as an alarm! Less painful, though. At least for my face, it is. I will wake up, and read a REALLY long FAQ about lucid dreams, do HILD (I'm becoming pretty good at it during the day, quite a trippy feeling, that.) and just repeat while I'm falling asleep: "I WILL remember my dreams, I WILL remember my dreams..." Here goes nothing!

[FreshBrains]

Well, a fat lot of good that did me. I forgot to set my alarm! Unbelieveable. Oh well, musn't get discouraged. This can't happen instantly, right?

[baronbrocoli]

Don't get discouraged. I entered a long dry spell right after I started trying to induce them, but it really payed off with 7 LD's this month. It's my new record Just keep trying and try to find the technique taht is aprreproate for you. And let me tell ya, if your LD takes a long time to come, the wait will be worth it

[FreshBrains]

Okay... Gonna set my alarm CORRECTLY tonight. I will wake at 90 minute intervals. I am determined to remember something tonight!

[Courtney Mae]

Yay.

[TygrHawk]

Hey there FB! Good to see that you have a DJ started, but the title distresses me a bit. One of the most important things in learning to LD and gaining control of your dreams is to have confidence that it will happen. Calling your DJ a "Journal O' Failure" seems to imply that you expect to fail at your attempts. If that's what you expect, then that's almost certainly what will happen. Perhaps that's just some humor on your part and you don't really feel that way, but still just looking at that title every day might plant enough doubt in your mind to hinder your progress. I highly suggest you change it.

[FreshBrains]

I'm pretty sure I was joking... but okay, I'll change it. Anyway... I remembered a rather long dream last night! I shall call it.. Normalcy! Anyway, it just starts with a false awakening... Except I didn't know it was one, of course. Then I went through my regular morning routine, and got to school... Everything went as it would on a regular day, except I slept through every class! Everybody was how they are in real life, all of the teachers teaching the correct subjects, etc. I was kind of expecting something weird or just plain crazy, but I guess I didn't pay any mind to anything that didn't make sense. The strange thing is, my iPod's alarm function still didn't work! I slept right through the night, forgetting to set my alarm, AND I slept in too late! I woke up at 6:50, exactly the same moment I would normally leave my house. And, of all times, the one day where I'm in the biggest rush, I actually remembered something! Go figure. Perhaps it was because of the focus I had when I went to sleep... I was in complete zen-mode, totally drilling the message "REMEMBER, YOU STUPID SUBCONCIOUS!" into my head, over and over, using HILD again and again. When I was done with that, I stayed up far later than I wanted (About 10:00) and I still remembered! I can hardly believe it. This time I'll just set my normal alarm. It may be about as pleasant as drinking battery acid, but it does wake me up reliably.

[Stag_Boy]

Excellent!! MUHAHWHAHA!!! Lol but serioulsy, keep at it. It looks as if your makin good progress! I am a little disturbed about how youre insulting and yelling at your sub-concious. It might start not liking you, and prevent you from getting lucids Become freinds with your sub-concious. haha lol *Throws a pie*

[FreshBrains]

Why must I always have objects thrown at me when I speak? Anyway, I remember a few bits of one... Internets! I'm wating up to a guy using a PC, and he starts complaining about how "he can't keep up" with the internet! Then he goes on a VERY long speech about it... I end up falling asleep within the dream, and wake up... I think it's an FA for a second, but then realize better. I was really awake... Kind of dissapointing, actually.

[baronbrocoli]

keep up the good work! In a few weeks you'll recall a whole lot more! G'luck!

[FreshBrains]

No entry last night because of no recall Still, will persist, but without an alarm. It simply does not work! Whenever that thing goes off, I get jolted awake so quickly that I forget any dreams I would have been able to write down. So, I will get another alarm clock, preferably one that uses music.

[baronbrocoli]

I have the same problem with alarm clocks O_o I would suggest an autosuggestion method to wake up, like the one used in MILD in which you convince yourself that "you will wake up after every dream and remember it". It usually works

[FreshBrains]

I'll give it a shot, although I find it hard to get to sleep unless I let my mind wander. I'll try, though!

[FreshBrains]

Not again! I set my alarm, this utterly KILLING any memory I would have had... I thought it wasn't saturday! God, that was stupid...

[FreshBrains]

W00t! Second page! Okay, last night went remarably well! I remembered 3 dreams all told. The first was kinda... uh, explicit, hence the private entry. One was vivid, yet short, and in one I missed at least 2 dreamsigns! First one, I was at a baseball field, wherin I missed the first dreamsign. It's the wrong field! I play with a league that plays on high-school sized fields, and this was for all intents and purposes, a little league field. I'm very mad at this point, because somebody's been transfered onto my team, where I miss my second dreamsign. He does NOT play baseball, and I'm glad for that. He couldn't be playing, because he's at least suspended from my school now. He was trying to sell pot in a bathroom! Idiot. Anyway, I also missed yet another sign... Everybody had the same number on their uniforms! MY number! Second dream, I just remember a bit of it. I remember I was skiing, nothing more... Only I'm pretty damn good! I'm pretty good at skiing anyway, but in this case, all I remember was being at the summit of a mountian I went to in February. It's in Stowe, Vermont, if anybody's been there. I'm flying past a turn, poles tucked in, everything blurred from everything flying past me, and... That's all I remember. The third? Well, that's something for me to know, and for nobody to find out. Sorry!

[FreshBrains]

Blargh. School today, meaning a rush from the moment I wake up, meaning no dream recall. Still, I only have school until the 21st, so I'll have a LOT more time to dedicate to this by the end of the month.

[FreshBrains]

I just started going over what I've written in my DJ up in my room so far, and I've found the problem. I've set my alarm a few times so far. For every time I set my alarm at 2:00 AM or earlier, I don't remember anything. However, when I set it for 4:00 AM, I remembered 4 dreams. When I set it to 4:00 AM a different time, I didn't remember anything and went back to sleep, then remembered a dream upon awakening in the morning. Also! Most people have a scale for LD's/Dreams, and I think it's time for me to start one! Okay, first for regular dreams. Level of Vividness *= Very blurry/not clear, nothing but a single scene or short part remembered upon awakening. * *= A decently long portion is remembered, although not many specific events can be pointed out. * * *= Pretty clear. The memory may end abruptly, or the whole thing might be a little unclear. A key part may be missing, such as certian people, or possible dreamsigns. * * * *= Very clear. Nearly the entire dream can be remembered, and very few points are missing. * * * * *= Crystal clear. Everything is remembered from beginning to end, and many specific events can be pointed out. I'll also put a couple of other footnotes at the bottom, such as my mood during the dream, or when I wake up, and what could have influenced the dream, such as what I did during the day. Now, I will make a scale for LD's... I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, but I may as well get it done. Levels of Lucidity *= Almost nothing. I can realize that something's amiss, but nothing more. * *= A little more coherent thought. I can realize something's amiss, and perhaps make the connection to being asleep. * * *= I realize I'm asleep, at least for a while. Perhaps something will distract me, and I'll lose lucidity, but it was there nonetheless. * * * *= My analytical mind is definitely waking up. I'm fully aware that I'm in a dream, although the realization might not come right after the start of the dream. * * * * *= Fully lucid from the beginning, and I can start to try to assert some control from the get-go. Levels of Control (I wish!) *= Either very little works, or I can create an object or two. * *= I can start to manipulate objects, although they may not react in the way I want. * * *= I can change people or objects well, but I cannot create anything or change the scene, or vice-versa. * * * *= Most everything can be done, although one or two things I try may not turn out as planned. * * * * *= I am God! Everything goes exactly how I want it to, or better. (Yeah, I'm not holding my breath for that to happen, but one can hope.)

[FreshBrains]

Strange problem seems to be forming. I keep setting my alarm for 4:05, the time I set it for when I remembered more, and I keep waking up too early! Without my alarm, I keep waking up at 2:00 for no reason! There's got to be a way to get by this, but I don't know how...

[FreshBrains]

Hitman? GTA? Who knows? Vividness: ** Very unclear, and I can only remember a few specific details. It took place in a very strange scene, resembling a mission in Hitman: Blood Money, which I played before going to bed, which makes sense. I remember seeing a detailed overhead map like the one in the game. I don't remember many events, just some scenes... More than one, though, which constitutes a ** rating. Still not good enough! I have to fine-tune my alarm, try to match what I got on the 4th.

[FreshBrains]

Tonight I will try something I saw in BaronBroccoli's journal. I wake up pretty consistantly during the night, at around 2:00 AM almost every day, unless I'm dead tired. I will try to NOT MOVE at all, try to go into a WILD the instant I wake up. I got this from Baron Broccoli's journal, and it worked for him... I figure it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, I'll try WBTB if I can't relax enough. Better to have a fallback plan anyway. This is mostly for a bump. Sorry for the lack of updates, (Especially sloth. Thanks for adopting me!) but I haven't remembered anything at all thanks to school.

[FreshBrains]

Burritos? Vividness: * I don't remember anything at all, except for a nonchalant mood. And something about burritos. Seriously, that's it.

[FreshBrains]

Paralysis Vividness: N/A This isn't a dream... Wait, maybe it is... Auntie Em, is that you?.... Wait, never mind. Last night I got my first taste of Sleep Paralysis, though. I just lied down while I was going to sleep and paid too much attention to the stages of falling asleep... And I started to go into paralysis. I didn't see (Or, at least , I wasn't paying attention to what I would be seeing) or hear anything, but I felt some pretty strong vibrations. Eventually these got weaker until it was just a tingling sensation from my neck down, and it felt like I really shouldn't move anything. Not that I couldn't, mind you. I could move pretty easily, but I couldn't feel anything much, and everything felt incredibly stiff. I didn't delve deeper, since I hadn't gotten any sleep and wouldn't go into REM, but I will try tonight and see if I get more results. By the way, I used the breathing technique in Seeker's FAQ for WILDs, it works very well to relax myself. Eventually I lost most control over my breathing, but I could still tell that I was breathing at all, anyway... Leo Volont described it pretty well in the topic I made in General Discussion, going through the physical checklist of sleeping while stubbornly clutching to conciousness. I will certianly try again. This may sound weird, but... It wasn't that hard! It was easy for me to get into paralysis, which may mean I will be good at WILDs. I sure hope so!

[Vex Kitten]

Congrats on the SP. I personally hate the feeling of SP, had it all my life up until a few months ago. I used to use it to step right into a LD though. It was a bad/good thing in my case. If it's easy for you, keep it up and wish you the best of luck with it.

[FreshBrains]

Hoorays, an person replied! Anyway, I will use a method sloth told me tonight, akin to a WBTB... Only there's one problem. At around 5:00 AM, it's bright out! Too much so to be able to relax enough, because for me brightness= wakefulness. Instead, I will do it at around 3:00, get my mind pretty awake, and do the same thing I did before to get into sleep paralysis.

[FreshBrains]

Normalcy? (Not really) Clarity: **** Lucidness: N/A This one's odd. It takes place in the (SMALL) room in which I take AP Language Arts. The teacher's left the room for a while, (As she does IRL occasionaly) so everyone was just talking, scattering around the room. I'm talking with the person I sit next to, Leah. I don't know her very well, but in the dream she's flirting so much she's practically throwing herself at me, so I missed a truly BLATANT dreamsign. Again. I don't remember the entire conversation, just certian bits and that I woke up feeling so tense that I was about to have an ulcer. The parts I remember were very vivid though.