Could it be that our perception of reality is based on our awareness? That we are not in waking life or in a dream but rather we are "in" awareness. That we have broken down this awareness into two categories (waking life & dreams) when we should be looking at it as a whole. So what I'm trying to say is Awareness is existence and not just the WL part.
If we can bring our focus back to the singular point that awareness is Me and it's what creates our reality, then in time we can reunite with awareness as a whole so dreams won't feel so hard to reach anymore. Thus later we will think of dreams as just a continuation of experiences that happen after we lay in bed because we can maintain awareness at all times.
I'm sure everyone has their own view of what reality is and I'm not saying that this is correct. I'm just having a philosophical moment that just came to me, which I'm sure you all can relate to since your here on this site trying to experience something more in reality through dreams. So I know awareness and self- awareness is a big part of lucid dreaming and wanting to implement it more in my life is what I'm trying to say here.
Trying to figure out what reality is has always intrigued me so please feel free to add on to this, give your take what reality is to you, or go further in discussing self-awareness is fine by me. I'd appreciate your responses. Peace.