Thread: Do you keep your interest in lucid dreaming a secret from others?

Originally Posted by Sibyline

To Mismagius and AstralVagabond, I feel compelled to add:



I'll tell people once in a while, and I usually get 0 interest from them. The hippies like it, though, so I talk to them. My dad thinks it's really odd, but has recently been forced to come around a bit since my daughter also started LDing. Now he accepts it as possible, but he doesn't really get it.

In general, I find that people get really uncomfortable if you tell them about any sort of dream you have had. It's not polite conversation or something.

("Muggles?"
"Non-lucid folk.")

Jeez, this thread is so depressing. Who knew you could meet so much negative backlash for this kind of thing? So, really, the people being discussed here are like the Dursley-type muggles in some ways - so uncomfortable with the extraordinary and quick to look down on people trying anything fantastic or unusual. (And oh, lucid dreaming is such a fantastic ability to have! Surely like creating a world where you can do magic of your own...)

Yeah, I don't get why people don't like it when you talk about your dreams either. If it's not obviously related to something personal that isn't appropriate for the given conversation, what? What am I doing? Opening myself for a villain to psychoanalyse me and calculate all my weak spots with the crucial knowledge that I dreamed about a giant turkey flying in a spaceship and consuming the entire town's bagel supply?

The reactions I get from people are usually something like "aha...", followed by attempts to change the subject.

Yeah I know that it's not "important" to make people practice lucid dreaming, but it's fun to share awesome things with other people, and it becomes kind of frustrating when people are so put off by lucid dreaming when lucid dreams are obviously one of the coolest things anyone can experience.

Originally Posted by AstralVagabond

("Muggles?"
"Non-lucid folk.")

Please, can we make this official? Perfect moniker. It should go in the Wiki and everything!

That's actually really cool, calling non-lucid folk 'Muggles'! I should start calling people that if they show signs of being Dursley-ish.

Haha! I didn't know that joke would get so big. Well, Oxford Dictionary already defines 'muggle' as 'a person who is not conversant with a particular activity or skill,' so... (No, really. Look it up. )

"Muggles", haha great term, but I would suggest that it should be reserved for those who actually are against lucid dreaming and discourage you from practicing it.
It would be slightly unfair to call people muggles just because they haven't quite discovered lucid dreaming yet, because chances are that they would love the idea if someone mentioned it to them.

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

"Muggles", haha great term, but I would suggest that it should be reserved for those who actually are against lucid dreaming and discourage you from practicing it.
It would be slightly unfair to call people muggles just because they haven't quite discovered lucid dreaming yet, because chances are that they would love the idea if someone mentioned it to them.

As a comparison, Morpheus is a lucid dreamer, and Neo starts out as a muggle.

Ah, good point. Although in Harry Potter terminology muggles are non magic folk, so even if someone isn't against lucid dreaming they could still be considered a muggle since they are not lucid dreamers themselves.

Originally Posted by Mismagius

Ah, good point. Although in Harry Potter terminology muggles are non magic folk, so even if someone isn't against lucid dreaming they could still be considered a muggle since they are not lucid dreamers themselves.

Ah, I see your point.
Well, when I think about it almost everyone who doesn't seem that familiar with lucid dreaming tend to dismiss the subject as quickly as possible, so... yeah. xD

I don't keep it a secret, but I also don't mention it to people I suspect would have a problem with it. I'm pretty good at telling who that is.

My dad seemed vaguely interested, a couple of coworkers of mine thought it sounded cool. My sister pretty much doesn't care. My mom probably wouldn't approve so I haven't told her about it.

In school, my English teacher gave everyone in the class the opportunity to talk about anything you wanted to for a minute to practice public speaking. So, what did I talk about? Lucid dreaming of course. I went and stood in front of the class of 30+ people, explaining the very basics of LDing, such as being able to do anything you want, yada yada yada etc. The reaction I got from the class was.. nonexistent. I was surprised. No one said ANYTHING. No "wtf"s, no "cool"s, not anything. They just sat there in total silence.

That was a couple months ago and to this day no one has ever brought the subject back up to me. I'm just appalled how some people can literally show no interest in such an amazing thing like lucid dreaming.. Oh well... I guess one of the cool things about lucid dreaming is that its so esoteric, but I hope for a day that humans will be more open minded to more things.

</rant>

Originally Posted by mahoogie

In school, my English teacher gave everyone in the class the opportunity to talk about anything you wanted to for a minute to practice public speaking. So, what did I talk about? Lucid dreaming of course. I went and stood in front of the class of 30+ people, explaining the very basics of LDing, such as being able to do anything you want, yada yada yada etc. The reaction I got from the class was.. nonexistent. I was surprised. No one said ANYTHING. No "wtf"s, no "cool"s, not anything. They just sat there in total silence.

That was a couple months ago and to this day no one has ever brought the subject back up to me. I'm just appalled how some people can literally show no interest in such an amazing thing like lucid dreaming.. Oh well... I guess one of the cool things about lucid dreaming is that its so esoteric, but I hope for a day that humans will be more open minded to more things.

</rant>

I am actually quite ambivalent about this.
I do want to tell other people about it and make it more appreciated and well-known, but at the same time I kind of like how it is such an underground activity that only we seem to know about.
I have always been a sucker for underground and unusual stuff, and I feel like part of the charm about lucid dreaming might be lost if it becomes too mainstream.

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I am actually quite ambivalent about this.
I do want to tell other people about it and make it more appreciated and well-known, but at the same time I kind of like how it is such an underground activity that only we seem to know about.
I have always been a sucker for underground and unusual stuff, and I feel like part of the charm about lucid dreaming might be lost if it becomes too mainstream.

Yeah, same here. Of course, lucid dreaming will still be awesome even if a lot of people know about it; but I love being the only one in, like, probably my whole school who knows about this secret, underground gold mine except for the people whom I've told about it.

Still, I wish most people didn't have such irksome reactions about it when they do hear about it and I wanna get some of my friends in on it. The more the merrier in the circle of friendship!

I've talked to a few friends about it; some seem interested, a lot don't believe it's possible. Nobody has tried to burn me at a stake yet though

I really don't understand why so many people have such problems realizing the potentials of lucid dreaming.
Doesn't everyone occasionally feel extra invigorated after a pleasant dream, and doesn't everyone feel gloomy after a nightmare?
Obviously their dreams affect how they feel in the mornings, and since I am sure most people have experienced occasional lucid dreams, why is it so hard for them to simply combine these two scenarios - realizing you are dreaming and intentionally creating those pleasant experiences?
I mean, purple tigers with 800 legs don't exist, but I can easily imagine one because I understand the concepts "purple", "tiger", "800" and "legs".
Lucid dreams can be broken down into equally intuitive components - "dream" and "self-aware".

Oh yeah AND my father thinks it's cool, and a couple of my friends.

Ya know I think it requires you to be a total nerd to call somebody a muggle.

I keep it a secret. My family is Dursley-ish.

Originally Posted by Ginsan

Ya know I think it requires you to be a total nerd to call somebody a muggle.

You say that as if it's a bad thing.

Originally Posted by Ginsan

Ya know I think it requires you to be a total nerd to call somebody a muggle.

Personally, I think nerds are extremely cool.

Yeah, I think it's kind of cool how lucid dreaming is an underground activity, like we're all wizards or something. But it would also be nice if it wasn't, or at least people had better reactions to it like AstralVagabond said.

Originally Posted by Ginsan

Ya know I think it requires you to be a total nerd to call somebody a muggle.

Well I'm a big Harry Potter fan, so I'm fine with that

Originally Posted by Anju

I keep it a secret. My family is Dursley-ish.

Ahh, that's too bad Anju :C

Originally Posted by Laurelindo

I really don't understand why so many people have such problems realizing the potentials of lucid dreaming.
Doesn't everyone occasionally feel extra invigorated after a pleasant dream, and doesn't everyone feel gloomy after a nightmare?

Actually, I normally feel relieved most of all after I have a nightmare because, upon waking up, I know that what happened in the nightmare is over and not real. But everything else you say is true! I just don't get what people's problem with this stuff is.

Originally Posted by Mismagius

Well I'm a big Harry Potter fan, so I'm fine with that

Harry Potter fans unite!

Originally Posted by AstralVagabond

Actually, I normally feel relieved most of all after I have a nightmare because, upon waking up, I know that what happened in the nightmare is over and not real. But everything else you say is true! I just don't get what people's problem with this stuff is.

I just asked my brother why he wasn't interested in lucid dreaming.

His response: "Just because. It isn't interesting."

Me: "Not at all?"

Him: "Nope."

I never knew he was that boring... Makes me wonder how much he really knows about lucid dreaming. Maybe I'll make a "5 Reasons Why You Should Try Lucid Dreaming" and put it on his desk or something... (Controlling dreams and doing whatever you want, of course, being #1.)

Originally Posted by Sibyline

Originally Posted by Wanderingoak

I never knew he was that boring... Makes me wonder how much he really knows about lucid dreaming. Maybe I'll make a "5 Reasons Why You Should Try Lucid Dreaming" and put it on his desk or something... (Controlling dreams and doing whatever you want, of course, being #1.)

Lucid dreaming has the best recreational and practical purposes behind it! I'll bet your brother just doesn't understand it well enough. He could come around...

Originally Posted by Ginsan

There is a good reason for which the Ministry makes all animagi put down their names on a list, Mr. Potter.