Tip for beginners regarding reality checks (mistake I used to make a lot...)

Hey guys,

For experienced LD'ers this is probably common sense, however I see a lot of threads from beginners who seem to be a bit confused about how reality checks relate to lucid dreaming. I made this exact same mistake, and I would have saved a bit of time if somebody had told me this.

When I first tried to get into lucid dreaming, I thought the idea of reality checks was as follows; you get into a habit of performing a RC regularly while awake. Sometime you will be asleep, go for your regular RC and voila! Your fingers will be all morphed, or can go through your hand (depending on which test you are using). You are now lucid, and can control your dream. While this may be the case sometimes, it has never worked that way for me. Generally what happens as you get experienced is that reality checks aren't necessary to become lucid. You should still do them, however something is seen/heard/felt or otherwise experienced which is so far divorced from reality that you just know it's a dream. For example, last night I dreamed that a female friend and I were romantically linked. This seemed normal at first, but then I realised that I knew nothing about this relationship...I had no idea how long we'd been together, and when I asked her she became somebody else. It was obviously a dream.

What you really should be doing rather than simply performing RCs throughout the day is to focus on being the on the lookout for your dreamsigns or experiences which just don't seem right. By performing RCs at these times you are getting into a good habit of associating these things with lucid dreaming. For those who haven't yet had a lucid dream, keep faith! Sometime in the very near future you will be dreaming about something bizarre and a big lightbulb will go off in your head.

Sorry if this is common sense for most, and if anybody disagrees with some or all of this then please post here! I am still a newbie relative to a lot of the veterans here. I just think it is important to emphasize the importance of linking reality checks with dreamsigns and bizarre experiences rather than performing them periodically throughout the day. Good luck folks!