So, I have to deal with waking state me (WSM) pretty much all the time. He's kinda always there whenever I'm not asleep.

Surely the whole point of sleep and dreaming, both restorative- and appeal-wise, involves an escape from that very version of me. The letting go of everything I consciously understand myself to be. That sweet surrender.

And from an experiential point of view, surely the most intriguing aspect of sleeping and dreaming is the exploration of the subconscious. A shift in modes of reality, the entering of another realm if you like.

And in order for that to happen most effectively involves the complete abandonment of WSM. He's only going to interfere with the process. The less of a hold WSM has, the better.

And while asleep, dreaming me is a me I'm more interested in exploring than WSM. Were I ever to encounter WSM in a dream, I'm sure my reaction would be 'What the hell are you doing here?'. When retiring, I don't want to see that guy again until the next morning (and even then I may not be terribly glad to see him).

WSM would remove the purity of a dream. What once was a direct experience would suddenly become somehow tainted. An intrusion, a violation almost. A clash of two me-s that I had hoped would never meet. Whatever my dreams may be about, WSM has no place being there, and certainly no business interfering with them. I want them to run full course without him ever having had anything to do with them.

Dreams aren't for controlling or manipulating, they're for observing and experiencing. WSM gets heaps of other opportunities to have its say. Dreaming is a time for the subconscious to fly its freak flag, to have its say about what's going on. And that's a time for WSM to shut the hell up quite frankly.

Have I ever attempted lucid dreaming? No, and doubt I ever will. It flies in the face of everything I find intriguing and desirable about sleep and dreaming to begin with.