Lucid weakness, and light switches

[Beksinski]

My experience with lucidity is limited. I've had a fascination with lucid dreams for a while now, but my dedication has wavered throughout the years. I got to a point last summer where I was becoming lucid several times a week, but at some point I got distracted by going back to college and other responsibilities. Even during that time, my lucidity was weak, and often times when things started to get out of control I would "forget" I was lucid. Anyway, that's enough background for now. I had a dream last night in which I became lucid. Since it's been a long time since I've last been lucid, I decided to test out my powers and get some practice.. The night sky was beautiful, and looked like a piece of artwork. I decided to flex my mental muscle by turning the sky orange. I would close my eyes, and focus hard on the sky being orange when I reopened them. The first time I opened them, it was orange, but faded back to dark blue after only a second. Subsequent times resulted in the sun starting to appear higher on the horizon every time I tried, but no orange sky. I decided to settle, and thought "Alright, since I seem to be able to make the sun rise, I'll just make it day." I then focussed on making the sun rise. I can't remember how well this worked -- I seem to have a "blackout" in my dream memory. The next thing I remember is there was snow on the ground, and it was day. (so I guess I succeeded with the sun) I, either still lucid or lucid for a second time, decided to practice again by melting the snow. I tried the same thing -- closed my eyes, focussed hard on the snow being gone when I opened them. However, I yet again failed. I walked inside a nearby building. At this point I decided, "Screw this, I'll just go somewhere else." In the past when I've attained lucidity, I've had a limited ability to "change my dream world" by closing my eyes and spinning in circles, focusing on where I want to be when I open them. However, this time whenever I opened my eyes again, I was still in the exact same room. I tried it two or three times, and it wasn't working. I started to lose confidence. "Am I dreaming?" I decided to test it using something I had heard in the movie "Waking Life" -- that light switches don't work properly in dreams. I walked over to a light switch nearby and flipped it -- nothing happened. "Alright, I definitely am dreaming." I then began to marvel, "Why don't light switches work in dreams?" I walked over to another light switch and flipped it. A lamp on the other side of the room flickered, but did not stay lit. I played with the light switch a few times, and I remember the light that sparked for a split second was beautiful. I don't remember anything past here; at some point I woke up. It's extremely unfortunate to be so powerless again, when a year ago I could almost fly, I could change my dreamworld at whim, and I possessed some weak but usable telepathic abilities. However, I suppose this does give me some goals to work toward. The one thing that baffles me, however, is that the "changing dream worlds" trick has never failed me before. It's always been a very useful last resort when things weren't going the way I wanted them to in a dream, or when a dream became a nightmare. Hopefully last night was just a one time failure and I haven't lost this ability. My last point of concern -- why is it that light switches don't work in dreams, or is this only true for me because I heard someone else say it and my brain accepts it as true? I find it hard to believe that we can fly, we can change our environments with our minds, and we can go anywhere we want to, yet we can't handle associating a light switch with a light bulb changing states. Is the light switch thing true for everyone? Why is it that they don't work?

[zobey]

That sucks man. I just had my first LD last night and I must have a natural talent because I was able to levetate my sister and throw her into the pool with my mind. I couldn't "spawn" objects though.

[Serith]

I heard it had something to do with the visual centers of the brain being less active when things are dark in a dream, which makes it hard to make the dream suddenly brighter like you can when turning on a light. I've heard some people claim to be able to turn on lights, but most can't. I suspect it has to do with the suddenness of the change, since most massive visual changes like that usually take at least a second. I find that I can make things brighter in dreams most of the time by staring at my hand until the detail and color appears, but lightswitches don't work for me either.

[Abra]

Lightswitches... Are like a box of chocolate. Y'never know what you're gonna get. I've had lightswitches that didn't work at all, lightswitches that flickered, lightswitches with delayed response (still triggered lucidity, as I was already doubting the reality of the dream), and a flashlight that worked perfectly. Wow, you are very determined to gain such control! As for myself, I've just been going with the flow these past few lucids, able to control my body (movements, flying, landing), and summon things. I wish I could change the dream environment!

[Beksinski]

I heard it had something to do with the visual centers of the brain being less active when things are dark in a dream, which makes it hard to make the dream suddenly brighter like you can when turning on a light. I've heard some people claim to be able to turn on lights, but most can't. I suspect it has to do with the suddenness of the change, since most massive visual changes like that usually take at least a second. I find that I can make things brighter in dreams most of the time by staring at my hand until the detail and color appears, but lightswitches don't work for me either. Interesting, but that makes sense. Toward the end of the dream, I was trying my hardest to make the light work when I flipped the switch. Maybe that's what caused me to wake up. Wow, you are very determined to gain such control! As for myself, I've just been going with the flow these past few lucids, able to control my body (movements, flying, landing), and summon things. I wish I could change the dream environment! In a way, it's almost a problem that I try to exhibit too much control. Whenever I become lucid, I get excited and try to do all sorts of difficult things. For example, one time I was lucid and decided to go "through the looking glass". I willed a mirror to allow me to walk through, and the dream became incredibly unstable. The world, and myself, started to look like a Picasso painting. I was unable to hold the dream world together, and after five or so seconds my body exploded into a thousand tiny replicas of myself. The small versions of me ran around like a swarm of ants, and I woke up. A lot of the time I end up losing lucidity or waking up because I try to do something crazy and things get out of my control.