LikestoTrip:
Quote Originally Posted by LikesToTrip View Post
In the first paragraph you mentioned that "my methods and perspectives don't always mirror the general consensus of what works" but then you never explained what those methods and perspective are! What do you use that isn't mainstream in the world of LDing?
As I mentioned above, I never explained on purpose -- better to deal with things one bit at a time instead of in one giant unreadable chunk -- especially when that bit might be something a dreamer actually wants to know. At any rate...

My methods are, I suppose, ultimately very similar to what's on this site -- most of my LD's these days are effectively WBTB WILD's, or post false-awakening DILD's. But I have a feeling that that's where it stops. First, I do RC's backwards -- I use them during waking life to build my awareness and memory skills, and never do them during dreams at all -- why bother if I've got enough awareness in my system to know I'm dreaming already? Next, I have a feeling my WILD's wouldn't fit the bill here either, because I get no "vibrations," or similar, and I have never cared -- or even bothered to notice -- SP; stuff like that is ancillary to the LD, and should be set aside rather than noticed (or, worse, than focused upon). Also, once dreaming, I have no real interest in many of the standard LD tools anymore, like questioning DC's (indeed, I'm more interested in avoiding the pesky buggers as they crowd me, shout at me, and grab at my ankles when I try to leave the dream!), spinning, shouting out commands (tho I used to do that a lot, and eventually found it diminishes awareness rather than improves it), or other enhancing methods that might be effective, but are simply off my radar. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with any of those things, or with talking about them. What it means is that my experience no longer reflects that stuff, and I'm not sure people want to have discussions about spending long hours during waking life trying to build memory and awareness, and then have dreams about essentially nothing (wait for it):

That sort of points out my perspective as well: When I become strongly aware of my Self in the dream, I immediately set into motion (when I can) a plan that includes leaving the dream and going to a place where there is absolutely nothing, so that I can try to build new metaphors that don't exist in this reality. LD'ing is generally a form of entertainment for folks here -- again, that's an excellent reason to LD, and I did it for years. But my focus is using LD's as a tool to expand the boundaries of my conscious experience, and perhaps learn new ways to understand -- or effect -- reality. Nothing wrong with that, either, but it sure ain't the most mainstream attitude here.

I'm also curious about your OBE, and shared dreaming experiences. Do you actually believe you were out of body or sharing a dream? Or do you simply think your mind was tricking you into believing that?
No, I don't believe that I was actually out of body during my "OBE's", because I was never able to prove to myself it happened. Same with shared dreams. I'm not sure saying that my mind was tricking me is the right way to go here, because I was never asking or hoping for OBE's or shared dreams -- they just happened. In a sense, I had experiences that fit the descriptions of OBE's and shared dreams on this site, so literally by definition I had them. Because I never asked for them, or did anything intention-wise to create them inadvertently, all I can say is that they were simply odd experiences. Maybe someday I'll be able to prove to myself that they were real, but nor yet.

I hope that was enough for you, and that some of it made sense -- If not, ask me again; I'm bound to get it right eventually!