Often, at night, when I am sleeping and dreaming, I am aware that I am dreaming. I thought it was weird, that maybe something was wrong with my brain. It's kind of like daydreaming only you're asleep. Was this being caused by something in my diet? A medication? A brain tumor? Or was I just going insane? It kept happening, night after night.
What do I mean, being aware that I am dreaming? It's almost like I am monitoring my dream. I am both inside the dream and outside of the dream, observing and commenting to myself on what is happening in the dream. Here's an example. Let's say I'm sound asleep and dreaming that I am talking to a dog ... and the dog is talking to me. Yes, I'm having a two-way conversation with a dog. At the same time, maybe in another part of my brain, I am observing the dream and thinking, "What the heck? Dogs don't exactly speak English. How is the dog talking to me? WHY is the dog speaking to me? Where did this crazy dream come from?" I am asleep but aware that I'm dreaming.
This being aware that I'm dreaming is happening every night. I became concerned so I looked it up on the internet. I found it. It's called "lucid dreaming". It's weird, interesting and kind of fun. "Lucid dreaming" is a documented and normal fairly common thing. And it adds a new dimension to my dreams. Being aware that you are dreaming is kinda cool. "Hey, I'm dreaming". It also helps to know you're dreaming if you have an unpleasant dream or a nightmare; it makes the dream less frightening and allows you to possibly wake yourself up if things get too scary.
And often, while lucid dreaming, I am amused or pleased by my dream. Being aware that I am dreaming can be an interesting and fun phenomenon. Especially if I'm having a sexy dream! It's almost like the real thing. Maybe better. And sometimes I can even guide the action. Oh, yeah!
Lucid dreaming. Now that, dreamwise, I know I'm not ill or crazy, lucid dreaming is cool. And interesting. And enlightening. And often fun. There are no limits as to what I can dream and I can be aware of what I'm dreaming as I'm dreaming it. I now look forward to lucid dreaming, every night. Tonight maybe I'll dream I'm a superhero. Or a billionaire. Or a writer.
- William Shakespeare
