by Caleb Peter

Dreaming has always fascinated me. In my psychology class last year, we had assignments to journal our dreams for a week. I was disappointed in my dreams. I couldn’t remember much and what I did remember was dull. The dreams were nothing like the reality-bending dreams in the movie “Inception”. I thought it was just science fiction to have the ability to control dreams, until I learned about lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming is the ability to become self aware and control a dream. Virtual reality goggles are becoming popular these days, but we are be forgetting the most realistic virtual reality hidden deep in our minds, eight hours a night. When one lucid dreams, they can do anything: fly, ride a unicorn, talk to your favorite TV character, create art or practice a skill. Dreaming has been known to change moods and even outlooks on life. The possibilities are endless.  Lucid dreaming is scientifically proven to have benefits. Famous creators such as Albert Einstein and Stephen King have been known to use lucid dreaming to practice their skill or discover new ideas.

Some people are born with the ability to lucid dream, but sadly I didn’t inherit that skill. I’ll have to learn how to do it. I’ve been reading articles and watching videos to learn. Beginners are supposed to journal their dreams every morning. I have been frequently asking myself, “Am I in a dream?” and I’ve been counting my fingers because in a dream, numbers are blurry. If you get into the habit of doing these actions in real life, you will carry out these habits in the dream world. When you do one of these “reality checks” and you realize you are in a dream, you can lucid dream if you stay calm.

After only a day of getting into the habit of checking reality, it’s time I put it to the test. I will describe in the next paragraph my experience in the morning:

Well, my dream was a little disappointing. The only hazy memory I have of the dream is that there were rats and mice in my refrigerator. What a cool dream, right? On the positive side, I do remember many times trying to take control of the dream, only for the dream to collapse, but at least I did recognize I was in a dream. It’s a good start to a skill that I will learn that will last a lifetime if I practice it enough.

To finish this column, I’ll quote a great dreamer named Albert Einstein, “The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.”