Is Life a Lucid Dream?

A dream becomes lucid the moment you realize you're dreaming. When you become lucid in your dream, the whole dream world changes. It's as if it comes alive, colors become vibrant, your senses are enhanced, and you become deeply present. You feel yourself breathing. You are self-aware... and most importantly, if it is a completely lucid dream, you fully realize that everything you see, feel and experience in this dream world is an extension of your own consciousness.

In a semi-lucid dream, you realize you're dreaming, and feel very alive, but you still think that your dream world is separate from you; So you interact as if it's real. You may do fun and exciting things, like fly around, jump long distances, and interact with people, but you forget they are part of you. Maybe there are adversaries and you feel extra powerful - you can escape or fight them - but if you were fully in your lucid dream awareness you would realize you are just fighting your own self (and that would probably just make you laugh).

So what does this have to do with waking life?

Well, for many years I've held this perspective that life really is more like a dream than it is like a fixed, physical reality. And recently I've deepened my study of this perspective with a wonderful teacher and author named Paul Levy (highly recommended). This has inspired me to renew my commitment to making my life lucid.

I never bring anything into my writing or my work with clients that I don't use for myself. I am my own living laboratory. So I invite you to explore this perspective with me, as I delve deeper into this idea in my next series of newsletters.

What's the point of making your life like a lucid dream? Well, I'm not going to say you can levitate or fly over the mountains, but I will tell you that the more you engage with this dream awareness, the more magical, fluid and interesting life becomes. Synchronicity increases (coincidences that are obviously not random), psychic phenomena increase, and you begin to see that you have far more freedom and influence over your life than you ever realized before.

For now, I will leave you with one vitally important key to understanding how you are connected to your outer reality:

Life will always reflect back to you whatever you believe is reality. If you don't realize it's your dream, then you get stuck in a feedback loop. You see what you take to be reality. And the more you see it and believe in what you see, the more of that there is. And the more proof there is of that reality.

- Just like in your night dreams, you can be unaware you're dreaming (weird, scary, random, and not in control) , or you can be partially aware you're dreaming (less scary, exciting, fun but still hard to control much), or fully aware/lucid (a deep and comforting realization that everything is completely OK).

Think of your waking life the same way. Life gets frustrating, stressful and out of control as you forget that it's your dream. Life gets better, brighter and more balanced the more you remember that it's your dream. You don't have to do anything about it. All that's needed is to realize it and remember it.