A while ago, Michel Vuijlstreke wrote a blog post (dutch) that stayed with me – he described how he has lucid dreams. He remains aware of and can control his dreams, like pick them up where they left off.

Even stranger, he sometimes manages to be aware of the bits in between, when you don’t dream. This, apparently, is somewhere between frightening and boring, because there’s no concept of time.

This made me decide to pay attention – i’m an average person, where sleep is concerned, i think.

I lie in bed, and relax. Either i’m just thinking about this and that, or i’m telling myself a story (full visual surround). And then, out of the blue, gibberish start slipping in, as if i’m talking in a language i don’t know. If i’m on visual, I get psychedelic stuff, like green mandelbrots sets popping up in an otherwise normal landscape.

And then, poof, i’m gone. My brain slips into a mode where consciousness can’t follow, and that’s me for the night. Lights out.

Sometimes i remember dreams – when i wake up in the middle of a dream, or if i’m lying in. But to be honest, it’s not that often. And i can rarely steer them.

Maybe that’s something to look into, i’ve heard there are exercises – take a boring dream and give it a spin, cage the scare monsters, or jump up and fly … sounds good to me.