Uncovering the Life of Your Dreams

4

From the moment I got in a cab for the ride home until I passed out on my pillow, I recited two phrases: “I will have a lucid dream tonight,” and “Am I dreaming?” For the latter, I looked at my watch to see if it was working properly.

I must have drifted off to sleep around midnight. Sometime in the middle of the night, I had a dream. During it, I remember asking myself if I was dreaming. At that moment, I looked at my watch, and it wasn't working. I remember thinking “Oh my God!” Tom told us that stress could halt the process. I guess that meant good stress, too, because I suspect my excitement caused me to lose lucidity. The next thing I experienced was my alarm clock going off at its usual time, 6:59 a.m. I always set it for that time because I felt it gave me a one-minute head start for the day. Usually it didn't matter, because I would just lazily lie in bed for another twenty to thirty minutes, but this time I bounced out of bed, excited beyond belief. Besides having my first lucid dream experience, I remembered it, which was in and of itself exciting enough.

I showered, dressed quickly, and then tried calling Larry to tell him about the workshop and the dream. His voicemail picked up, and I left a message; I'm not sure what I was thinking, as Larry's day as a teacher would have already begun. But I still had some time before I needed to be at my office, so I decided to honor my promise to Larry and contact my old therapist, Jean Carlson.

The last time I'd seen Jean ...