#dreams

Page 1 of 4

Storytelling while asleep

About a billion years ago in college, I used experience every dream trope (false awakening, lucid dreaming, and just extremely vivid, movie-like dreams), along with sleep paralysis (which is kind of like dreaming, but you’re awake). Now I mostly have somewhat vivid dreams if I’m lucky, and the most I can lucid dream is detect that I’m in a dream or wake up on command, but can’t control it or stay asleep.

Dream Terminology

False awakening— A dream where you wake up…but you’re not actually awake. You’re still dreaming and you dreamed you woke up. Bonus if you’re stuck in a false awakening loop. 😑

Lucid dreaming— The ability to control your dreams and be aware that you’re dreaming. When I had this, I basically stopped having nightmares because I could control the outcome.

Sleep paralysis— Not really dream-related, but you feel like you’re dreaming. Sometimes you might wake up and realize you can’t move or open your eyes. And YMMV on this, but a lot of people sense an evil or malevolent entity nearby. IIRC, this really isn’t paranormal, but more psychological.