Selski's Journal

[Selski]

I know why the gold figurines. I was reading a chapter in Otherwhere yesterday about souls being ingots of gold.

It never ceases to amaze me how much in a dream can be traced back to waking life. The gold figurines still could mean something to me and bleedthrough imagery shouldn't be dismissed just because they're bleedthroughs ... but the book is their origin. How anyone can interpret someone else's dream beats me. They are so personal.

[Stillwater]

I begin to tell him there's too much there, then say, 'oh never mind, you can have it all' when I realise I don't really want to keep all those little bitty coins.

This is how the governments and beauacracies slowly take over our lives, through quiet acts of acquiescence, lol.

It never ceases to amaze me how much in a dream can be traced back to waking life. The gold figurines still could mean something to me and bleedthrough imagery shouldn't be dismissed just because they're bleedthroughs ... but the book is their origin. How anyone can interpret someone else's dream beats me. They are so personal.

Yeah, I find this very true. There are some archetypes, like the dreams involving school so many people seem to have (myself included). But on the whole, the imagery and situations are very much connected to what our life experiences and view points are.

Like I might tell you having trouble with the bus system may have something to do with a general feeling of being unable to do basic tasks adequately to society's standards. But then you could easily respond that it has more to do with being absentminded due to recent worries, and you would know far more about your own mind.

[Selski]

This is how the governments and beauacracies slowly take over our lives, through quiet acts of acquiescence, lol.

You may very well be correct!  

After reading your reply I went off to do some household chores. Thinking some more about the coins, I suddenly 'got it' and burst out laughing.

A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge and ordered the rest of the Gateway Experience CDs from The Monroe Institute (so in a roundabout sort of way, the dream is projection-related). This was quite a commitment financially, but I had the money spare and so thought I'd treat myself. I live in the UK and the CDs are coming from America so there was extra P&P to pay, which was part of the total amount.

Anyway, on Friday I received a letter from Parcel Force who are charging me VAT and custom duty because it's coming from abroad. And it's not cheap. So I now have to pay extra which I thought had already been dealt with when I ordered the goods. I was a bit miffed to say the least.

Luckily it won't break the bank and I'll probably shoot an e-mail off to TMI to inform them to recalculate their P&P so others won't get stung.

The bus could very well be the journey of the CDs. It gets so far (this country) and then stops. To continue to get home (to me), I have to pay another bus fare.

You've got to love the way our dream minds work.  

[T-Man]

Selski,

I see you bought the Gateway set from TMI.  I know it is too late for you but others may benefit.  I bought the complete set from the following website:

https://www.hemi-sync.com

I have spent a lot of money there!  You can buy the digital downloads which are cheaper than the CD set which is great because you can throw them onto your mobile device.  I waited for awhile before I bought the set because it was fairly expensive but than in late fall before Christmas the entire website was 20% off so I jumped at the opportunity to buy the complete Gateway set.  I would assume that they would do this type of sale on an annual basis.

They also have various other titles at 20% off on a monthly basis. 

[Selski]

Thanks T-Man

As you say, too late for me...but having had a quick peek (wish I hadn't!), they do look a bit cheaper than TMI. I actually chose to go direct because I wanted TMI to have the full benefit of the cost. Also, I wanted the 'real deal' and was a bit wary of buying elsewhere, especially because of the outlay.

I'm sure they'll reap rewards over the coming years - I just have to get them to me first. 

BTW, I've been wondering...what does the T stand for in your username? 

[Selski]

T-Man - how do you use the tracks? I'm curious, as I bought Wave I years ago and mostly listened to just track 2.

I'm concerned I'm going to be inundated with dozens of tracks to choose from and not know where to start or how long to give each one and so on.

What was/is your method of listening to them - and how often?

(Sorry for all the questions!) 

[T-Man]

Selski,

I assumed the two websites were related.  I think I got to the Hemi-Sync website from TMI but I can't be 100% sure about that.  If you go to the 'About Us' link it is all about Robert A. Monroe.

The digital downloads are well organized into each Gateway Wave disc.  I am attempting to attach a photo (Sorry if it doesn't work).  I posted this message once already and got an error and lost my entire post to 'Otherwhere!'.  Maybe in some future projection I may catch up with it!



I have all the downloads on my iPad and listen to them via Blu tooth head phones as I lay on my sofa.  I try to listen to a couple lessons at a time usually only on weekends.  I find that many times I would fall asleep or would click out and not remember anything so I would listen to that session over again.  My goal was to listen to them all once and than I would go back and start over from the beginning and keep repeating the same lesson until I was comfortable with it.  So far I have only made it thru Gateway Wave 3 and haven't listened to any in awhile because of that thing we all experience called LIFE!  There have been too many distractions lately and I will likely start over again when the time is right.  So far I have enjoyed them greatly!

Sorry if I have derailed your Dream Journal!

I have enjoyed reading yours and Stillwater's journals and your interpretations of the dreams.  I find it helps me think in new ways when I am attempting to interpret my own.

By the way, the T is just my initial of my name.  How original!

[Selski]

  Thanks T-Man

Next time I'm in Otherwhere, I'll look for your post! 

I'm sure I'll get used to the discs - but I feel like I'm going be like a kid in a toy store not knowing what to choose first. I love the sound of Bob's voice in my head and I hope he talks in them all - I call him 'Uncle Bob'.

Feel free to derail the thread any time - it's nice to have a change from school buses, travelling to nowhere and frustrating dream people. 

[Stillwater]

Lol the schoolbuses cut lines across my dreams too...It's like I am 10 and 30 at the same time. I don't feel like it was that long ago I was that old, maybe that is part of it.

[Selski]

The funny thing is, I've never been on a school bus in waking life...and I'm pushing 50 years old! Like you, I'm always my current age and the 'children' I'm with are also grown-ups. I guess it's all about lessons/learning/passing tests ... will it never end?! 

[Selski]

During lunch break at work and I'm on my way back to the office through a shopping centre. A fashion store is having a sale and showcasing a number of outfits in a first-come-first-served way. Numerous models are walking throughout the store wearing the outfits. One particular outfit grabs my attention. It's a long grey dress, really rather drab, almost the kind of thing you'd see a factory worker wearing. It appeals to me and I go inside to see if there are any left. I have my walking stick with me.

No such luck, they've all gone. However, there is another round of modelling with new outfits. I work out where the queue will be and make my way there without bothering to check out the outfits on offer. I'm first and the shop attendant asks me to wait. I joke that I had to start making my way early because I can't walk too well and gesticulate to the walking stick.

I have no idea of the outfit I've 'won' and only hope it's like the other one I liked so much. The models eventually make their way to the area where I am and I see the dress I've 'chosen'. It's floral, lacy, pretty and comes in a variety of colours. It's so not me, but I'm resigned to buying one. I think it might be nice on summer days and OH will probably like it.

Those who've got there first are sitting around and we are handed strawberries to eat. The one I'm given is still greenish and has a big black bit on it which I surreptitiously remove.

This 'shopping for clothes' dream is a regular. The actual shop itself is familiar to my dream mind. The dress I liked probably represents current thoughts about myself - somewhat drab, past my best and utilitarian. That's the outfit I wanted to wear, however I ended up with something pretty, bright and feminine instead.

I use a walking stick in waking life. This doesn't often come with me in dreams, but occasionally makes an appearance. When it does, I tend to use it as an excuse for something-or-other. Interestingly, it was the stick that stopped me getting the drab outfit and caused me to get the pretty one.

Having typed it out, I suspect the dream is about aging. I'm 50 next year and, whilst I'm not that bothered by getting older, it obviously is playing on my mind a little. The strawberry is a good example. Both underripe (youth) and going off (black).

This dream was a couple of days ago and I wasn't going to bother writing it out ... but it's still with me. And it's good discipline to keep my dream journal going.

[Selski]

There are a series of rides I'm on with a group of people. It's the penultimate ride and I recognise it as a dream memory.

This particular ride is a space ride. The capsule comfortably seats about 10 people and we are taken on a voyage through outer space. At first, there is a voice over a loudspeaker explaining where we are and so on. I understand this is an alien voice - it reminds me of Yoda.

I have my eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of very fast speed - it's making my tummy turn. I speak quietly to my companion about how exciting it is. There are a group of four lads sitting near us who point to me and say something about 'woofage' [it sounds something like that]. We ask what they mean. They are teasing me for being childlike and they themselves act as if they've done this ride a thousand times and it's old hat. They point to the windows and I now look out.

It's breathtaking. It's outer space. It's beautiful. Even though I've done this ride before, I never looked out of the window. There's a lot of rich, velvety blackness with gentle hues of purple and blue, along with the tiniest hint of white stars everywhere.

With some dreams where I remember I've been there before, I can bring the memory back to waking life and recall the previous dream(s). This one I can't. But at the time of listening to Yoda, a big flood of memory returned. I knew there were about 10 rides in a row, this one was the second-to-last and it was my favourite of the lot.

Not sure about the interpretation, or if there even is one. It could simply be how I perceive moving around in dreamworld.

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

On holiday with family. It's our last day and we've decided to go the park to play cricket. I can't play due to my disability but have gone along to watch. I sit on the grass next to two others and have a book with me in case I get bored. The cricket players are quite some distance.

One of them whacks the ball into a river behind the park and it can't be retrieved. However, there is a 'finger mouse' on the ball which is a pet belonging to someone so it must be saved.

A younger member fetches the ball and all is well. They continue playing cricket. There is an insect behind me on the ground and I'm concerned it will jump inside my clothes so I decide to go back to our room, to go to bed.

Scene break.

I wake up having slept soundly for the whole night. There is even a large dent where my body has sunk into the bed. My sister is already getting dressed and I asked her what time she got in, realising that I didn't hear her at all. I want to use the bathroom before going for breakfast, but I can't find it. There is no en-suite and we decide to go outside to see if there is a communal bathroom. We hear our brother making a noise outside and go to investigate. He's peeing up against the car. I comment that if it rusts, he'll have to pay for the repair. We ask him where the bathroom is and he points some way away. Our room is one of a group of three. Further away is a larger complex with restaurants, shops and so on. It seems the bathroom for the three rooms is the public toilets in the complex. This doesn't seem right.

I make my way to the complex and enter a restaurant. On the blackboard at the door is written 'croque-monsieurs' and I think yum, I haven't had one of those for years. Perhaps we can come to this restaurant for our breakfast. I'm sitting at a table watching other holiday-makers have their breakfast and I wonder to myself whether any of them are having the best breakfast they've ever had.

Seeing as it was our last night on holiday, you'd have thought I'd have wondered where I'd been going all the previous days when I wanted the bathroom. But no, that never crossed my mind. 

Going to sleep within a dream is a curious thing. I wonder if it's an interpretation of a deeper level of sleep. Perhaps a mindstate where we need to be completely 'out of it' in order for some sensitive work/healing to take place. It's only in the last few years that I've noticed this phenomena of sleeping within a dream. It doesn't happen often, but when it does I tend to wake up (in the dream) rather sluggish, as if I've been out for a long time.

I haven't thought about croque-monsieurs for the longest time - nor do I recall them cropping up in waking life recently. Thinking about it, I was eating a ham sandwich the other day (which turned into a destination on a dream bus) and, given I was on holiday in this dream, perhaps I turned that ham sandwich into something foreign - a French ham sandwich which is a croque-monsieur.

I'm disappointed I took my disability to dreamland with me. It doesn't need to be there. That's twice now recently. Perhaps it's weighing on my mind more so than I'd like.

[Selski]

I'm in a building with another person. The building is modern, open-plan and predominantly white. Our aim is to find clues and move onto the next area/clue. Clues are hidden in books, in the placing of ornaments and so on. It's been well thought-out and cleverly designed. There are others looking for clues too – it seems we are in pairs.

We find a clue inside a book which states that we must be careful when going a certain way. As we move that way, four balls of various sizes, from a tennis-sized ball to a basketball-sized ball appear from the ceiling and land in a recess (which strangely enough is in the middle of a room). They don't bounce, but are obviously not heavy. It was those that we had to be careful of. And they are our next clue.

I'm suddenly preoccupied with something in my mouth. It's a piece of cotton and as I try to pull it out, it catches on a jagged tooth. I'm now worried about pulling too hard in case my tooth comes out as well. As if by magic, I'm now looking in a mirror at my open mouth to try and carefully unwind the cotton from the tooth. The rest of my mouth is large and has a number of open flaps in the gums. I know it looks wrong, but there isn't any pain or blood so I accept it as normal. I manage to remove the cotton from the tooth, but it's now lodged firmly in my gum. I'm holding one end and the other goes right inside, so much so that I can't see it. I pull gently and it comes out slowly. I can feel it moving, but as it doesn't hurt or bleed, I continue pulling. It's an odd sensation, unpleasant but I really don't want it in my mouth any more. Eventually it comes completely out and I awake.

It's amazing how much more has come back to me as I'm writing it down. I'd forgotten a lot about the first part in the building until I started typing. What strikes me now is it sounds just like a simulation. I imagine me & my partner (who I didn't recognise as anyone I knew) were doing quite well – and then I got distracted with the cotton.

What is amusing is that for dinner the same day we had string beans, which were rather stringy. So stringy, they were getting caught in my teeth and I didn't finish them. I suspect that memory popped up in the middle of my dream test and completely consumed me. Ha ha ha.

[Selski]

There are only snippets from the last few days.

I was in a building and the man who owned it had put some kind of force field right through it. This was in order to stop people coming through to the rooms we were in. I remember thinking 'bullet-proof glass' but understood that what he could do was much much more than that.

A later dream saw me and ex staying in a hotel. We were in our room which was actually the whole upper level of the hotel. We'd arrived in the morning - if we'd come in the evening we'd have been given a complimentary selection of drinks which comprised a dream character looking suspiciously like Kurt Leland serving us 29 different spirits. I was glad we'd missed out.

And then later on in a third dream, the usual sex shenanigans. 

[Selski]

I'm with a family, although I'm not a member of it. The family is unfamiliar to me. I'm not sure in what capacity I'm there. The daughter, who is around 10 years old, is troublesome in that she must get her own way. There is also another younger child.

She is now demanding that she is allowed to cut herself with a scalpel. I'm a little horrified at this, but her parents (or perhaps guardians, as they are two women, one much older than the other) have heard it all before and know they must comply. They do so.

The scene changes and we are all walking down a street. I've got a big wad of paper towels wrapped around my left index finger. This is where I've been cut. The understanding is that when the girl cut herself, it happened to me also. We are on our way to find the shop where they can mend the cut(s).

I'm too curious to leave the finger alone. I gently pull off the wadding. The cut is about 1cm down from the top and all the way round. Even though there is no blood, I notice that it's quite deep and am grateful it didn't go all the way through. As I have this thought, the top part of my finger comes off into the wadding. I put it back on and rewrap the wadding, hoping that they will be able to perfectly mend it.

This was early on in the night. I was quite a passive character and don't recall any dialogue from me. Perhaps I'm the girl. It was an unusual dream in that now, even though I've remembered some of it (maybe all of it), I don't feel any connection with/to it.

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

A clothes store dream. Different store to the recent one. K is there and she is trying on a pair of dungarees. I tell her how much I like dungarees. Our boss is also there and informs us that he's leaving for the day, whereupon he walks out of the shop window (going right through it) and floats gently down.

There was more to this one but it's lost. How could I miss the LD trigger of K? It's the first time she's appeared since the recent dream where I asked her if she was a dream guide. The Dream Operators even gave me another LD trigger pretty much immediately after K - our boss floating through a window. And I missed that one too. Doh.

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

I'm with Mum and two of her friends, unfamiliar to me. She is at the top of the stairs, her friends are on the stairs and I'm at the bottom. She is recounting an experience from the night before where a neighbour - known to her and called Daniel - appeared on the stairs as she was going to the bathroom. She assumed he was real and started talking to him whereupon he faded away.

The friends start mulling over what could have happened. After a few minutes I come in with, "There is another explanation; but I don't think you'll like it."

They all look over at me expectantly.

"Daniel might have been astral projecting."

I can see they are not going to give this the time of day.

I'm re-reading A Record of Out-of-the-Body Experiences by Oliver Fox and I reckon the dream has come directly from that. What is frustrating is that I didn't even realise I was dreaming, despite talking about astral projecting.

Jeepers, how many LD triggers do I need before I wake up in the dream?  

[EscapeVelocity]

Selski-

Recently I have had a re-think about Dream Triggers/Signals. It hit me about a year ago, and the fact is that I almost never respond to a DT by becoming more lucid. I did at one point early on in my practice, and it seemed like a logical skill that would naturally improve over time; but in fact, the opposite seems to have happened.

(I was all set to speculate on there being more than one type of DT, that there are at least 2: one to trigger Lucid consciousness and another to act as a DT for our NP Personality, a kind of 'internal pivot-point'. And maybe there are more subtle aspects of the DT to explore? Both the exterior type and the interior type.)

And just as I went to type, it occurred to me -What has changed more for me over the last ten years? The nature and quality of my Dream Triggers or the nature and quality of my PR Personality and especially my NPR Personality?

My Dream Trigger has not essentially changed. Maybe there are some newer and more subtle qualities within it. But my DT is still what it has always essentially been: A Dream anomaly, an anachronism, an illogical inconsistency within the Dream storyline.

Selski -Okay, so how about this idea? The fact that you are not becoming lucid from your Dream Triggers/Signals is not because you are missing them, it is because your NP Personality has become developed enough to handle the situation by itself, without resorting to activating the conscious mind!

For me, the genesis of this idea began 3 years ago when I posed the question in my 'How to Avoid a Lucid Dream Despite Nine Easy Dream Triggers' thread in this same forum. Both Lion and Szaxx led me to the answer, and I thought I understood it at the time, but it is only now that the gestation is complete and I have now, a wider perspective. This is an example of a subject Lion, Szaxx and I have promoted discussion on that involves (for lack of a better expression) the education of the NP Personality and its importance to our overall spiritual development.

I will end with a few Szaxx quotes and paraphrases that will hopefully provoke some thinking along this specific line:

"Not taking the DT's is showing you that you do have control, this will be limited but it will be part of your NP personality showing itself instinctively."

"Progress showing itself in your subconscious mind overlapping into a conscious reality performing a necessary change."

Brackets mine-[When the NP personality can't handle the DT], 'the subconscious passes the inconsistency over to the conscious mind to deal with it' [either by becoming lucid, ending the dream altogether or waking up.]

So, maybe we don't get the same opportunities to become lucid that we once did; but this is not a reason for disappointment. This actually is a sign of how our NP Personality has developed to a point where it can better handle itself; the DT's we remember upon waking are still there, but now are signposts of a new territory we are moving into.

Gotta love this stuff!

EV

[Selski]

Thank you so much for responding EV - it really can be a minefield trying to work through 'All This' on your own.

Your words make a lot of sense and I'm going to spend a day or two (or three!) letting them seep into my mind.

I've been reading some older threads with very interesting discussions between yourself, Szaxx and Lionheart, amongst others. I particularly loved your 'Fieldtrip' thread.

No doubt I'll have questions once I've absorbed your post - I'll let you know.  

[Selski]

Last night was a hotchpotch of dreams, mostly forgotten. The theme seemed to be miscommunication, or misinterpretation of events.

I woke up around midnight having vague memories of 'something missing' - like I'd not completed a whole test. It was a memory that I couldn't quite pull to me, but my waking thoughts were doing a quiz with 10 questions and forgetting to answer one of them, rendering the quiz incomplete and therefore failing. My waking thoughts parallel the job I do (proof-reading quizzes for school-children) and so I may have missed the mark on this dream.

Another dream saw me watching an older man and woman who always took the same train to and from work together. They were walking home and the man suggested that when they both retire, in 10 years or so, they could spend their days here together. I understood that he was making his move...but she missed it altogether. At times I was the Observer, at times I was her.

A further dream and I was back in my childhood bedroom. I'd had a sneaky cigarette and opened the window to let the smell out. I could see my fluffy toys lined up along the window sill and smiled in nostalgic memory of them. In the back garden, there was some kind of construct in the middle of the garden, a kind of huge den or bonfire pre-lit. It could house a person, it was that large. Two men came running into the garden and one shouted to the other, 'You go towards the house, I'll search here!' As this was said, I saw the movement of a lower leg in the den and understood that the two men were police looking for the criminal who was hiding in the construct. I called out, 'He's hiding in the big pile!' whereupon the first man who'd shouted rushed in to get him.

Later in the same dream, I realised I'd let them all down. Whatever it was (a drama/film, a test for those three), it was the other guy who should have caught the criminal. I'd got involved and spoiled it for everyone.

The nostalgia I felt for the old toys was dream-nostalgia. I've never seen those toys in waking life. Which ties in with EV's post about the difference between PR personality and NPR personality.

Going back to the recent dream where my finger came off, I watched a film last night where the main character cut off his finger... 

[Selski]

I'm with mum and dad and we are driving somewhere - dad is the driver. We are in town and turn a corner slowly. There is a clothes shop on the right-hand side that draws my attention. It's large, sells cheap & cheerful clothing, everyday stuff such as T-shirts, scarfs and jeans. I mention this and dad agrees to stop for 20 minutes or so. He goes to a stall up ahead and asks us to return to the car soon which we agree to do.

We go into the shop and I spot dungarees hanging on a rail. I go over and am disappointed that they are not full trouser dungarees, but are shorts. I look through them for my size, but they are all way too small. However, there is something on the rail that looks like it will fit - a non-descript dark-blue dress. I like it and decide to buy it. It's cheap enough that even if it doesn't fit, I can chuck it away.

I'm told I have to try it on before purchase, which is going to take time and I'd really rather not. But it's a must. As I'm making my way to the changing rooms, I have to pass the tills. I hear the female staff (who are all young girls) muttering that there's something wrong with the main machine in the basement and the tills won't take cheques or cards.

I haven't got any money on me and so know that I'll be held up yet again once we get to the checkouts. I decide to ditch the dress and go and meet dad instead. I now hear the manager (a male) telling the girls that one of them will have to go down to the basement and fix the machine.

Loudly I say, "Don't any of you girls agree to that. It's not part of your job. You get peanuts anyway and fixing machines is beyond your requirements. It's a crap job; he's a crap manager - if you don't need the money, why not just walk out now?"

As I'm saying this, I recognise one of the girls. She's an actress, around my age, but in the dream is a teenager. I can't remember her name, and as is my wont in dreams, it's important that I do remember it. She tells me her first name and I interpret this as Annabelle whereupon I realise her name is Annabelle Gish. I also recall she was Eddie's daughter (Saffron) in Absolutely Fabulous. I turn to her and say she definitely has no need to stay working here as she is going to be a famous actress.

My awareness slightly brightens at this point and I feel it's necessary to write details down in order to remember them. I have a pen...but nothing to write on. I use the back of my hand and jot down her name and a few other keywords. The writing doesn't morph and stays 'true'. I've used up the back and so turn my hand over to write on the palm. My mum comes over and I tell her what I'm doing and show her the back of my hand - which is now empty. I look at the palm and all the writing has also been erased. I awake.

When I awoke, I ran through the dream noting the keywords in my mind. I knew I'd forgotten the early part but was pleased with what I did remember. The actress is actually called Julia Sawalha - Annabeth Gish (not Annabelle) is another actress who played Agent Reyes in The X-Files. So I'd got that completely muddled up. In addition, Julia looked like a younger version of her older self, rather than what she really looked like when she was younger. Furthermore, she was already a child actor and so wouldn't be working in a two-penny clothes store.

I think that whole scenario with her appearing was a mighty distraction which I happily went with. The fact that my dream notes were removed also points that I failed the test. I suspect the test was as simple as getting back to dad in a timely fashion without 'getting lost' along the way.

It was only 1am when I awoke from this dream. I contemplated going straight back to sleep without writing anything down...but knew that this was a bad idea and so quickly jotted a few keywords down in my waking life dream notebook by my bedside.

~~~ooo000ooo~~~

A second dream which has all been forgotten. The only thing remembered is that I took no part in it - I was an Observer.

A third dream with some recall, mainly sexual, where I was mostly the Observer, occasionally one of the female characters - but I wasn't 'me'.

Observer dreams are becoming more frequent. Initial thoughts are that they are mimicking my waking life, where I'm much less active (and therefore taking less part) in life than I used to be. Or perhaps there's more to it - perhaps the Dream Operators are giving me Observer dreams for a reason. I'll have to ponder it more.

[Stillwater]

3rd-Person observer dreams are pretty common dreams for everyone to have in general. I have them all of the time too. About 20-30% of my dreams are observer-type dreams, and it has been that way more or less for my entire life.

You may well be right though, about viewing yourself less as an active participant in your waking life.

[Selski]

3rd-Person observer dreams are pretty common dreams for everyone to have in general.

I must be an exception then - for me they are very rare, or were until recently. I thought they might be 'special' dreams as they are so unusual (like black & white dreams for me), but so far they seem to be about run-of-the-mill normal stuff.

Another thought is that I've recently been heavily immersed in All Things Dream-Related and perhaps I'm being advised to slow it down, be more relaxed about my nightly experiences and not push it so much. An Observer dream is, to me, about as "un-immersed" as you can get! 

This second thought came through gently yesterday as I was watching a film. It was a fairly ordinary film (called The Way) but it really touched me for some reason.  It made me realise that I can be moved/uplifted/whatnot by physical stuff just as much as non-physical. I can expand my awareness via physical 'adventures' (through other actors/directors) just the same as my own 'dream-films'.

Perhaps I need to step back a bit. 

[catmeow]

3rd-Person observer dreams are pretty common dreams for everyone to have in general.

I'm with Selski on this - My dreams are all in the first person, and in colour - just like "real life".

According to a quick internet search (!) 1st person perspective is common and 3rd person perspective (or "observer perspective") is less common.

A few years ago, whilst describing lucid dreams to a work colleague, my colleague got all annoyed and agitated by my 1st person description and said something like "That's impossible! We don't dream like that, we dream as if we're watching ourselves from behind".

In that moment it was clear to me that my colleague had always dreamt in observer perspective and believed therefore that everyone does. He was clearly wrong.

Selski, you might find the following link interesting. I don't know how authoritative their information is, but it goes along the lines:

"When you experience a dream as an Observer, it may be that the unconscious is protecting you from experiencing the dream first hand because it is too emotional or painful. It gives you the opportunity to see the truth without feeling the pain. ..."

https://www.dreamscloud.com/en/dream-dictionary/symbol/perspective-viewpoint

PS - your dream recall is exceptional!

[Stillwater]

By pretty common, I mean merely a number above 5%.

First person dreams are more common overall, and the majority of mine are that way too, but I have had both perspectives quite frequently, or dreams which switch perspective midway. It is pretty common as well (again, a number over 5%) to dream in black and white, although this isn't something I really experience myself.

I do ocassionally get monocrhome-filter dreams though, especially sepia... probably this has something to do with all the painting I do, lol....

[T-Man]

I'm with Stillwater on this one.  I frequently dream in both 1st person and 3rd person perspective.  I will be observing a dream and than in the middle of the dream I become one of the characters that I was observing.  I guess we all experience dreams differently probably based on what we each as individuals need to learn.  So far, I do not recall any dreams in black and white but I really haven't paid attention to my dreams until this past year.

[Selski]

catmeow - thanks for the link, I found it interesting. Not sure mine are to do with being emotionally removed from the dream as, generally speaking, my recent Observer dreams have been rather mundane and inconsequential.

I think it's an easy assumption to make - that we all dream alike - until we actually make enquiries. I didn't realise that my dream recall was so good - I thought everyone else had that much recall, but they just weren't as interested in dreaming as me! 

I've never dreamt in sepia, or at least not that I can remember. B&W dreams are extremely rare for me. Thinking back, I can remember one (which was also an Observer dream - possibly why I remember it as it was doubly unusual).

With regards to second-person perspective dreaming, can anyone clarify what this is? Does it mean you are your own consciousness in someone else's body, or does it mean you have someone else's consciousness and are acting 'autonomously' despite a sense of knowing you are you, if that makes sense?

My perspective is predominantly first-person, but I have experienced others and occasionally (as T-Man points out) flit between one & the other.