Is Your Dreamtime More Fulfilling Then Your Waking Life?

I have come to a strange realization as of late, as I gauge the quality of my waking world life and that of my dreams during sleep, that my dreams are far more exciting, pleasurable and entertaining than my life during the day.

This is something that I would have never anticipated.

As a young person, I loved adventure. Back in the days before the personal computer, when Atari just offered Tank or Pong in the way of video games, I was constantly on the hunt for adventure and on the go.

Often when I was done with school or work, I would just head out the front door, with nothing or next to nothing in my pocket and stick my thumb out on the side of the road to catch a ride and see where life would take me.

I would routinely attempt things no one else would. It there was an element of danger and uncertainty I was all in and raring to go.

For the most part I would always do well for myself, I would find excitement and good times, and as I got older, more and more economic opportunities. Fortune often favors those who are willing to take risks, the bigger, and the more insane, all the better and all the more.

There was many a time throughout the years if someone asked you who would you like to be, a famous celebrity, a movie or a rock star, an important politician, a celebrated warrior, writer, or poet, I would have honestly answered I want to be me.

There really wasn’t anyone else I would have preferred to be. I had youth, relatively good looks, enough disposable income to be in all the right places, and doing all the right things, for someone who had a zest for life and adventure, a love of risks and good times, the excitement of living on the edge.

Ah but that was yesterday.

Now don’t get me wrong, my life is not tame by anyone’s standards, but over the past several years, more and more of my social life has been online. At first by choice, now it’s more of a necessity.

I still make a living, but as the economy soured and went from bad to worse I just make a living. Gone is my discretionary income as business has slowed, gone are the frivolous moments where I can pursue romance and adventure with it.

Instead of eating out, I eat in, instead of driving a late model car, I pedal a bike, instead of dry cleaning I wash my own clothes, instead of shopping for the latest, I just keep wearing my timeless beach classics.

I have cut costs in every area of life I can, and along the way, I think I pretty much cutout my life too.

Yet the life I once so loved living I am now living more and more in my dreams.

I won’t travel anymore because of the TSA, to much dignity and self respect to be treated like a common criminal, I would rather remember the good old days when I could show up to the airport ten minutes before the flight left, run through the terminal, breeze through a metal scanner with a carry on, and hop on the plane as the door was closing.

My dreams take me around the world now, one night Hawaii, another night Rome, the beaches the mountains, far away places exotic locals.

I don’t date anymore, too much baggage, too many expectations, too much money to make a romance bloom.

Yet in my dreams I enjoy the company of beautiful and exciting women.

I used to hate my dreams, and hate sleeping in general because of them when I was younger. It seemed like I was always being hunted, always feeling pain, and always a breath away from dying.

This was always the case except for an occasional prophetic dream. I could always tell when it was a prophetic dream because my normal dreams never featured anyone I knew in the real world. It was always strangers, or blurry shapes and shadows I couldn’t see.

Yet when my dreams had someone in them I knew, it would always be about something that was going to come to pass in the near future that involved them and me.

So as much as I disliked my normal dreams, because of my prophetic dreams, I always felt there was something important about the dream world that is an intrinsic part of our lives here in the waking world.

Now my dreams are almost always great dreams, I actually look forward to going to sleep at night and am going to be earlier and staying asleep later just to relish those fleeting moments when the world is no longer a staid drudgery.

I can taste and smell, feel and think, and sometimes my dreams have gotten so good at times where I know this has got to be a dream, this is too perfect, too nice, too wonderful even while I am dreaming, and this has got me thinking…
Am I the only member who now has a better dream life than a real life? Are there other people out there on ATS too that have come to that same somewhat sad realization that their lives have become so restricted, dull and dreary that you have a better life when you are dreaming than waking?

The other thing that has got me wondering could one of these dream lives really be mine if I wanted it to be.

I often think in my dream, this is so great, so perfect so wonderful, it can’t be real, I must be asleep and I must be dreaming, and I feel that little pang of regret that we sometimes do when we are enjoying a guilty self indulgent pleasure, and decide to push it out of my mind and just enjoy the dream moment.

Here is where I am going with this though, as so many members, especially those who favor the 2012 Scenarios and or a ‘Harvest’ of ‘souls’ from the third to the fourth density of existence.

Could it possibly be through our dreams that we will evolve into that new life experience, where one night we just go to sleep and enter a dream, and that dream becomes our new life?

We in essence would wake up perhaps recalling this present life as just a dream. A dream that I sometimes feel in my case is becoming a less and less enjoyable one.

Is the dream world calling to us? I don’t know, but I would be interested to read any members who are having similar experiences where there dreams have gotten better and better, and better than their real world waking life.

And too if anyone feels or thinks that it’s possible we really might evolve out of this life and world into another one by exiting through our dreams.

I can absolutly relate to what you are saying here. Life has definitely gone down hill the past couple of years compared to when I was youthful and full of optimism and promise. I think with knowledge and maturity comes change as well, and not always for the better. The world seems colder now, and at a certain point people become more fearful and suspicious of others. I am making due with a decent income by some peoples standards, but it is literally half of what it was just a few short years ago, due to the housing collapse.

It may not sound very impressive coming from a guy who is guilty of being negative and preaching doom and gloom, believe me I know who I am. But lately I have really been trying so very hard to just be humble and appreciative of the small things that I do get to enjoy. I have delt with loss of my family, bad relationships that left me bitter and wary of the fairer sex, I have been through an economic tsunami of bad luck in the last two years. But I am really trying to see the cup as half full, and Im trying to keep an open heart and not allow myself to be one of those bitter and nasty people who in my own youth I used to pity.

And as for dreams, I can say I honestly do enjoy my dreams. Even the wierd ones. My brain sends me on a journey every now and then that would make Dr Parnassus shake his head in wonder. Even though I rarely envision myself as a hero type in my dreams, there are always interesting people and usually beautiful landscapes. I used to dream of paranoia back when I was working too much and stressed. Always dreams that I was being chased by something or being sought after by police. Now I sleep with a clear conscience, and I usually dream of good things like soaring above beautiful fields and trees or playing in the grass with my dog Dooby who passed away. I see him often in my dreams, and I can even touch him and pet his fur.

Anyhow, I will stop wrambling on. My point is simple, try and enjoy the time you do have while awake because it is mostly going to be what you make of it. Life is hard but it is even harder when you expect it to be bad. And learn to treasure your dreams, they are what make you who you really are inside.

Cheers.

I have a 'dreamscape'I like to call it where I dream in the same town or city and in recurring locations. more than half the time I dream I am there, in different situations with different people (some familiar, some not) in that place. The experiences vary, but are never nightmarish. Usually they're quite satisfying-so much that I often lament its ending when I wake.

Im sure it has to do with University and not finishing, being that im in a school setting in the dream and that it isn't unlike the city where I studied, albeit modified. My life is stagant right now and there dont seem to be many open doors, so I understand that it's a fantasy/getaway.. The crazy thing is how clearly i remember these dreams in which i (at some level) have control of myself and the knowledge that I am asleep.

reply to post by StripedBandit


I know what you mean, the dreams are so vivid and haunting when you wake up, I sometimes wish I could just go back to that dream scape.

Often I can, all my life I have had a habit of getting up three or four times a night and when I go back to bed and to sleep I usually pick right up where I left off in my dreams.

My dreams are much more vivid now than they have ever been, the things I can feel and tase and experience in them are seemingly every bit as powerful and real in the waking world.

It seems to be an evolution in a way.

Yes, my dreams are more satisfying than real life. But I think that, truth be told, I don't want dragons or Star Wars to be real lol

Most of my dreams are lucid. I can pretty much do what I want. I have perfected this almost to a tee. I have had sooooo many adventures. That being said I love this "real" world. Even though it seems bad at times and all hope is lost, its not the case. Maybe it is because I have love, or maybe its just such a wonderful awe aspiring place.
I learn something every day. If I do not want to have a lucid dream I either drink (poison probably kills the effect) or when lucid let the dream take control.
The "real" world should be explored before you give up on it. Will it make you feel complete.?.. No all needs to be explored. Sometimes this is a scary idea, Well its fear of the unknown. But as many have said there is nothing to fear except fear itself.
Take care and sweetdreams

reply to post by BlackOps719


I can sure relate to all of the things you are saying. I am not a pessimist by nature, in fact all things considered I keep a pretty up beat attitude.

I wouldn't describe myself as a pie in the sky optimist but rather more positive thinking pragmatist.

I am used to cycles in life, it seems like every ten years or so I usually go through a three year lean period.

Yet because I am a pragmatist, I think on this particular occassion as I look for the indicators that would suggest the economy is going to turn around, I just don't see them.

I actually feel fortunate to be maintaining in business for myself, where I don't have to worry about job security, but I don't see the trends where business is going to pick up, and have kind of had to resign myself to accepting that the good times aren't going to roll anytime soon.

To much work and not enough play makes for a dull life. In this case though its more like too much tedium.

Thanks for sharing your own experiences, and that's great you get to see your dog again. That has to be a comfort.

My dream life is usually more exciting than my waking life. I always dream about being in the same town doing different random things. There is always one same person in every single one of them the rest of the people change often. They all show up again eventually but that one person is always there and when I wake up i am always thinking another Threeforks dream?? (Threeforks is the town I am always in when I dream) And why is this guy always there no matter what?? They usually involve doing exciting things. Other times its just weird and other times even though I know the whole town completely I always end up lost and trying to find my way back. I really wish I knew what it means.

Originally posted by gnosticquasar
Yes, my dreams are more satisfying than real life. But I think that, truth be told, I don't want dragons or Star Wars to be real lol

Well Puff the Magic Dragon living by the Sea wasn't so bad.

Chewbaka though just a Wookie never seemed to have anything bad happen to him, maybe that would be the way to go!

Thanks for sharing.

Originally posted by ucantcme
My dream life is usually more exciting than my waking life. I always dream about being in the same town doing different random things. There is always one same person in every single one of them the rest of the people change often. They all show up again eventually but that one person is always there and when I wake up i am always thinking another Threeforks dream?? (Threeforks is the town I am always in when I dream) And why is this guy always there no matter what?? They usually involve doing exciting things. Other times its just weird and other times even though I know the whole town completely I always end up lost and trying to find my way back. I really wish I knew what it means.

From a newage metaphysical standpoint there is a certain school of thought that believes "Here" is not "Where we think it is".

That there is something we are failing to recognize about this place in time and space, that in essence has us thinking we are some place where we are not.

So maybe that's why you can't really find your way back in the dream, because even though you believe you know where you are, you don't in fact know where you are, even when you do believe you know where you are.

Thanks for sharing.

WHAT, in gawds name do you eat to think of this abstract stuff?
To answer your question,
I'd think that scenario would be more common than not,
in my case my dreams have always been 'way the #*@% out there'.
The excitement of finally landing during a falling dream has been the most memorable.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


Yes I thouroughly agree with what you said...I've found my dreams have been more coherent as i've got older.I had the same type of realisation and came to the conclusion that waking reality is a' hard dream'...We have after all as humans two states of consiousness ...and we could ask the question "not why do we sleep?..but why do we wake?"..I've the suspicion its to learn something. Also the life force or consiousness,soul? call it what you will, must have most of its energy running the body..Thats mabey why the 'dream world' is called the 'dream world'.Its a strange place..I've realised that the detail,and the people,are sometimes totaly novel and not constructed of any memory...Either way as the Quantum Science says..whatever matter is..Its not made of matter.

"Is Your Dreamtime More Fulfilling Then Your Waking Life? "

Yes and it has been for quit some time now. In fact I hate to even wake up sometimes. The world I am in when I dream is some much more everything that the so called real world I often wished I could go into that dream world for real and stay there forever. I know that is not possible but I can dream.

I do relate to that too. I've always paid a lot of attention to my dreams and I have learned a lot from them. Sometimes they guide me, sometimes they get me close to people I couldn't be otherwise, they even told me about some future events in my life.

I've always enjoyed life and what I've done during I'm awake, but it's seems like the burden of responsabillities attached to the kind of social lives we live now constantly tempers the fun.

I know that the balance is necessary and that the highs wouldn't be the highs without the lows.

But I do wonder.

Why are the dreams the way the are?

Maybe it's there simply to allow us not to go crazy and be able to let loose one in a while. I've been in beautiful places on this planet (mountains, sea, beaches, etc...) but a lot of people don't have that chance. A lot of them are lucky if they get a little food every day. So I assume that dreams could definitely help someone go thru life.

My personal opinion tho, is that you simply exist in an other dimension when you dream. Your shell is recharging, so your soul (YOU) exists in a dimension without time and space. Which is why dreams are never truly close to reality. You recognize people and places, but they transform and you're somewhere else. Then you're in it, then you see yourself. Maybe you say something to someone, and that person will only hear it in a dream 10 years from now...

Obviously I have no proof of that, but I just like to see it that way.
It's make death way less scarier as well.

For those who haven't seen it, WAKING LIFE is a great introduction to the possibilities of dreams.

I will end on that note.....does anyone find it bizarre that we use the word dream for both the awaken and sleeping ones?

Keep dreaming!

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


Interesting...I never thought of it that way thanks!!

reply to post by HappilyEverAfter


Its funny you say that. the feeling of levitating in my dreams is so lucid and i know exactly how i willed it and how it felt to an extreme. a strange thought: when i do levitate in dream i always get pulled back to where i started and don't drift to far. Could this this be some sort of OBE and the reason i don't stray is so i won't "lose" myself?

The power of the mind is amazing.

reply to post by StripedBandit

Hey not to sound weird or anything, but the next time you find yourself 'there'
try and turn your view and see if there's a thin thread coming out of the back of your neck and head area, and let me know.

Originally posted by HappilyEverAfter
WHAT, in gawds name do you eat to think of this abstract stuff?

To answer your question,
I'd think that scenario would be more common than not,
in my case my dreams have always been 'way the #*@% out there'.
The excitement of finally landing during a falling dream has been the most memorable.

edit on 13-12-2010 by HappilyEverAfter because: sp

Tonight it is Skyline Chili with onions and cheese, for that it's way to cold outside to be right here in Miami warm me up inside and out dinner!

In my case it had pretty much always been the opposite, when I was in my late teens and early twenties my dreams were so routinely unpleasant I hated having to go to sleep at night.

It seemed like every night I would struggle to wake myself up from bad and unpleasant dreams.

Now It's the exact opposite, my dreams are fun, up beat, almost always pleasant.

I would have never imagined my dream life would become better than my waking life.

Thanks for sharing my friend.

Originally posted by HappilyEverAfter
reply to post by StripedBandit

 

Hey not to sound weird or anything, but the next time you find yourself 'there'
try and turn your view and see if there's a thin thread coming out of the back of your neck and head area, and let me know.

Is the thread you see silver, and have you ever seen what it attaches to at the other end?

Or what all it's attached too?

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


You mention time and space. The last couple of years I have become increasingly obsessed with time. That is, time as a construct for our human benefit. Time seems to be nothing but the distance between experiences; a way to slow down the eternal now so we can learn and replay and dig through our experiences in a linear way so they are meaningful. I can't shake the feeling that the belief in time is the next barrier we are meant to cross.

Maybe its like the movie "Inception" where our brain works 20 times faster in the dream state.

Is experience more satisfying and valid when it occurs in "reality" vs dream state?

I think maybe we are supposed to shed all of our extraneous distraction in reality to get ready for whatever is next. To get down to our core and empty our cup, so when the paradigm shift alot of people are feeling occurs, we have a empty cup waiting to be filled.

I'm with you, I'm bored silly by my simplified life and can't wait to go to bed at night. I sometimes feel like I finished the assignment early and I am just waiting for the next stage to start.

Hope this makes some sense.