by Nikki Rouge

Created on: March 27, 2009

On many occasions I lay my head on the pillow only to recognize that I lost the day. I lost it because I forgot to remember.

The more I try to achieve lucid dreaming, the more I realize how much remembering and memory are parts of the entire process.

The key to any kind of dream work is first to be able to recall one's dreams. Dream interpretation is moot if the dream cannot be recalled. Likewise, What good is a lucid dream if one cannot remember having it in the first place?

As I try to achieve lucid dreaming in a more consistent basis I am learning that I need to remember myself all day long, or at least for most of the day. Remembering oneself is a version of awareness. When I practice this, I try to remember my body as I move through the day. If I can't remember myself during the daytime, I certainly cannot remember myself during dream time.

This got me thinking more about memories.

Yesterday's activities are recorded in my mind in the same way last night's dreams are. They are both memories I remember, and the only difference between them is WHEN they happened. One happened while I was awake, and the other while I was asleep. As I sit in front of the computer, I have a hard time discerning any other difference between them.

Both recollections are a tad fuzzy, lack detail, and I KNOW that there are things I'm leaving out. For instance, I KNOW I ate breakfast yesterday, but I can't quite say when or where in the home. It was an automatic thing that I didn't pay much attention to. During my dreams, I know I went from point A to point B, but can't quite recall how I got there.

Today I'm collecting another wide array of memories for tomorrow. Heck! Why wait until tomorrow?! This morning's happenings are nothing but a memory. And like my dreams, they are quite fuzzy and lack detail. The funny thing is that I have plans for tonight, and I have an idea of what the night might be like. This image is also quite fuzzy and lacks detail. Does this mean that this is a future memory?

Every second that passes by, we accumulate another memory. There is the memory of the future, which in the blink of an eye becomes the memory of the past. The future is the second coming up, then it quasi-immediately transitions into a memory of the past. All it took was a fraction of a second.

Therefore, all we have are memories. And memories are the only thing we can hang on to, memories of the past and memories of the future.

We call memories of the future "dreams," and we work hard to turn them into "reality." But if all we have are memories, then what's reality?

Reality, it seems, is nothing but a memory that happened very recently, within a fraction of a second.

This is why memory is so important. It is the only way to be alive. If I'm unable to be fully alive by constantly remembering during my waking hours, I can't be fully alive during my dream hours.

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