Lucid Dreaming/Reality Checks/Time
Presentation
[edit | edit source]With the "time" reality check, you see if clocks work.
Other than checking to see if clocks report a logical time, you can try blinking to change the time. Some have more success with a digital than an analog watch, for some it's the other way around.
Examples of this reality check working
[edit | edit source]- I looked at the clock. I looked away, then back again. It had jumped forward five minutes. I did it again, just to make sure. It had jumped forward another five minutes. Alright, time to have fun...
- I looked at my digital watch, and read the time. I looked away and back again, and the numbers had changed to symbols. I realized I must be dreaming.
- I woke up from a dream (for real). I looked at my digital alarm clock and noticed that it was 7:10am. Since it was weekend, I didn't feel like getting out of my bed, so I decided to go back to sleep. I fell asleep and I dreamed that I was in my own bedroom. I looked at my alarm clock and noticed the time: 1:30am. I thought: "Wait a minute, just a few minutes ago it was 7:10am, I must be dreaming!"
- I suspected that I was dreaming, so I looked at my watch. It said 6:58. I looked back a second later, and it said 4:48.
- I looked at a digital clock and the time showed something impossible like 9:65, then the segments of the display started flashing randomly.
Examples of this reality check failing
[edit | edit source]- I looked at the clock, looked away and back again. I couldn't tell if it had changed. My vision was fuzzy, and the digital reading seemed to keep on jumping. I gave up and continued nonlucidly.
- I was already lucid when this started. My mum (or rather a dream character playing her part) came into my room and told me I wasn't dreaming. I decided I'd better double-check and so used my favourite clock reality check. I looked at the clock and away. I looked back again - and the time hadn't changed. I lost lucidity.
- During a false awakening, I looked at my alarm clock (in fact, an old one I threw away some years ago), and it showed something like 1:20am, though I was sure I already woke up at 4am that night. I was starting to think I was dreaming, but I wanted to check the time again. However, I couldn't figure it out, as the hour and minute hands of the clock were of the same length. I thought it was pretty inconvenient, but didn't get lucid. Then, as I was staring at the clock, the hands started spinning faster, like an hour in a few seconds. Still, I didn't get lucid, as I was really trying to read the time, and was too focused on this goal.
- I read a digital clock which said "DU:CK". I asked my dad and he said this must be advertisement from Chinese restaurant. (in fact, there are no Chinese restaurants near my location, and the clock does not have internet connections, so there can't be any advertisements)