My c3 hero Teddie convinces herself that her out-of-body experiences are merely lucid dreams. This is a condition that supposedly occurs when your body is fast asleep but your mind is wide awake. It doesn’t happen often, but apparently it does occur. One study estimated that about one in ten people report such dreams, and that they feel “real” in a way that other dreams never do.

Have you ever had one?

I remember having two in my life, and each affected me deeply at the time. In both cases once I was fully awake I understood that what had occurred wasn’t real, but none-the-less the events I experienced in the dream overpowered me for days and stuck with me for years. Both dreams ended up ultimately affecting some of the most significant decisions I have ever made. Things turned out well, though I don’t know that I can credit the dreams for that. Perhaps they only left me more sure of what I needed to do.

Teddie will turn out to do far more than have lucid dreams. Before the book is done she will understand out-of-body experiences in ways I suspect that I never will. I’m intrigued by the idea of flying through the air, weightless, silent and invisible, but I’m not convinced that it happens for anyone and I’m fairly sure it isn’t in my future.

I am content with my dreams having provided me with two wondrous experiences that gave me windows into other worlds that I will never forget. I also appreciate the irony that that they offered me a sense of certainty that no real world piece of information or advice could ever have provided.

(Thanks to the Fractal Enlightenment Facebook Page for the great image above.)