30×4 Begin

I hope I manage to do a decent job of describing my next 30 days.

30×4 is about noticing things. It’s inspired by a couple podcasts I listened to recently: one about mindfulness, the other about lucid dreaming.

What I consider mindfulness: Taking the time to see the beauty that surrounds me. Taking the time to listen to the sounds I normally ignore. Taking the time to assess what and how I feel.

An example of this from this evening’s commute: I was on the overpass connector from 238W to 880S. Off to the west, a beautiful sunset. In the foreground, wispy cloud puffs. The puffs shifted quickly against the brilliant sunset behind it. It looked almost surreal.

Another example, much more mundane: Noticing that I’m slouching and fixing my posture.

So, lucid dreaming. I’m fascinated by it because I managed to learn to fly like a superhero in my dreams. Part of it involved realizing I was in a dream, but what I experienced was far from lucid. However, this experience leads me to believe that lucid dreaming is possible, and I’d like to try it.

Why now? Because it ties in well with being mindful of my surroundings and my state. I need to notice I’m dreaming to become lucid. So as part of being mindful I’ll also do little checks to see if I’m dreaming. I haven’t decided what those checks will be. Up until now I’ve just relied on, “This is weird, I must be dreaming.” I also need to decide what I want to do if and when I achieve lucidity. Not surprisingly, I start thinking about what superpowers I want to have. That’s silly and nonspecific. I’m open to suggestions. Anyone?