As the Tibetan Buddhists recommend, “Try to notice that everything is a dream.”
Sometimes my days are strange enough that I find myself repeatedly questioning if I am experiencing a lucid dream and not aware that I am dreaming. I’ve had so many lucid dreams that were indistinguishable from the waking state that this question is not new to me.
The following all really happened in ordinary reality, though since I live in Santa Cruz that has an effect on what is ordinary reality… A few days ago I went for my usual exercise walk on a strand that runs along a cliff overlooking the ocean. The waves were lapping at the base of the cliff. I took this walk at twilight so that I could get into a more mystical frame of mind for dreaming and writing. Just as I reached the strand I saw a group of about 20 people parading in the opposite direction on the strand. They were dressed in costumes from Alice in Wonderland! They were dancing as they walked. There was a big white rabbit and the women were mostly dressed as sexy Alices or Queens. As I neared the group I spotted and heard one of the women say I want to exercise with that guy and she meant me. She breaks off from the group and starts dancing with me. I am soon laughing and dancing with her. She was way too young for me – an early twentysomething and probably still in college. So I ended the dance after a short time. She looked a little disappointed as I went back to my exercise. So I continued walking with a silly grin on my face wondering if I am dreaming. I did more than one reality check (RC) after that encounter. Other bizarre things like this happened throughout that day though dancing with Alice in Wonderland was without a doubt the most surreal moment of that day!
The following day when I was out walking on the same cliff, I started to spot huge blue or humpback whales jumping nearly out of the water. They were too far out to clearly see but the huge splashes were bigger than nearby private ships. The people along the strand had stopped walking and were watching the breaches. I saw at least twelve flying whales during that walk! It seemed like every time I glanced at the ocean I would see another huge splash. I have no idea why so many whales were doing this and neither does science. Maybe they were trying to tell us this too is a dream?