As I think back to my entry a few days ago on the void and many previous experiences with a blindness/void type moment, I might be making the wrong move in trying to see the environment around me. My inclination from the void has always been to wait for something to appear, or move or feel around until something appears around me so that I can get my bearings, confirm I’m in a lucid dream, and from there work on my goal – using the various ways I’m experimenting with – to move beyond the dream.

The dream environment step shouldn’t be necessary. My issue is it’s hard for me to tell how lucid or nonphysical I am before I start trying to do something, and the lucid dream is the only clear confirmation I know of.

Maybe, though, I can do a minimum check to make reasonably sure I’m in at least somewhat of a nonphysical state, such as merely the feeling of my feet on the ground that I initially get, or even just hearing voices, and at that point moving my energy towards something else.

So far I’ve assumed that my experiences with stepping out of my body and my experiences with becoming lucid in a dream are the same thing, because of the way they turn out. However, I suspect the stepping out of my body is initially a different thing that could potentially be a very different experience, but that it turns into a lucid dream, or non lucid dream, very quickly because of the way I handle it. So if that’s the case, what do I do to avoid turning it into a lucid dream?

Two things I could do at that point are ask for help or calm my mind more.

I tried calming my mind in the one two nights ago and it led to me waking up right away. Next time I’ll try asking for help. I did that before, but it was a long while back, and I might be at a point where it’s worth trying again.

To be more specific, I could ask for help from my higher self, or from whoever has my best interests in mind and is wise enough to help, ie: the affirmation that Robert Monroe suggests in his preparatory process of the Gateway Experience. Otherwise, who knows who might show up?