The Culture that has been here all the time

I have studied lucid dreams in the past and have experienced some very interesting ones (I remember most of my dreams). I had a lucid dream last night, and this morning, scanning news articles, I was surprised to see a prominent story about lucid dreaming. For those who do not know about them:

Key Characteristics (AI)
Conscious Awareness: You know you are dreaming while the dream is actively happening.
Control and Manipulation: Many (though not all) lucid dreamers can exert control over their actions, the setting, or the dream narrative.
Physiological State: Lucid dreams primarily occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. Scientists have validated this phenomenon in sleep labs, where participants signal their awareness through pre-determined eye movements while still asleep.

The CIA studied the phenomenon intensely.

My lucid dream involved a relationship with a woman (I never met her in life), I found her very attractive, and we were interacting in various common scenes: a room, a beach, a lunch, just like it was happening for real. Sadly, just as we seemed to be getting into a relationship, my cat decided to walk all over me and wake me. He brought me back to my mundane reality (I still love him and forgive him).

Instead of offering links and literature, I will leave that up to you because the body of information is large and varied.
 

Last night I dreamed you were back again
Larger than life again, holding me tight again
Placing those same kisses on my brow
Sweeter than ever now, lord I remember how
Couldn't get enough of kissing, do you know how much you're missing

No you don't, but I do

 

The irony of this dream? It was my second wife in the dream, not my late wife or my first. I don't know if they are still alive, since the family hasn't been in touch. Those kids have their reasons, and they are wrong. The rest probably don't know where I live.

I just like this song and Mary anyway.

From a sexual point of view, entering puberty and senior status have some things in common: erotic dreams.

When we are young, and our sexuality (hormones) is influencing our body and mind, we can do very little but ride out the storm.  Erotic dreams point to the future when we will be able to enjoy our sexuality (even though we may not truly know what that means). Adjusting to the limitations as we age is not as challenging if we are open-minded and have a partner who understands what it means too.

Since life has taken me this far, I have learned several things about aging sexuality: 1) You need to adjust to bodily changes and not fear them; 2) Desire doesn't go away; 3) Adjusting socially to be able to engage in sexuality necessitates new attitudes and expectations.

Without a partner and no option to engage in sex, our minds pick up where we were in those days of puberty: we have erotic dreams.