Creating the Content of a Dream

Using lucid dreaming techniques can help people to sometimes control the focus and content of their dreams. Dr. Petit, like many other people, thinks about her family, friends, and work before falling asleep. The result is she often dreams about her family, friends, and work. Petit has used parts of her own dreams to help create content in both of her novels: Banking on Dreams and Mayflower Dreams.
In Banking on Dreams, two of the characters--Lisa and Mike--try to dream the same dream by focusing their thoughts on similar content. This excerpt from page 193 of Petit's novel shows some of the dialogue between the two characters as they make plans for their future dreams:

                 “Well, supposedly, concentrating on something right before going to sleep might result in
          having a lucid dream—or a regular dream—about the area of concentration. In other words,
          if I think about the bank right before going to sleep, I might dream about the bank.”

                “That explains why I dream about work so much, including guns, shoot-outs, prison, and
          car chases. I even have dreams about all of the paperwork, like the reports.” After Mike thought
          for a moment, he added, “Would you like to try something?”

                 “Okay. What?”

                 Mike smiled, and his eyes showed his excitement. “Let’s both try to dream about
          the same thing tonight and see what happens.” (Petit 193)

                                                                     Work Cited
Petit, Karen. Banking on Dreams. Mustang, Oklahoma: Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC, 2012. Print.

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