WILDing

My technique for WILDing is pretty simple: I scan my field of vision for hallucinations, and when they start coming, I start commenting on them — just describing them. At first, they are just dim blobs that last a quarter of a second, but as I fall asleep, they become more elaborate. Eventually one or more will form a dreamscape and I’m in. I’m still describing things, and I know why I’m doing it.

Normally, we don’t notice the hallucinations. They just come and they seem normal and we’re taken away without our noticing it. Of course, noticing takes practice. Awareness takes practice. Awareness is not something that just happens to you because you’re conscious. Gymnastics doesn’t happen to you because you watch gymnastics.

It’s very easy to let one’s mind wander to other topics. That’s how you get blindsided. My training: when I walk to the supermarket, I comment on everything. There’s a lady in a brown jacket riding a bicycle with a basket. There’s a bird sitting on a sign post. Don’t stop, don’t do anything else, don’t think about anything else. Just maintain your monologue. If it takes you twenty minutes to fall asleep, you have to practice until you can take a twenty minute walk.

As I’ve said elsewhere, it’s a martial art. It requires drilling and practice, just like any other skill worth having. So think about it before saying, “Yeah, yeah.” Is there anything cooler than your own matrix?