The Theme of the Dream

There are at least a few others who seem to want to try lucid dreaming as well (as if). So, lets continue these coffee conversations (though every now and then they feel like monologues) in regard to dream control.

Something that Bill Perry wrote in one of his posting keeps itching at my mind. He mentioned lucid dreaming is more about knowing that you have the ability to control your dreams than perhaps actually changing them so much. It is the idea of choice. You have a choice when you become aware that you are lucid dreaming of whether to interfere with the theme of the dream or to just be aware of the dream environment. So, I guess in this instance, it is an empowerment tool, knowing you have control but not asserting it totally.

Here's my question (aren't I just full of them?): If you become aware that you are in control of your the dream, does the dream still flow along like a dream or does the dream reality remain in pause until you do something in the dream? If you do nothing, is it like playing a video game where nothing happens or can you just explore the scenery? Does stuff still happen spontaneously like in dreams where one is not lucid?