@Paul: You're basically describing solipsism. And that's fine... nothing wrong with that at all. But here's a suggestion as to how to get from there to the perspective of subjective reality.
These directions may sound a bit strange, but it's the nature of the beast.
- Consider that you may in fact be just as fake as the other dream characters. You're all just phony projections, and none of you are real. Consider this both for your dreams and your waking reality.
- Now consider that the other characters may be just as real, conscious, and independent as you are, both while you're dreaming and awake.
- Finally, consider that both possibilities can exist simultaneously without being in conflict, both in the dream world and the waking world. Each is simply a lower order projection of a higher order, multi-dimensional reality.