Caught up in Daydreams

[Rayaan]

I've been wondering how frequent daydreaming is in other people, and whether it's actually a beneficial thing or a useless thing because I daydream a lot myself. I think of certain things in my head even though I'm almost sure that those things would never happen. A good percentage of the daydreams include myself being involved in those imagined scenarios in one way or another - and always in a very "positive" way. The daydreams tend to take place in the future most of the time (sometimes even after death).

One of the strange things about it is that the daydreams seem to be generated very spontaneously. In other words, the thoughts just creep up into my mind every now and then without requiring a conscious effort. Sometimes they go on and off for a while, which is when my brain likes to alternate between "daydreaming mode" and "attention mode" (this happens especially when I'm watching something on TV, and also when I'm when I'm in the bathroom or taking a shower). And, after I come back out of the daydreaming state, I tend to feel more mentally energized, focused, and calmer. I think it also has an impact on my ability of creative thinking and making connections between different things, in certain ways.

Moreover, I noticed that the daydreams are stronger and harder to suppress on days when I'm feeling sad or upset over something that happened to me. They somehow counteract the humiliating/oppressive kind of feelings that I get wrapped up in sometimes, due to certain things that other people say to me. So it seems that the daydreams also act as an automatic mood-booster for me in that sense. That is just one of the functions, though.

Recently, however, I've been wondering about (and worrying) whether or not some of these spontaneous daydreams that I frequently experience is suggestive of having some kind of, shall we say, a 'passive hypocrisy' that maybe I need to get rid of? The reason I was thinking that is because the self-image in my daydreams are usually the opposite of the way that I behave in real life, i.e. like the contrast between night and day. There's a different me in my mind, which doesn't match with how I am in the real world. Rather it's the total opposite.

For example, on one hand, the people who know me perceive me as being reticent, quite, meek, weak, anti-social, unable to speak up, weird, lonely, undetermined about my future even, and ... well, you get the point. On the other hand, when I'm alone, oftentimes I'm inwardly "bigging myself up" - in a covert, subconscious manner through the daydreams - sometimes in terms of knowledge, looks, certain skills/talents, my speech, confidence, persuasiveness, the power of my emotions, physical abilities, or something else.

So the point is, I possess one type of character that is apparent to everyone around me, and a significantly different type of character that exist in my own imaginings. But, is that a bad thing for some reason? Would you identify it as some kind of an internal hypocrisy that should be corrected if someone has this quality? Or do you think it doesn't matter?


At any rate, I wrote all this stuff in case if this is something that some of you here can relate yourselves with (hopefully to some extent, at least). Maybe this is something that is more common in people than I think it is, too, but still I'm not sure.

[Foxaèr]

I've been wondering how frequent daydreaming is in other people, and whether it's actually a beneficial thing or a useless thing

I am a writer, and therefore I daydream quite a bit. My imagination is quite active. However, I do understand that my imagination does not constitute reality.

Moreover, I noticed that the daydreams are stronger and harder to suppress on days when I'm feeling sad or upset over something that happened to me.

That is a coping mechanism, and it is very natural. Just do not confuse the daydream with reality.

For example, on one hand, the people who know me perceive me as being reticent, quite, meek, weak, anti-social, unable to speak up, weird, lonely, undetermined about my future even, and ... well, you get the point. On the other hand, when I'm alone, oftentimes I'm inwardly "bigging myself up" - in a covert, subconscious manner through the daydreams - sometimes in terms of knowledge, looks, certain skills/talents, my speech, confidence, persuasiveness, the power of my emotions, physical abilities, or something else.

I fail to see what's wrong with viewing yourself as a better person via your daydreams. xD In fact, you especially should follow the example of your daydreams.

So the point is, I possess one type of character that is apparent to everyone around me, and a significantly different type of character that exist in my own imaginings. But, is that a bad thing for some reason? Would you identify it as some kind of an internal hypocrisy that should be corrected if someone has this quality? Or do you think it doesn't matter?

I genuinely believe you're over-thinking it. If you want to better yourself, then do it. Do not use a daydream excuse.

[Angrboda]

My theory is that daydreams are a form of mental rehearsal. Studies show that athletes who mentally rehearse perform better. I think this is a large part of the reason why we daydream. There are two different types of dreams that occur during sleep, and one of the two appears to involve just such mental rehearsal. I think this is also involved in our obsession with stories: we can observe imaginary scenarios played out and learn from how they are resolved in the story. Thinking about the future, planning for it, anticipating difficulty and brainstorming ways to overcome it, I think these all improve our overall performance. So daydreaming is, in that sense, a form of mental hygiene. It helps us develop skills and anticipate obstacles. If true, then daydreaming is a productive activity after all.

[One Above All]

I daydream all the time. It's very common and it does for me what it does for you: energizes and calms me.

Lately, I've been looking at the sky and imagining

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the end of Supernatural's season 8, with all the angels falling from Heaven

---

, because I honestly think it's the best season ending I've ever seen in my life and the second coolest scene in the entire series (those who have seen every episode will probably know what the coolest scene, IMO, is).

I daydream about my stories, both from the characters' perspective and my own (I sometimes write myself into the stories; sometimes as a random character, other times as what I think is closer to the reality - the god that controls all stories). I feel what the characters are feeling and even try to visualize what they're seeing. Sometimes I can actually see (with my eyes closed, and albeit in a very distorted manner) what it would look like to be inside my stories.

This isn't just limited to stories. I can visualize simple geometric shapes like triangles, rectangles, and circles, and even more complex shapes like tornadoes, waves, beaches, people, and view them from various angles; even manipulate (distort) them in my mind. It's like lucid dreaming, only even more unstable. (For those who haven't had lucid dreams, or just don't remember what it's like, a dream lasts much longer if you have no clue that you're dreaming. Once you realize you're dreaming, your dreams tend to go by very quickly. At least mine do. I think my longest lucid dream without waking up was 5 dream minutes or so, but it was still very "flimsy": things went blurry, people vanished, and so on.)

However, this is all visual and emotional. I can't feel what it would be like to touch ice merely by imagining it. I can't smell or taste lasagna just by imagining it. I also can't hear things through sheer force of will. I can remember these things, but remembering and experiencing them are not the same.

[Minimalist]

A 2012 study suggests that daydreaming is characteristic of highly creative people.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03...24852.html

Daydreaming gets a pretty bad rap. It's often equated with laziness, and we tend to write off people with wandering minds as being absent-minded "space cadets" who can't get their heads out of the clouds.

Though we all spend close to 50 percent of our waking lives in a state of mind-wandering, according to one estimate, some research casts daydreaming in a negative light. A 2010 Harvard study linked spacing out with unhappiness, concluding that "a wandering mind is an unhappy mind." But could these unconscious thinking processes actually play a pivotal role in the achievement of personal goals?

In a radical new theory of human intelligence, one cognitive psychologist argues that having your head in the clouds might actually help people to better engage with the pursuits that are most personally meaningful to them. According to Scott Barry Kaufman, NYU psychology professor and author of Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, we need a new definition of intelligence -- one that factors in our deepest dreams and desires.

[Marsellus Wallace]

Its good for creativity for sure, but for me , I feel that it wasted bazillions of hours of my life .

What I think of : Weird thoughts and somewhat simulations of an event of someone falling or whatever,killing someone, having a fight, me running from the cops after robbing a bank , and most importantly : taking something that already happened in my life in a very bad way and imagining it happening in a very different way , a way that satisfies me and I kind of believe myself after thinking about the other better version it a few times .