Day dreaming to much

[flower_girl1]

Hi,

this is kind of a weird post, but I have never talked abou this so I thought I would put it out there and see what I get in return.

im a pretty creative person and I have always loved movies, to shows and books. As a result I love to daydream. Any time that is like down time to me just means time to daydream . I will day dream on the bus the train a lunch break, while driving, mid conversation. Quiet time at work. I even rush to bed because I am excited to close my eyes and be in a world I want to be in. If I had any writing skills I swear I could write some cool stories. 

But no one else seems to day dream as much as I do and it kind of freaks me out that I can be more excited by the prospect of time to day dream than time to spend with me friends. 

Sometimes I wonder if it contributes to anxiety or depression at all cause when I open my eyes my life is nothing like what a dream. To be fair what I day dream about it castles and dragons and angels and fairies so it's never gonna be like that. 

i always thought I would grow up and grow out of it but I haven't and its to embarrassing to actually discuss with anyone. It's especially embarrassing if I start mining or gesticulating around someone when I am actually daydreaming, and there all "aaahhhh... what are you doing?". 

Is this really that weird? Why does it upset me that I do this? Am I alone in this fantasy world?

flower_girl

[Zeal]

Hi flowergirl,

When I was younger I would zone out and daydream a fair bit. I was very quiet and shy, and would get distracted by my thoughts. I'm not as creative as you, so I didn't imagine fantasy worlds or unique things. I would daydream about things I wanted to happen in my life, or just have thoughts circulating. Daydreaming is pretty relaxing, and is a good way to pass time. If you're ever really stressed or anxious, you can daydream as a distraction. This could be like your own form of meditation.

The downside is that it can distract you from being present in your real life. Daydreaming during work or class is not a good idea, for example. If you are worried that you avoid reality by escaping to your dream-like world, you could confide in your doctor next time you see him/her for a check up. Daydreaming is not damaging to your health, and does not mean you are childish. You are the only one who sees your fantasy world just as you do, but you are not alone in daydreaming about fantasy worlds. You clearly have a vivid imagination. Perhaps you could take a short course (e.g. WEA) on writing stories or drawing. This way you'll have a way to use your vivid imagination to communicate in a different way.

If you think you are using daydreaming as a coping mechanism to avoid painful thoughts or situations, then this will be unhelpful long-term. Try talking to someone about this.

Best wishes,

SM

[Neil_1]

Hi there FG

Thanx for providing this thread and a very interesting one you’ve posed.    My first and possibly only concern I have with your post is when you say you even day dream when driving.  If at all possible, it’d be awesome if you could hold off on this till you arrive at your destination, cause driving along with your eyes shut and being in “another place” spells accident big time to me.

You say grow up and grow out of it – hells bells young lady 🙂  🙂  I’m approaching 50 and I’m still waiting to grow up;   so there’s no harm at all in what you’re doing, as far as I can tell.  You’re not hurting anyone and you’re not causing harm to others by what you’re doing;   I think as long as you don’t make yourself “too” upset by doing this, then that’s the main thing here.   As you say, what you’re dreaming about and the places your mind is taking you too, are never likely to occur, so just as long as you know that, then I think, why not do this?

The thing that I would try to encourage would be your writing skills – because of these dreams you’re having, they sound wickedly awesome;   so if you can get them down on paper, just from what you’ve said, it sounds like they could turn into their own book or movie, all created by you.

I’m sure there’ll be others who’ll respond also, so I’ll look forward to reading their thoughts as well.

I also would really like to hear back from you on this too.

Kind regards

Neil