MD and the Future Self

[John K]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/business/another-theory-on-why-ba...

Apparently, for people who don't feel much connection to their "future self" (that is, they have a hard time imagining themselves in the future) the parts of their brain that are active when thinking about their future self are the parts associated with thinking about other people. Meaning their future self is seen as another person, not them.

"Ignoring the needs of our future self is one way we create problems for our present self. Another way is by dumping all the issues we don’t want to deal with now on the mythical future self who’s somehow going to be more patient, more organized, more restrained — more everything we’re not now."

Sound familiar to any MD'ers here? I had theorized that daydreams are like a false prediction, imagining a false future, this kind of reinforces that idea. If you go by what the study is showing it also would explain how daydreams alleviate the discomfort of fear. We daydream up this future self and then attach to it the idea that it is somehow capable of dealing with all the problems we're not.

In other words, by daydreaming in this manner we are somehow assuring ourselves that our fears will be resolved in the future by this other self which in turn gives us a false sense of security and allows us to feel content not acting on the fear now.

[Lauren W.]

Gina, you should totally start blogging!

Gina Black said:

Well, I am also at the age I fantasized about. That's the reason I just started fighting my MD. I don't want to wake up one day and see in the mirror an old, lonely hag that has dreamed her life away. Sacrificing my dreamwalks is certainly worth avoiding that!

It's as if I'm a butterfly in a cocoon. When it all started I was a child, and wrapped myself in the MD cocoon to protect me from everything that tried to change me-or crush my spirit. And it worked. Now that kid is waking up from a loooong daydream, unweaving the cocoon is a hard work though (People always think I'm younger, usually 6-7 yrs younger, about as long as my "heavy DD period". Funny, isn't it?)

Another interesting thing... I'm starting to realize what I want from life, but I also get flashbacks of wanting the very same things before getting wrapped in MD. And flashbacks of situations pushing me to wait for being the person I wanted to be. In the surface I became empty and weak, but in the end it looks like I were just really stubborn! It's only today I realized this (Because of massive flashbacks, mainly!)

I believe that getting out of MD won't hinder my imagination, as I remember being creative all my life. It just won't be overactive anymore. I'm discovering new things every day, maybe I should start blogging this? XD

Lauren W. said:

Gina, I agree. I think part of the reason that I am feeling much worse lately is because I'm now the age I used to fantasize about being. I'm realizing that time is limited and I may never achieve those dreams if all I do is keep dreaming.

[Gina Black]

Haha, thanks :) I'll probably start one, to keep track of my progress. (From that point of view, it's a good idea for anyone here, now that I think of it. Do you have one?) 

Lauren W. said:

Gina, you should totally start blogging!

Gina Black said:

Well, I am also at the age I fantasized about. That's the reason I just started fighting my MD. I don't want to wake up one day and see in the mirror an old, lonely hag that has dreamed her life away. Sacrificing my dreamwalks is certainly worth avoiding that!

It's as if I'm a butterfly in a cocoon. When it all started I was a child, and wrapped myself in the MD cocoon to protect me from everything that tried to change me-or crush my spirit. And it worked. Now that kid is waking up from a loooong daydream, unweaving the cocoon is a hard work though (People always think I'm younger, usually 6-7 yrs younger, about as long as my "heavy DD period". Funny, isn't it?)

Another interesting thing... I'm starting to realize what I want from life, but I also get flashbacks of wanting the very same things before getting wrapped in MD. And flashbacks of situations pushing me to wait for being the person I wanted to be. In the surface I became empty and weak, but in the end it looks like I were just really stubborn! It's only today I realized this (Because of massive flashbacks, mainly!)

I believe that getting out of MD won't hinder my imagination, as I remember being creative all my life. It just won't be overactive anymore. I'm discovering new things every day, maybe I should start blogging this? XD

Lauren W. said:

Gina, I agree. I think part of the reason that I am feeling much worse lately is because I'm now the age I used to fantasize about being. I'm realizing that time is limited and I may never achieve those dreams if all I do is keep dreaming.

[Gina Black]

The results were great! Whenever I reversed my DDs, the result was always a copy of reality. I soon realized I always see things I don't believe I can do. So, my problem is not fighting for what I want. Yes, things may be close to impossible sometimes, but I have decided to fight fear, and fight for MY reality. 

I've had half the DDing time than usually, and it keeps reducing! Wish me I can keep the "fighter attitude" up!

Thanks for the method!

[Gina Black]

Whoops...I thought I had posted this to your other thread here :p

http://wildminds.ning.com/forum/topics/daydreams-deceptive-problem-...

[Lauren W.]

I have a blog but I have not talked about MD in it at all. I have a personal journal where I'm writing about it. I feel kind of raw sharing it publicly still.

[Gina Black]

I am not confident either...but do feel a need for my crazy world to be open for criticism. Admitting it openly makes me feel less crazy. I just...changed my avatar from a photo to a manga face, in case someone I know is here :p