A Tip for Those of You Who Have Been Struggling with MD

[Jennifer]

Hey, everyone!

 

I'm back, Haha. :) Inmy last blog I explained why I wanted to suddenly stop daydreaming...And it's been working. It has  been two weeks since I have daydreamed, and it will be three if I can make it until monday! I'm so happy, haha! MD has been taking over my life, and now it's almost gone.

I just wanted to share a tip for all of you who have MD and really want to stop/lessen the amount you do it. I write the story of my daydreams. Like a novel. I make a plot and make it into a story. Does that make sense? I hope so! I have been writing the "general theme" of my daydreams and making it into a book. If you have been really worried about MD ruining your life, I suggest you try this. It has helped me. But be careful; It can also be a trigger.

 

I also suggest writing poetry about your struggles with MD. Which some of already have been; I have been roaming the site's Blogs, and reading your amazing poetry. Your poems are really great, and meaningful guys, keep it up! ^.^

 

Hope this helps at least a couple of you! My best wishes for you all!

 

-Jennifer

[Katie]

What a great idea!! I may start doing this. I guess this is one of the most positive things about MD, that you can be so creative without months of thinking and planning. Thank you for the great idea :)

[Jennifer]

@Catauxgory

Wooow, thank you for sharing your story! That's so inspiring, and such a great story! I wish you luck!

 

@Andi

Hey, Andi! That's such a great story, thank you for sharing! You seem like such a great, influential, positive person, and that's great. :) Best of luck to you!

[Catauxgory]

Writing has been the only thing that has helped me lessen my daydreaming. For so long, daydreaming was this internal activity that gradually overtook my identity. As I daydreamed more and more in life, and was "me" less and less, and I literally lost myself in my daydreams. I got lost. I didn’t know how I entered or how to get out. I didn’t know how I had allowed myself to drift so far into daydreaming or how to disengage from the wonderful characters and stories that made up my world. But I woke up one day and realized that living without daydreaming was possible, if I could return to myself, and that I had to start to do that. I had no idea how, because I didn't know who I was. I knew how to "play" my characters, but I didn't know how to "play" me. I didn't know how to "be" me. It was a really unique problem.

Once I began writing about my daydreams, I began to emerge more and more from the wreckage, from the ashes (now I'm really sounding poetic). There needed to be an "actor" in this new drama of recovery, and that actor turned out to be the real me. I literally became the speaker of, the spokesperson for, my daydream world. Only I could do that, so I had to.

If I didn't write my daydreams down, I had to face the prospect that they would be lost to oblivion. My daydreams were such a vital part of who I was that to contemplate losing them, saying goodbye to them forever, was like contemplating amputation. To go cold turkey on my daydreams was like sealing off a part of myself. I couldn’t bear it, and writing was the only mechanism I had to recreate and transform myself.

In the writing of my daydreams I transformed them from internal experiences that I was having, to external ones that I could have. Every little bit that I wrote strengthened my own voice and weakened the machinery of the daydreams that had become my habit and mind. If I captured the daydreams on paper, I didn’t have to hold them inside, and this was such a relief. They didn’t have to take up space in my mind or in my emotions. By writing, I could let them go without losing them forever. I could go on to live my life as me, and if I ever wanted to have contact with my daydreams, or immerse myself in them, I could return any time to my writings. They would sort of be like any book that I would pick up off a shelf and read, except that the content had once been my body and soul.

I know that writing is not the answer for everyone. I don’t hail writing to be THE ONLY way out of daydreaming. I am just saying that it was the way out for me. And I’m glad, Jennifer, that writing has helped you and others here.

Let me also make it clear that my daydream writing was, and is, pretty bad. It is whatever I can say about the daydreams in the language that occurs to me (how can it be anything else?). When I write, I don’t worry at all about sounding bad or writing crap because not writing anything is worse than bad writing about daydreams that you once knew to be so phenomenal and transporting.

 

 

 

 

[Andrea]

Hey :) 

Great idea by the way. This has been my experience with channelling my daydreams into writing. Ever since I found out about MD, my daydreams have drastically stopped. The main daydream I usually indulge in is pretty much non-existant. I think admitting to myself that none of it was real has killed the dreams all together. I was still compelled to daydream about other things, however. So instead, I tried to channel my creativity into writing and it has had bittersweet results. As a plus, I've unleashed my imagination and I'm absolutely in love with the story I'm working on at the moment---the story itself has nothing to do with any of the daydreams I've ever had, although it does explore the idea of dreaming. 

But weirdly enough, channelling my creativity into writing to avoid MD has made it worse. Because now I don't feel bad about spending hours thinking up plot points for my story. I feel like it's investment. Daydreaming about myself always made me feel bad/guilty afterwards and that was what drove me to stop my MD. Daydreaming about my story doesn't and therefore it has been more consuming than my usual MD daydreams. Sometimes, I even daydream about my story when I can't afford to (i.e. when I have a test coming up, etc). 

Not sure what the point of my rambling was here, lol. But I guess I just wanted to share my experience with the daydreaming/writing thing :P 

But if you can find a way to productively channel your creativity, all the more power to you! And best of luck! 

[Jennifer]

@James

Oh, I completely understand. Absolutely. I also face perfectionism while writing. It's really hard to deal with. It sounds like writing triggers your daydreaming habits. That's also very hard to deal with. I am really happy to know that you won't give up, though! It really is a lot of work, but to know that you're not giving up is inspiring. Good luck!

[Jennifer]

@Jules

You're welcome! If the writing doesn't seem to be your thing, I hope you can find something else to distract you from your daydreams. I know how tough living with MD can be...Grr. :P

 

@Cassandra Booth

Woow, I am impressed, too!  I wish I could read your story!! Best of luck to you!!

[Jules]

Thanks for sharing that Jennifer. (: I have thought about writing things down too, but just lose interest very quickly. But maybe I'll try again.

Wow, Cassandra. I'm impressed! Please let us know when you get it published? I wonder how many writers' story-lines actually come from Day-Dreams? I wish you the best. xo

[Cassandra Booth]

I do that too :)
I've actually been working on a book for about three years now, based on my day dreams. I've let a few people read the footnotes and the first chapter, and they all said that they can't wait for me to finish it.

 

It's definately a great release to write about the storylines going on in your head. It could really pay off someday as well. I see writing these things as a great opportunity. I've been daydreaming my life away since I was a child and now I feel that if I can publish this book and if it actually sells, the readers could inspire me someday to have more confidence in myself and leave the neglect and trauma of my past behind.