Love or Loathe your daydream?

[Tiffany]

Am I the only one who does not hate my daydreaming?

It has given me wonderful ideas and feelings for as long as I remember, like heart warming films that make you go 'awww' and you feel great about. When you watch them, do you hate them too because they took up over an hour of your time and weren't real? I understand that, like all "mental disorders", when it affects your daily life then it is a problem. But does this disorder affect everyone's lives like that? I am an introvert (perhaps because of my daydreaming) so my social life is minimal and I have few friends - but I can chat perfectly fine with new people and am happier not socialising - and I am perfectly happy by this. I was bullied in school and my daydreaming was an escape - I believe it affected my life then. When I would shut off to the world, live in my dreamland, and only emerge to eat, play games, watch movies, visit friends, chat on phone etc.

At first, a few years ago, I was anxious about this daydreaming, and ashamed that I did it and like almost everyone else, didn't know I was not an isolated case. After discovering it had a name, and that other people around the world also have it, a HUGE relief came over me. Now years on, I have come to realise its not so bad. I socialise (when I wan't - not when people think I am being a hermit) read books, listen to music, cook, clean, work full time, shop, teach and then daydream when I am bored or need muse because I decided to write mine down. My stories have been so elaborate, so complex - something I believe worthy of a novel (not to be published but written down for my own personal use)

I use to be too scared to learn to drive too, for fear while listening to music in the car I will drift off into daydreamland. However I drive, and have no problems with it, not even when waiting at a set of lights and have my favourite music blasting. I daydream for an hour at least a day (mostly 2 hours) and I don't care to change it. With no kids and very little commitments, this might be adding to my accepting attitude though. I can go for days without daydreaming, but I believe I would get anxious after two weeks - I see my daydreaming not as a vice to hate, but one to embrace and use to my own advantage. It kills time, I feel good and I choose to do it again.

Does anyone else feel this way? How do you truly feel about your DD and how does it affect you?

[Taylor Graymire]

I get where your coming from! I too was also bullied (and still am bullied) at school. I was (and am still) being verbally abused by my parrents. I know exactly how you feel! My daydreaming was a way to distract myself from the real world, to take my mind off of everything that is, and was happening to me. Like when I was feeling sad, my characters would make me laugh, or if I was upset or mad, they would comfort me. To me, I love my daydreaming and I honestly dont know what I would do without it.

[walking clouds]

Well I can't mange but to both hate and love daydreaming really, I mean I don't hate my daydreams, my daydreams are who I am and my personality in my daydreams is pretty much the same as me it just went through different experiences( which make me have went through them too cause she is me! ohh this is complicated!!) so anyway I just wanna say that none of us daydreamers who say that they hate daydreaming mean that they hate literally hate there daydreams, they just hate the way it's affecting on them, just like me, because daydreaming usually takes a lot more time than just two hours for me and it's affecting me academically and preventing me from doing most of normal day-tasks, can't sleep fast or get up from bed once I'm awake, can't study well, and for what ? for something that it isn't even real and never will be !

I admit that daydreaming is amazing, but it isn't worth the cast !

[Juliette23]

Michelle Young said:

I love my daydreaming. LOVE it. I am middle aged, married with two daughters -16 and 18. I am not the world's happiest person. When I can get into my world, it makes me feel good. It is where I am happiest, and I feel that my ability to spend some time each day in my world, keeps me sane. 

This. :) I could say the same thing, except my two daughters are a little younger than yours and I have a little boy too. But yeah. It brings happiness, joy and sweetness in my life.

[New York dancer]

SWEET HEAVENS!!! Finally more Pro-Loving Daydreamers :D! Where have you been hiding? You guys need to speak up more often. When I read this post I immediately threw my hands in the air saying "ME! I Love Day Dreaming! Hey over here! This one is totally all about it!" Seriously, some love for this awesome talent.

I love this site but sometimes I find it hard to strike up healthy conversations because there is a constant negative undertone. Many members (not all of course) seem to contribute too many "anti/negative/depressed" postings but where is the other half? The half who feels the complete opposite. I am from that other half. We can all help each other by sharing stories of the challenges we face, learn from each other and grow. I don't categorize MD as something good or bad, I simply say it just is. We created it for a internal purpose, accept it and let's move on. I know I'm come off pretty straight to the point but that's just the New York nature in me. LOL

By the way, I been a serious day dreamer for over 30 years so I understand the beauty/beast nature to this. I understand both the addiction element and empowerment force. I lived through it all. But in the end, I wouldn't change a thing. I love day dreaming and I'm a happy person with a full life. I wish the same for everyone too :)

So celebrate, Woo-Hoo to day dreaming!!! Here's a HIGH 5!
Like the Monkees song "Day Dream Believers..."

[xf079]

I mostly feel the same way you do about MD. I love the way it makes me feel. I think it gives me the opportunity to explore feelings and sensations that I do not or cannot experience in real life. It can be utter sadness or utter joy, but it's always pleasant nonetheless. For instance, I wouldn't want a relative or close friend of mine to die, that's a fear of mine. However, in my DD I can imagine similar things and feel all the distress, depression, hopelessness, sadness, etc., yet still know it is not real. I think maybe it helps me learn to cope with fears I have. On the other hand, it also acts as a substitute for feelings I long for but cannot experience in real life. I DD mainly when my life gets really boring, or when I'm really stressed. It's an escape. I do think it interferes with my life in that DD is a way to avoid dealing with issues I have in real life. Sometimes I'm just stuck in it, thinking of it every quiet moment I get away from people. Sometimes I wish I could cross the line and just live in my fantasy world, much like a psychotic/delusional person. Of course I'm not psychotic because I know the difference between reality and fantasy. What I'm saying is sometimes I'm so happy daydreaming that I wish I could permanently escape from the real world, pretending my characters are real and I'm part of the plot. At this point, my MD also gets more compulsive. It is when all this occurs that I find myself hating MD. I do like real life, the problem is my life sometimes gets utterly boring and my feelings are flattened by daily monotony. Even when I wish I could disconnect from reality and live in my fantasies, I'm certain I wouldn't want to experience in real life the hardships and traumatic events I put my characters through. Bottomline: It is fun because it is a fantasy. This realisation makes me acknowledge that my real life lacks luster, excitement and feelings, and that I need to make some changes that I might actually be unwilling to do. That's the hard part.

[The1andonlyAbber]

I love, love, LOVE my daydreams! They're a great boredom-buster and creative/emotional outlet.

[Madeline]

For the most part, I enjoy it. I don't have a television and I never listen to the radio in the car -- nor music for that matter. I prefer to daydream. I find this is problematic because often I find that I am on autopilot while driving and fully engaged in my daydream. So often I come back to reality and feel tense and anxious because I've been driving and should have really been paying attention. But it just happens, I don't notice it until I somehow realize I'm in it and have to snap out. 

I do it everywhere. At work, home, with friends, with my partner, etc. For myself I feel that it has been a coping mechanism. 

The movies/daydreams in my thoughts are so vivid that I'm surprised I'm able to conjure up such imagery. I feel creative for doing so, considering I'm not musically nor artistically inclined. However, I love literature and etymology. 

I think I would be more unhappy in general if I hadn't been a daydreamer all of my life.