Do you remember the last time you ‘daydreamed’?
I remember taking long bus journeys, in the days before smart phones were everywhere, and even during that period when we had smartphones but they mostly stayed in our bag (can you imagine?).
I would stare out of the window and get lost in daydreams. Sometimes the sun would illuminate my face through the window and I’d close my eyes.
My daydreams would often consist of imagining myself in various scenarios (i.e. bumping to an ex whilst out with a new boyfriend, or a particular song came on my iPod, I’d imagine myself in the music video)
Sometimes, if I really got lost in the moment, my daydreams would last for 30 minutes or more.
Daydreams are quite different from rumination – they have a different tone. You’ll know you’re daydreaming by the quality of your nervous system. They are usually dream-like, often an imagined scenario in which you are the leading character.
It tends to happen for me when I’m on public transport, when I allow myself to be bored for long enough that the immediate thoughts slow down. Then, the combination of a quiet mind and the rhythmical movement of the bus or train allow me to drop into a less conscious state. I’ll almost forget where I am, I’ll become less self-aware, and the daydreaming will begin. In some ways it’s similar to the feeling of meditating. Theres a passivity to it, and I am unlikely to remember the daydream afterwards as the I’m less of an active participant in the process than if I was ruminating.
When we daydream, we are learning to be creative, and we might even, as a byproduct, manifest something positive. But at the very least, we’re using our brain, and nurturing our capacity for entertaining ourselves, which builds resilience. Occasionally, we might find an answer to a question we’ve been struggling with, having an inspirational moment, think of a great idea or learn something new about ourselves from the nature of our mind-wandering.
We can also better learn to accept boredom and not seek constant stimulus.
Nowadays, we’d spend long journeys staring at a screen, scrolling on social media.
So next time you take a long journey, notice the quality of your thoughts and feelings and how they change when you put away the phone and allow your mind to wander, until the wandering becomes less active, and maybe you might even drop into a fabulous daydream!
