What About Daydreams?

By The Night Watchman

I'm sure we all spend many moments wondering what our dreams mean, but what about our daydreams? Could they have some interpretive value to them?

As many who know me can tell you, I spend much of my time daydreaming (when not dreaming in the sleep state, as Chris will attest). Those dreams range from silly ideas for books or movies to more serious subjects like what the future has in store for our family and the state world in general.

I was struggling to find something to write about this issue. Since the advent of this magazine and website, we've had the fortune to interview and read articles from amazing people on a vast array of subject matter who go against the grain of conventional thinking. And, being amassed in those thoughts and opinions, gives one a unique perspective about different subjects. All it took was... well... a little daydreaming, and lo and behold, this article for you readers.

From my perspective, daydreaming is frowned upon, especially in these times. From an early age, we're told from our parents, teachers and bosses to pay attention, do our work and pretty much follow what everyone else is doing. It's ingrained in our psyche that daydreaming is a form of laziness and a waste of productive time. As with any activity, if done to the extreme, it can be detrimental, but if you really consider it, daydreaming is the fundamental expression of individualism, which, if ideas from daydreaming come to fruition, can benefit countless others in the future.

No one thing of societal value came because a committee collectively put their heads together and 'voila' . Yes, it takes others to see a particular project to completion, but it has been and always will be the individual who dared to dream that started the process. It's the daydreamer's pursuit to ask the question of "Why?" I'm sure Thomas Edison asked: "Why do I always have to run down to the store to buy whale oil to keep my lantern going and continue reading at night when it should be as easy as flipping a switch?" Or Guttenberg, who was probably tired from all that handwriting on parchment asking, "Why can't we just have a press that would duplicate all these things?" Or better yet, Gautama Buddha, who pondered, "Why do we all suffer so much in this world? Maybe we'd be better off if we would quit being so stupid and refrain from wanting all these things we really don't need in the first place." You get my drift.

No, my fellow readers, daydreaming is good for you. Present day society has ingrained in us such a Puritanical and collective mindset so forceful that, somehow, any sort of individual activity and thought is somehow harmful to society's goals. But remember, society is made up of individuals, not the other way around. If someone is using guilt to squash your thoughts and aspirations, it's more likely that you're doing an activity that is not corresponding to that person's goals. If you have finished a commitment you began, go ahead and daydream as much as you like and delve into your inner consciousness to bring some of those thoughts to a reality.

I'll get off my high horse for a moment and get back to the question at hand and that is... Can we learn something about ourselves from daydreaming?

I think so. Mental health and spiritual advisors endorse documenting dreams to reveal insights into our own psyche. So why not document daydreams? I haven't done so yet, but I will say many of my daydreams center on traveling. Is it because I want to escape from my present situation or, could it be that I just want to see what is out there? I don't know for sure, but I do know that nothing excites me quite like the anticipation of exploring a part of the world I have yet to see. It brings on other daydreams such as how a place must have been in the past, how it might look in the future and how people perceive it in the present.

Several years ago, I was on a rafting trip down the Missouri River in Montana with some friends. One night at a campsite, Bob, who was the veteran outdoorsman of the group, started reading passages from Lewis and Clarke's journal of their trip up the Missouri River. He had found some of the entries from the general location where we were camping. All of us around the campfire were enthralled at the detail of the entries and how these explorers trudged along UPSTREAM, without the modern day conveniences we had on our trip. We all commented on what balls these men had, especially after seeing the terrain, to travel west without knowing what was out there and whether they would return to tell about it. The stories no doubt sparked daydreaming subjects for all of us. I wondered throughout the rest of the trip whether I would have the same drive to explore back then as I do today, and if so, would I have the courage to go the whole nine yards. I'd like to think so, but considering I had those doubts just daydreaming, I think it's safe to conclude that self-doubt is a problem in my present existence.

How about you? Are able to pinpoint the negativity in your daydreams that hampers your ambitions to strive for a fulfilling life? It might help you to write down your daydreams to see what's up.

All of us daydream, but to what extent? It's just my observation, I could be wrong, but it seems as though many people I encounter throughout the day think no farther ahead than what their next task is, what's for dinner, or whether they should schedule a meeting for 10 or 11. It's an existence of monotony. We have traded our personal happiness for security. Security in the sense that if we do what we're told and don't take any necessary risks, we will wake up and exist for another day. Well, if you recall, if slaves behaved and did what they were told, they were mostly given enough to survive, at least for awhile.

In my view, daydreaming is God's gift to realize our personal goals and desires, but our muddled conscious mind and unjustifiable guilt hinders our motivation to strive for those wishes. If we all were to sit back and consider what our daydreams are telling us, we might find out we are all capable of fulfilling our own purposes. Maybe our daydreams are there to help us conquer our fears, but first, we need to conquer our fear of knowing what we want in the first place. As I think about it now, I need to take my own advice.