I live my daydreams in music I see my life in terms of music. I get most joy in life out of music. – Albert Einstein
Day dreaming has been linked to solving difficult problems. Hmm, hello Mr. Einstein & your constant musically adapt daydreams. The more we are submersed in the clouds so to speak, we become more equipped to deal with complex situations. You know, all those trials that just drop in your lap that seems to happen when you least expect it. Yes Covid, I am talking about you & the plethora of problems you created for our world.
I find this to be incredibly ironic if you ask me due to their being a mental disorder called Maladaptive Daydreaming & it is when people excessively daydream to escape their reality. Its what you would say is a defense mechanism to in part to whatever trauma they went through. So its almost as if there is a threshold in which if you go past you can be in that box but if you have a healthy dose you can solve all kinds of problems. Do you day dream? I tend to do it a lot. I wouldn’t go as far and say that I am an amazing problem solver but I stay pretty rational in dire circumstances. So perhaps I fall in the same bracket at Einstein? Okay, I know, I am pushing it. Well aware!
I mean frequent day dreamers are often likely to be more creative & intelligent. Is that where Gifted & Talented comes into play? Their ability to really think outside of this imaginary box, of which has been created to segment those that process knowledge in a different way & have certain attributes that are distinctive. My son is ahem ‘gifted’ (eye rolls commence, I know, I know-I promise I’m not that parent but he is and well there is nothing more to say on the matter) & its very interesting their idiosyncrasies & attributes that come into play with this new label. NPR Ed did an article back in 2015 via Anya Kamenetz about GT & who are those that are defined by this title & what do they require to be successful & thrive. Its a pretty cool read if you have a minute.
Anyway, I went off on a bit of a tangent, but this topic can break off in so many different paths & all of which are so interesting to me.
So what is the opposite of a good daydreamer? A myopic individual still has to find themselves floating on a cloud from time to time, right? Not necessarily asking for a pragmatist or cynic but rather someone that is an intellectual that doesn’t allow their mind to wonder from the task at hand. Not necessarily GT but extremely bright & other wise deeply astute individuals.
Why is daydreaming important? Why do we require some form of it to remain calm & level headed? Time did an article back in 2014 & it goes into the reasoning as to why. Did you know they said that half our thoughts are day dreams! What do you day dream about? I daydream about so many things in 1 hour, y’all don’t even know. From my kids, to my actual goals, to what I am presently working on etc. The article goes on to say, “Daydreaming can be the mind’s incubator.” You like that? Thats pretty awesome. It really allows us as humans to fathom the unthinkable! To accomplish those things that others dare not dream of. Day dreams are literally what dreams are made of! Will continues to write, that 10% of us are actually ADD (Pretty sure I am an undiagnosed case, my 2nd grade teacher kept insisting but my Mama said its nothing sports & activities couldn’t cure….hmm? I can see where she was going, back in the 80’s was ADD at the forefront?)
So the next time you are driving down the road & you quickly realize you have made it from point A to point B with out actually realizing it — that was daydreaming at its finest. So try to remember what you were daydreaming about! It might be the difference between doing what you are doing now & going after what you subconsciously think of as your dream job!
