"Daydreaming is a short-term detachment from one's immediate surroundings, during which a person's contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake." (source: Wikipedia)
I decided to blog about this topic because lots of people think daydreaming is okay and is a fun thing to do and I, myself, used to believe the same thing. But recently, I discovered that it is not just what I thought it is.
I used to daydream about a lot of wonderful things (I mean, who daydreams about bad things??) such as me being a successful writer and filmmaker and all the interviewers are after me, and then there's me as a famous singer. I used to sign my mom's magazines at home pretending I'm signing my own magazine covers/albums for fans(INSANE!!!) and of course, I loved daydreaming about my ultimate crush- Logan Lerman. I used to daydream he's...well, my boyfie and then we go travel the world and then we're hopelessly in love with each other and then finally, he asks me to marry him (this is really embarrassing). I daydreamed about having a lot of people who wanted to be my friends, a lot of people who were inspired by me, a lot of people I could turn to during tough times. I daydreamed about making my loved ones proud. I daydreamed about a better version of myself. I daydreamed about a wonderful life. I daydreamed about all the great things. Nothing seemed impossible in my own universe. Fantasy was such a sweet world. There were no boundaries/limitations to what might happen. There were no pain and crying and I was happy. Because I was the author and director of my own story. Anything...Anything at all was possible.
Until I came to a point where I got so into it that I neglected all the things I had to do in real life such as the house chores, eating and sadly...even my social life. I came to a point where daydreaming seemed automatic when I wake up every morning. I would talk to some imaginary people and even to myself. I neglected my social life because I had many friends in my world and I feared rejection from people in my real life. I wanted my fantasy life so much that my real life didn't matter to me that much anymore. Again, there were no limitations. I was happy, I was famous, I had heaps of friends. I was loved back by all the people I loved. I was highly admired and appreciated. How could you hate fantasy/daydreaming when it offers nothing but the best?
But then, there were days when daydreaming became...painful. There were days when I daydreamed and I felt so empty and sad. The painful part came when I realized all the wonderful, beautiful and great things I daydreamed of were all...imaginary. They weren't real. They weren't true. They exist in my own world,yes. But I was the only one who lived in my own world. And I can't stay there for too long. The job and fame I had in my own world didn't exist in my real life. Not all the people I daydreamed of loving me back did so in real life. I always had to go back to reality. And that's when everything hit me hard, all at once.
Fantasy can be just really amazing and beautiful because like I said, anything is possible. You get to direct the things that'll happen and you'll always get to be the lead role, not just an extra. You get to be the best of yourself.
But that day I realized no matter how beautiful and great the things fantasy/daydreaming offers you, they are not real. I was hyped about daydreaming because I wanted to be different, to be better...for a short moment. I am a not so popular girl in real life. Most of the time, I go unnoticed by people. I don't have lots of friends (I only have few) and not all the people I love/admire requite what I feel for them(I'm referring to Logan Lerman by this, haha) and most of all, I am alone most of the time. I don't mean being all emo or anything. I mean, alone literally. I haven't been going to school lately and I am sorta uh, socially awkward sometimes(or most of the time). I read a book(blue like jazz) weeks ago and Donald Miller, the author of the book, mentioned that daydreaming is partly caused by being alone. "I blamed it on loneliness of the biochemical sort. When a person has no other persons he invents them because he was not designed to be alone, because it isn't good for a person to be alone." he said. And I guess he's right. Most of the daydreamers, if not all, love fantasy because they are alone, or perhaps because they are lonely. I daydreamed because I stayed most of the time in my room and did not interact with real people. I was lonely,too, I guess. By interacting, I mean not just through social sites like facebook or twitter (I am very active on my sites) but in a more personal way like having coffee and talking about stuff, or something like that. There's a huge difference between chatting with people and talking to them personally. And yes, lonely. I was lonely because I didn't have anyone to talk to. Sure my mom was there with me always and we always have a good time but friends are different. Late at night, I look at the stars... yes, they're beautiful and God is amazing but there's more to it. People stare at the stars because they are lonely. They talk to them or the moon or to themselves because there's no one to talk to. And that's sad. Really sad.
BUT. Listen, this is the most important part of this blog post. God made me realize things. Fantasy entice people because we long for perfection. A painless world. A wish-granting world. A world written by us. But no matter how great the things we daydream of, it is non-existing. It is imaginary. Focus on the word "imaginary" and you'll see how painful daydreaming is. Yes, it is beautiful but it is never real. I am not saying daydreaming is a sin or is a freaking bad thing...but it can be. We need not to soak ourselves with illusions because there are wonderful things reality can offer. Yes, there's pain and it's rough sometimes but at least, it's real. We don't have to be sad over people not loving us back or people not appreciating us because there is Someone who loves us so much and sees us more valuable than gold. And that Someone is the Creator of everything, the King of kings and the God of the universe!!! How awesome is that??? The God of the universe is in love with you!!! And another thing... no matter how great and wonderful the things or plans we have for ourselves in our own world, it doesn't compare to the plans God has for us! He said in Jeremiah 29:11,
""For I know the plans I have for you"says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.""
So we need not to be stuck in the world of illusions because God promised to give us a future. Even though some people don't love or appreciate us, He sees us in a very special way and loves us much more than we could ever imagine. Sooooo, why daydream over illusionary things when the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE is offering us mighty things? :) No matter how great the stories we make up in our minds, God is still the greatest Author and He has written the best storyline of your life(including your love story!). Wait and see ;)
P.S The dangerous thing about daydreaming is that you can come to a point where you don't know anymore if you're awake or you're just dreaming. And there's the possibility of being psychotic. And then it can paralyze you (neglecting to do important stuff just to daydream). And then the worst is believing illusions and forgetting that God is there and has the power to provide you what you need.
I want to write more but my mum is nagging at me because I've been on for hourssssss. I have to end this. Thank you for reading. If you have questions or violent reactions, feel free to msg me on facebook. God bless! :)