Let's daydream!

Going through the newspapers published in the recent past I found that many writers had referred to LTTE Leader Prabhakaran's daydream. He himself had called the capture of Kilinochchi would be a daydream. While Prabhakaran's daydream has scattered into a thousand pieces, Sri Lankans are heaving a collective sigh of relief.

Apart from such habitual or neurotic day dreaming, aren't we 'guilty' of daydreaming every now and then? Most of us daydream without causing damage to life and property. That's a kind of harmless hobby you can indulge in. The trouble starts when you daydream and do nothing else. Such people invariably cut themselves away from society and become a problem to others. Habitual daydreamers do not have the capacity to grapple with real life problems. They are living in their World of Fantasy.

I am reminded of a youth who had been daydreaming throughout his adolescence. His dream was to live in a country house built on a hillock with a brook babbling by. Then he coerced his parents to buy him such a house in a remote area. He began to live in his dream house doing nothing to earn his living. He began to live in the house all alone and neighbours wondered what he was up to.

On a complaint made by a neighbour the police raided the house and took the young man into custody. Although there was no specific charge against him, he was produced in a Court of law.

The judge discharged him as the police had no charge against him. There may be several other instances where daydreaming had landed people in trouble.

Regular daydreamers live in their own world of fantasy. They have no interest in real life activities such as making a living, raising a family and preparing to face the evening of their lives. Such people invariably withdraw from family and society. These fantasy addicts derive pleasure from daydreaming without realising that they are wasting their time and energy.

Modern research, however, shows that moderate daydreaming can be a healthy exercise. People who fail to daydream at least occasionally suffer from emotional imbalance. As a result, they may have problems coping with life's pressures. Some time ago even dreaming during sleep was thought to be harmful to life. Modern psychologists, however, believe that dreams have a therapeutic effect on our lives. Similarly, they say that daydreaming too, if not carried to excesses, can have a healthy effect on your mind and body.

Dr. William Dement of the sleep center of New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital once said that when people's night dreams were interrupted they showed signs of anxiety and irritability. He concluded that all healthy people dreamt at one time or another. There was no reason to stop them from doing so. Later experiments carried out in Edinburg and Scotland prove that dreams should not be suppressed as they are normal and healthy signs of a person's life.

Today psychologists believe that certain amount of daydreaming is necessary to maintain your sanity. They say that it is an effective method of relaxation. Apart from relaxation, daydreaming contributes to intellectual growth. Dr. Joan T. Freyberg, a New York city-based psychotherapist is of the view that daydreaming increases your powers of concentration and interpersonal communication. Daydreamers also tend to be creative in their respective fields.

I do not know whether somebody else can teach you how to daydream because it is a voluntary action. Ordinary people are quite capable of daydreaming without any difficulty. Contrary to popular belief daydreaming is not a waste to time. A daydreamer understands his own character and looks at his own behaviour. This helps him to live in a society full of people with divergent views. You may have seen some busy executives daydream for a few minutes everyday in their own workplaces. Once I was ushered into the chairman's room in a leading company, the secretary left me in the chairman's room to facilitate my interview. However, to my amazement, I found that he was in another world!

"Sorry, I was daydreaming," he apologised after a few minutes. Thereafter, I found him in a better mood for the press interview. Such instances are not rare for journalists who are hunting for news and features. Although most people relapse into a state of daydreaming, some of them are reluctant to admit what they are doing.

A well-known lecturer once confided in me that he used to daydream occasionally, especially when he had to handle a difficult task. "I always emerge more optimistic and enthusiastic after a short session of daydreaming. Daydreamers feel the joy of living amid a hectic schedule. They enjoy their jobs however much they are monotonous.

All of us face periods of crisis at times. In order to face them we need some extra energy. This is provided by constructive daydreaming. While you are daydreaming you can charge your batteries and create more mental energy for tackling emergency situations.

Here's a practical method of daydreaming. When you are faced with a difficult situation, close your eyes and daydream for sometime. When you do not hear or see what is happening around you, your mind begins to solve knotty problems.

Most creative people such as artists and authors use daydreaming to the maximum. They get creative thoughts when they are in a state of daydreaming. The great scientist Newton solved most of his problems while daydreaming. Even Thomas Alva Edison knew the value of half waking states.

Meanwhile, some people try artificial methods to get into a 'mood'. For instance, seller is known to have kept rotten apples in his desk drawer so that their aroma would trigger a mood of reverie. Doodling is another artificial method to get into a mood.

Daydreaming and creative art go hand in hand. There is the well-known story of an artist who retracted his footsteps in order to appreciate what he had created. In the process he completely forgot the fact that he was on a scaffolding high above the ground. If not for the presence of mind of his assistant, the painter would have fallen from the scaffolding and died.

When Alexander succeeded Philip on the Macedonian throne in 336BC, he was not quite twenty. Having been tutored by Aristotle, one of the world's greatest thinkers, Alexander had a dream. He wanted to carry the banner of Greek civilization and culture through the East, and open up the route to India. During the reign of Alexander the Great the confines of man's knowledge were widened and great advances were made in the realms of science.

If you want to realise your ambition, you have to dream of it constantly. If you want to be a leading lawyer address the judge and jury in your daydreams. The secret of success related to daydreaming in the words of Dr. Maxwell Maltz is that your nervous system cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a real experience. Daydream and harness your energy to achieve whatever goals you have in mind.