I just discovered this subreddit and was wondering what daydreaming actually means. I looked through the sub and feel like what I often do is daydreaming but I don't know for sure. So what is daydreaming exactly and is it different for everyone? Why do you do it? Thanks in advance.

When I first started day dreaming I used to be so good at it. Dreaming in first person came naturally to me. I could hear the dream, feel it, smell it, taste it, etc. it was amazing. But 4 years later it’s like my brain stopped working and now the best I can do is 3rd person (which makes the day dreams janky, unrealistic, and kinda hurts my head). It’s like I’m dreaming for someone else, not myself.

The main problem now is when I try to do first person I think In a meta way; like, “I’m day dreaming,” and then it’s impossible to continue. It’s like I can’t focus enough to do it anymore. My mind wonders off.

How do I get back to dreaming in first person? Has this happened to anyone else before? How did y’all overcome it? Thank you!

hey, just wanted to share my story about my daydreaming for the past months. 15M, I’m diagnosed with depression, social anxiety and ADHD. I never had a gf and never even went on a date, not even a single talking stage in my entire life. Last year, something real crazy for me happened. I have real low self esteem and confidence thanks to both my family and friends, and also because of my best friend I was afraid to talk to girls cuz he made fun of me every single time there was a girl around us. He said i was antisocial, I couldnt talk, I was skinny and more. So I became an introvert more and more and never asked anyone out nor had an experience like that. But last year, a crazy beautiful gothic girl asked for my gram. It was the best thing that could happen to me cuz im also submissive(not in a sexual way) cuz i was abused as a child and i feel missing and an absence in my manhood with being called out as I look like a girl cuz of my long lashes and freckles. Of course I panicked but at least gave her my insta, but did not know how to talk. Then I proceeded to ask help from that “best friend” I had to talk to her cuz he had a lot of relationships before and hes a real girl-chaser sorry if ı used that wrong. He again made fun of me in front of a different girl he found to attract her calling me antisocial and a loser. I cried all night that day. I wrote her a little bit like hi how r u and that was it. I couldnt talk to her. I never had anyone show interest in me again and never had a relationship still. I daydream about that girl still after a year. I create fake scenarios where we cuddle, kiss where she shows me real love and affection and me returning that back. And ım slightly going insane. I started harming myself cuz of these thoughts I have every day. I dream at least 2-3 hours a fay about her depending on where Im at. Today went skiing and i dreamt skiing with her. meeting with here here today and becoming a couple. I make up all of this over and over again. Its driving me crazy. I make myself talk to her creating another voice in my head and sometimes i tell myself to cut myself in her voice and i do it. I tell myself Im a loser and Ill never ever have any affection towards me and Im going to die alone cuz I can only dream about this. just wanted to write these here idk if its the right place or not. have a good day.

Most of my daydreaming, 95% that is, is just pure doalogue.

Small talk, deep conversations, discussions, planning, arguements... Stuff like that.

A few days ago I came up with an idea for a section in my daydream. And it spawned a storyline that's set about 25/30 years in the future. It will greatly impact a few of my ocs and will probably change the trajectory of that section in my daydream. But man, it's like it's just telling itself and I'm just watching it like it's a movie or TV show. My jaw dropped a few times. I love it when my daydream just goes on by itself as if I'm just an audience.

This is a video for her Third Album and Fourth Release (Knock on Wood), and her current single, Bird in the Hand, two in the Bush.

https://youtu.be/eL0-WBgF8k0

I'm autistic, 21 years old (almost 22) and I want a girlfriend. I daydream about having a brunette girlfriend. Hermione from Harry Potter is the main reason why I consider brunettes my favorites. I find them the most beautiful. Almost everytime I love or relate to a fictional female character she almost always happens to be a brunette. I think I subconciously see brunettes as the most relatable to me. I want a girlfriend with a personality similar to mine. Amy from Big Bang Theory is the main reason why. I related a lot to her. I don't know if it's just a coincidence but since I almost always like or relate to brunette fictional female characters I eventually came to see brunettes as the smartest, the most nerdy and most socially akwkard just like me

Even if I do get a girlfriend but she isn't exactly what I dreamed of is also ok but I find it hard not to idealize

Well technically I actually daydream about a character who is basically an imaginary version of me who has that kind of girlfriend. I love movies so much that I often imagine myself playing the main character who is basically a fictional version of me

I was listening to someone play Skyrim songs on this string instrument and it brought me back to the many hours I put into Skyrim in 2013-2015. I mean I played that game for hours until my thumbs and ass would hurt. I would put on my podcasts and zone out. The peacefulness that game brought back then in its infancy was unmatched to anything I've played today, other than medieval dynasty.

I'm sitting here listening to that person play that music with my eyes closed and imagining myself walking down those stone roads with the stone walls covered in moss. Seeing the fall foliage near riften and going up the mountain to see the greybeards.

GHETTO SUPERSTAR!!! THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE!!

Lady Penelope (from Thunderbirds) and I are two dolls who are mascots of a support for learning classroom. Every day when the students and teachers leave for home, we come to life and engage in little lessons of our own, such as rolling a ball back and forth, telling each other stories and going to the funfair to play all the games and enjoy the gentler attractions. It's a bit like the School Living Club from School Live, except there's no zombies and no violence - just happiness and chilled out after school sessions.

The classroom Lady Penelope and I live in.

I daydream way way way too much and it's affecting everything including my mental health and academics Can someone help diagnose me and do i need to seek help?

Half the time: This is Meera. Meera has to check on everyone in the middle of the night. It creeps out her new friends, but she feels she has to do it because of all the kids who went missing under her watch before everyone was freed from the Terran Farm :(

The other half: "We're butlers. We buttle 🙂"

My daydreams are now revolving around real people and those people are the Warner Brothers. Not Warner Brothers, THE Warner Brothers themselves.

I will listen to music and daydream of the Warner Brothers.

One of the songs is Ghetto superstar. And it's really intense. If you heard about the Warner Brothers you'd probably think it fits too. I still feel a little cooked

Thank you for your attention.

Ghetto superstar that is what you are

I've had a paracosm I've been working on on-and-off for about three years. I've been focusing on it the past few months but suddenly, I'm bored of the characters and want to start something new. My latest paracosm involves a group of characters who are based on members of bands I like, and I don't know how to start something new. I have a hard time finding inspiration for characters that aren't based on characters from TV or music. Any tips on making new characters and a new storyline??

I stumbled across an article about accessing the subconscious and wondering if anyone can suggest books with more detail about the practice it describes—to receive dreams from the subconscious while awake? I wrote a summary of the article’s technique below. I would love to learn how to encourage spontaneous dreams (or even just images) from the subconscious in my waking hours/meditation practice. My motivations are—infusing more creativity into my writing, and just plain curious to see what shows up!

The most relevant book I’ve found so far is Transformational Daydreaming by Timothy Storlie (found it super interesting). He refers to a full-on mental movie while awake (with no control of the conscious mind) as the holy grail.

https://psimind.fandom.com/wiki/Access_the_subconscious_mind

Summary:

—“The technique allows you to reach into the dream state without having to fall asleep.”

—Place an image on your “viewing screen” and shift from conscious mind to subconscious mind “where the dream plays out”

—“Success depends on your ability to let go of control and to go with the flow just like the nighttime dream state”

—If you try to control the visuals you are pulled back into the conscious mind instantaneously

—“You must approach this technique just like a little child who pretends to visualize all sorts of fantasy roles in play”

Any suggestions for further reading? Would also love to hear your personal experiences and suggestions for “dreaming while awake”. Did it always came naturally or have you learned techniques to develop it over time? Thanks so much!!

I have a few questions about immersive daydreaming. I’m seeking education, research, feedback, answers. Also feel welcome to share your personal experiences! My intentions are to learn, to help me understand better. Im going to do my best with using respectful language, please feel free to correct me if needed. Apologies if some of these questions seem strange. Thank you for taking the time to read and/or respond :)

——————

1. Do characters/individuals in immersive daydreams change? And do scenes/plots/worlds in daydreams change as well? - is it possible for these things to never change?

2. Do you pick which characters/individuals you want to daydream about/with? And do you get to pick the scene/plot/world?

3. Can the daydreams main character not be the body of the individual? (Example: Ashley is immersive daydreaming about being Barbie and doing Barbie things as Barbie in fairytopia).

4. Can immersive daydreams incorporate topics from waking life? (Such as explaining what you’re currently doing, or talking about your experience going to the store earlier that day, or processing things that are on your mind.)

5. Can characters/individuals in immersive daydreams interact with the outside/real world? (Example: talking to irl friends. Completing irl chores. Doing irl art projects. Play irl video games)

6. Do the characters/individuals in your immersive daydreams feel individualized from you? Do you feel they have their own personality and identity? Dislikes and likes that seem very different and almost autonomous from yours? Or is it all in the daydreamers/your control?

7. Can someone have an imaginary friend; And utilize immersive daydreaming as a way to interact/communicate/play with their imaginary friend?

8. How do you feel immersive daydreaming affected your life?

9. What is the difference between immersive daydreaming and guided visualization techniques where the individual creates a mental safe space?

StAr was small brown bear with little beady eyes and ears to match she lived above the coffee shop she ran. Appropriately named star bears coffee. She was 17had just graduated carrotinginton high school and was able to indulge in the one thing she loved coffee

She adored it the beans the smell the sound of theanual grinders . No electric ones for her no siree . To star coffee was an art form something she was made to do.

On this preticilar day starchad woken up at 5 am had a quick shower and headed down to start the coffee and hot cocoa machines for the day.

Starbears coffee was a quaint little shop just off the main station so she got plenty of customers and honestly that was the problem . You see star loved making coffee loved serving small cups full of perfection but she didn't like customers always yapping and jabbering about things not having a chance to actually enjoy the coffee and cakes she spent so much time making.

Star sighed as she unlocked the door waving to Stan the bus driver who would be over soon to fill his thermos . "Hotcocoa bit of orange syrup but of caramel extra cream she whispered to herself as she set the machine to on with a whir and hissing of boiling liquids." Star knew her regulars orders like she knew her own paw.

She set out the fresh baked bread from the bakery down the road and hot cookies . The eating kind not the currency kind.. star thought to her self as she worked helping herself to a mint chocolate chip cookie The hot dought matrix melted in her mouth the flavours of vanilla and brown sugar augmented the coolness of the mint perfectly.

"Oh yummy these are fantastic star said as she wiped crumbs from around her dainty muzzle. Her preparation all complete she turned her sign from closed to open poured herself another cup of cocoa and waited for the first guests of the day.

As usual she did t wait long and within an hour or so as the sun rose she went from a few regulars to passers by dropping in for a hot drink. The morning fog slowly boiled away with the winter sunlight in wisps. And star was polite while she served

The shadows shortened in the window as the sun continued it's slow inexorable trek along the sky . Customers came and went until there was a break around noon

Star wars tidying up when cole came through the door looking a bit out of sorts . Normally star would t be too bothered about her customer personal lives but this was cold Sweet kind gentle cold a bear who loves the trains he cared for like a mother would with a child.

Hi cole why do t you sit down and I'll bring you your drink over ....you look well haggard if you don't mind my saying so

Star mixed his drink expertly adding a foam train to the top on hopes of cheering him up. Order done she pulled out the next batch of cookies and brought over the plate . Something told her he needed a friend .

Thanks star said cole as he slipped his drink his usually shiny eyes heavy .

So what's up you know she began not sure how to say it or start a conversation. . I'm sorry cole I'm not that good at this but why don't you tell me what's wrong maybe speaking will help you. She sat across from him her tidy green apron clashing with his blue and white pinstripe overalls . He nodded and began to cry

It's the haughly he said taking in great gulps of air she got hurt and she's poorly now he cried

Stars brain thought fast "is that one of the trains?"

Cole nodded she broke some of her pipework. I feel so bad for her there's nothing i can doatt and Bruno are working on treating her. He continued clearly anthropomorphizing the train into a living creature. Star just nodded along refilling his cocoa as needed

After an hour or two of cole crying and explaining everything that was wrong. Most of which went over her head .. what on earth is a rocker box and linkage rod .

She had an idea hey cole . You say you feel bad cause you think haughlys all sad and lonely why not go sit with her and read to her I've heard it helps people feel better in hospital. She says brightly filling up a large thermos and boxing up some cookies and other cake for him I'm sure she'll appreciate someone to keep her company she added placing the packages beside him.

Cole sniffled plew his nose on his hankerchief and stood that's a good idea stAr he said patting her on the shoulder as he took the package and left.

Through the rest of the day star noted something sometimes it seemed the ajiett ones who came in didn't want to be quiet the wanted to be heard so when she could shed approach and ask

Do you want to talk about it.

End

Atlas and Tales of carrotinginton

Think of all time you've heard people talking about food, sleep, love, health, etc and how many times have you seen anyone talk about daydreaming. And if it gets bought up the context is usually about procrastination.

Sure if you mention daydreaming to somebody they will have an idea of you're talking about, it's just that it's so rare for anyone to bring it up and engage in such conversation.

Hi, I don't know if my day dream is hindering my life or not. How do I know? My characters are important to me, they make me feel good because I know I can 'command' them, and sometimes I would like them to really exist or talk to them. (or other people talking about them). I have a psychologist who frankly, well, seems normal, but speaking online with a master psychologist (at least that's what she said), I should go to therapy for MaDD. Do I trust a stranger? Not exactly, but since she has a degree I tried. but I don't know how to tell him. And I don't even know how to think if what I feel is MaDD. If someone could help me or give me advice I would be happy.

Hi everyone!

As some of you know, over the years, our tulpa collective has grown as we've encountered walk-ins while adventuring in our macrocosms. But, this latest addition to our fold came from the strangest premise I've ever experienced: My dreams. To be perfectly honest, her mere existence along with her macrocosm is something that's challenged the way I think about tulpamancy in general. And yes, this is going to give rise to a lot of discussions about the nature of consciousness and what could be and what is going on in the mind and subconscious.

But, enough faffing around, here is the link to the blog, because as always, it's a very long story and Reddit's character limit doesn't like those.

And yes, this story has adult elements, hence the NSFW tag on the post itself.

If you have any questions or comments for anyone, please let us know!

Those of you who watch Bojack Horseman may remember the scene pictured.

Diane (left) shared a childhood dream of hers with her husband Mr. Peanutbutter (right). She always dreamed of having a big, beautiful library, just like Belle's from Beauty and The Beast. But when he surprises her by actually building the room in their house, she's...overwhelmed. She's upset. He took a dream of hers, something that was just for her in her mind, and dragged it into the real world. It wasn't hers anymore, not the beautiful dream she had made for just herself. It was just a big room full of fake books.

And...I get it. Honestly, that's how it feels sharing about my cosms sometimes. Most of the time, it's great! I LOVE that people here get me, that it's not just me who does this stuff. I love having a community centered around something that's been so close to my heart and mind for so long.

But. When I share, it's like...like I'm letting the real world in. Whenever I send out a piece of my world into the world I live in, it stops being mine. I tried to write a story about what was happening in my current cosm, and I couldn't do it. Seeing everything in black and white made it feel like something the real world could touch and change, instead of just me. There's my life, and there's my world, and mixing the two just. Feels bad.

I want people to know about these strange and whimsical and exciting worlds I've made for myself. But at the same time, it feels like I'm giving them away, free to be judged or shackled by the rules someone else came up with.

Does that make sense?

I also posted in the MDD sub, but had to word it differently as I'm actively seeking encouragement for daydreaming (in a way), which isn't allowed over there.

So, here's the thing:

Anyone else ever "broke up" with their comfort character?

I just had a moment of conflict again, as I keep having frequently, where I can't get past the fact that my comfort character may be too emotionally unavailable to provide the comfort I want.

I love him, but he's also a bit of a cold character. I like to imagine scenes of, at least some form of, romance, comfort and trust, but I'm struggling with doing so because I don't want to butcher his original character too much.

On the other hand, I also find it a bit silly to worry so much about how realistic a fictional character is portrayed in my mind.

But anyways, after some talking to ChatGPT as I always do when I feel stuck with my daydreams, I became frustrated and like I can't use the character for comfort anymore, that what I'm imagining is just too unrealistic.

And then I started to cry as I thought about letting go of him and realised that I couldn't because it hurt too badly. I'm too attached to him and don't know what I'd do without him in my mind - I'd feel so empty.

I really feel pathetic rn.

I really need and want this character, I can't let go yet, but I also don't know how to reconcile this. Anyone got advice or ever had similar conflicts?

Hey, im not 100% sure if this is the perfect reddit for it but.

I've been dreaming pretty aggressively lately and can't stop them, problem is loads of those dreamsnare about a someone I desire or a something i desire.

Everytime i wake up i feel empty because i realize I dreamt it, at this point im not even enjoying the dreams anymore..

Help?

Hey, So I have been struggling to daydream the past couple weeks and I was wondering if anyone else ever had the same issue or at least something similar. So I usually daydream by going into a spare room. I make the entire room dark and put my earphones and turn on whichever playlist is fitting to my current daydream. I can usually do this for multiple hours depending on where the story takes me. But lately I'll be like 20-30 minutes in and I'll suddenly be filled with extreme dread and unease. I end up having to turn on all the lights in the flat and call a friend if I'm alone. I tried to push through it the other day and ended up having a small panic attack.

If anyone has any ideas on how to prevent this I'd be happy to hear them. I really miss it and I feel like my safe space is gone.

For context: I never daydream myself, but rather characters with tragic backstories/ in bad situations. I have been daydreaming this plotline for a while though and haven't had any issues until now.

I wish all of you happy daydreaming:)

My (F) day dreams are 99% basically me (but super cool and pretty) inserted into whatever TV show I'm watching at the moment is. Then I dream up situations where I'm either injured and one of the male characters saves me, or they all need help and I come to the rescue. It's usually a team I insert myself into like Chicago PD, Criminal Minds etc and then I choose my fav male character who becomes my obsession.
This doesn't affect my work, life, relationship etc but I was just wondering if anyone knew why I do this? I don't think I could stop, I've never tried to be honest. I've never told anyone that I do this and don't want to.

Like, do you ever accidentally do a bit of foreshadowing or callback that makes you go, "I know this came from my brain, but damn that's actually a really good connection."

For example, Zak comforting Ollie in sign language. Originally just a humanizing moment, comforting a child in his own language, etc. I began to think why Zak wouod know sign language, and originally I thought it was because the princes tend to be multilingual.

Then I remembered, oh, oh wait, all Toriel's kids can understand Frisk. No wonder their older brother learned to sign, it's likely all their siblings know at least a few phrases.

So I did this about...1~2 hours ago I would say and I would say it is by far one of the most horrible and disgusting things I have ever done, the reason I am telling it here is to firstly expunge this in quotes and see if any of you have ever had to do this kind of thing. So I was at some kind of outdoor party, which was a barbecue.

The sky was gray and the sun was black like an eclipse, I couldn't tell what time it was but it seemed to be in the middle of the afternoon. I was dressed in pajamas consisting of purple sweatpants and a black hoodie and I was wearing a pair of black socks, the people at the party were all dressed, men and women included, in smart black suits and a pair of white loafers.

Their faces were composed of a voluptuousness of grayish smoke and they were mostly in trios or duos and seemed to be discussing while letting out a large trail of their heads of smoke that joined together. For my part, I was alone, isolated about ten meters from them holding an empty flute in my hand, I amused myself by twirling it in my hand like a B-movie villain, when suddenly a person with a ball of smoke appeared in front of me, he was not so different from the others apart from the white hat levitating on his "head" and the white apron with a huge black dot on his chest that he wore.

He remained in front of me for a few moments, not moving an inch before finally pointing at me with his left arm armed with an iron pike, a mixture between a sacrificial altar and an Aruba stone barbecue. It consisted of three steps, in the centre of which was placed a large rectangular marble stone with more or less deep marks, and at the top of it was a sort of long stone pillar, the bottom of which was hollowed out or stored coal, broken branches and grass.

two babies were enthroned in its center, the first was a boy dressed in a blue and white striped jumpsuit, stopping at his forearms and thighs the second was a girl wearing a pink t-shirt and tights stopping at her thighs with a pink sequined dress similar to a tutu. the griller then took me to this place by taking my arm and pulling me almost to the point of spilling my glass although empty ! Once there he invited me to go up the steps which I refused, then showed me his pike which lengthened into a long fork and invited me again to go up the steps, which I accepted this time with a light heart.

Once that was done I took a few steps and faced the two babies. They were so adorable with their round heads and their adorable big and their little arms and legs well fleshed, I stretched out without realizing it my arm towards the little boy who crawled slowly but surely towards me by also stretching his short but big arm towards me before his finger reached the little hand of the little man, the grillardin grabbed him and pulled me back violently.

The boy then began to cry joined by his sister forming a chorus as ungraceful as disturbing their voices easily reaching a soprano worthy of Caballé, and without a shout guard these threw themselves to the ground, the little girl saw her legs separate instantly on the ground, which she added in tears, her legs, dripping with blood, began to rot immediately and hundreds of large yellowish larvae came out of them wave after wave after having pierced the putrefied flesh of the latter by expelling sticky and waxy pus mixing slowly but surely with the pool of blood, the little girl began to crawl alongside her brother who was also in a bad state, his skull open revealing his little bright red brain, his face damaged, with a black eye, the other eye had come out of his skull connected simply to the latter by the optic nerve his broken nose dripping with blood and transparent snot on his swollen lips, his legs were unharmed but his arms were broken. Faced with this scene I could do nothing, literally.

I was as still as a statue, I wanted to run away without looking behind this filthy living work but nothing worked, my body refused to move. The griller then slowly approached the two toddlers and pierced them through and through each in turn with his fork and immediately they caught fire. They struggled to put out the flames as best they could but nothing worked, the guests alarmed by the fire then ran at full speed towards the toddlers and their "heads went to join in feeding the fire which ended up growing and growing so much that it ended up devouring the whole place including me.