I realised today I rarely daydream anymore.
At school I remember many a religion class when I would drift away to a place many miles from school and study, family and homework which definitely did not feature a nun.
Or those Sunday afternoons when friends were scarce and my younger brother and I ran out of play ideas. We travelled to the inner most depths of our imagination to dream up fun things to do.
I’m not sure my children ever get the chance to be bored, or ‘waste’ time day dreaming.
With social media and blogging at my fingertips I don’t either.
I miss ‘wasting my time’.
I wonder do my children even know what they are missing?
My thoughts on a page. 
This is why I am “unplugging” for a while. Other than blogging, I am almost totally electronicless. I have found that I do daydream more in the quiet. Something that I have not done in a long while. And yes, children are missing out!
It has crept into my life, and to be truthful I’d not really noticed until the other day. I’m going to try to take time out to just sit, relax, breathe and dream as many days as I can from now on.
I still day dream. It’s the quiet of my house. There’s no TV (unless my grandson is here or if I can’t concentrate on reading our writing). No stereo for music. With school still in session, no kids playing in the neighborhood. Duo I do day dream often. I think kids still do it but far less and they probably don’t even realize it.
I am surrounded by noise, from my kids or self inflicted via the radio or TV and I am a demon for Facebook or blogging. I think it’s just at times I have the balance wrong. I must get back to dreaming.
Does zoning out count as a day dream? You know, just sitting somewhere and stare into space with no particular thoughts, and the next thing you know it’s an hour later!
That is definitely dreaming Deb! How are you doing, I’ve not seen a post in a while or did I miss one?
I am better now. In a few seconds that may change. But getting better. I have done 2 posts this past week!! I see how much attention you pay! Hehe…😉😉 busy award winning, published writer you are…
I’ve been trawling my reader the past few days looking for you as your gravatar doesn’t link to you. Can you link here, in case wordpress unfollowed you? So glad you are blogging, I was concerned.
This is the short link. I hope it works! http://wp.me/3Vscv I’m not too good at linking stuff yet. And following that one is my coffeeshare from last weekend. Trust me. Nothing exciting going on!
I daydream a lot. Or maybe I think I do, maybe I’m just writing blog posts in my head! Spending some time offline going for a walk or doing some knitting/crocheting helps to let the mind wander….
I love going for a walk, but not alone. I do daydream in the car but then a lot of the time I am thinking of a story plot or character which I have yet to begin writing about. Hopefully when the holidays begin I’ll have lots of time to switch off and dream, or make time to do so.
I’d say knitting or crocheting would be very relaxing.
I think you’re on to something Tric. Maybe the inability or unwillingness to let your minds be at rest and play….is part of our increased stress and anxiety levels.
I do wonder if it does add to it, especially as a lot of the time we are only seeing snapshots of lives, and there is also the feeling of never being alone, always ‘on call’. It’s hard to break the habit though.
The ‘never being alone’ and ‘on call’ mode of life, you said it Tric. I think these are huge problems for our well being and our dreaming.
My daughter retreats to her room once in a while by herself. Usually its because I have said no to all screens etc but she seems quite content to be up there alone with herself. She talks to her doll and stuffies. I guess that could be daydreaming…..
I think we all need to do this, to turn off all screens, especially at night. My gang go to bed with screens. It’s madness.
So true, Tric, so farking true. My daydreaming is confined to traffic lights and the weekly shopping; neither location conducive to talking to oneself unnoticed. Our one is condemned to staring into the middle distance on account of having middle-aged for company. I was interpreting this growth of a fertile imagination as a silver lining until I came back yesterday to find her hooked on the Peppa colouring “app” on her Da’s Ipad. Another little part of me died.
Haha we are up against it with this next generation! I have a rule, no internet in bed Monday to Thursday but I don’t police it this time of year. I’m not much better myself, but the few moments I get to dream I greatly enjoy.
I daydream while working in the garden. I have to admit though that it’s usually about books and characters – that stuff. But with my hands busy, it’s a time to wander. I’ll bet your kids daydream in school – and you could always sign them up for religion class:)
I too have found most of my dreaming time (the little I have) is about stories I want to write or characters I’m getting to know. I’d like to think they daydream somewhere at least.
I, also, miss ‘wasting my time.’ Sigh. But now a days, we feel so guilty even contemplating it!
You are so right, I do feel guilty if I do nothing. Sometimes I do a load of work just so I can take a moment to sit, or even to blog, althought my family might disagree. 🙂
I think about this a lot too. If I’m in a queue, I reach for my phone. I wonder what I’d do if I didn’t have my phone. Would I think interesting thoughts, or just plan dinner. Sometimes I resist and leave my phone in my bag. But it’s hard!
I’m your sister here. Always reaching for my phone. Never happy to spend a moment ‘idle’. Is it a bad thing? I’m not sure, but I’d like to be able to say no more often.
Who knows what great ideas we are missing, but as you say, maybe we are only missing out on dinner planning.:)
One of my favourite things is watching my girls drift off into their own worlds, they sing a lot when they do 🙂 I’m a terrible procrastinator and spend more time daydreaming about all the productive things I am going to do and hardly every getting around to doing them lol
I’d like to get back to all that daydreaming, and I still don’t live productively! My gang are older than your two ladies and the world of technology at their fingers, keeping daydreams at bay I fear.
A sad commentary on where we’ve ended up with technology. Sometimes we just get lost in it.
Yes. It is fantastic to have it and enjoy it, but I suppose we are the first generation to experience it, so we are the only generation to know what we are losing as well as gaining.
I’ll do my best to break free, but I always find myself returning.
I feel as though I’m wasting time, all the time, that I should be doing something. What though, is this elusive something?
Exactly. I too feel I should be ‘doing’ and feel guilty for not. When I find out what it is I’ll message you. 🙂
🙂
I’ve been thinking of this lately too, I notice I am twitching to reach for my phone even in a traffic jam now. I deliberately resist but don’t like the way I am so dependent.
Naomi you are speaking to your sister. Sometimes I put my phone out of reach just to make sure I resist, but I make up for it when we are reunited.
You’ve nailed it on the head. I recently broke my phone and can’t afford the €150 to get the screen fixed right now so basically I’m disconnected from blogging throughout the day. Since I broke it I’ve realised how much I allow my blog to consume my life. It’s been the best thing to happen me lately. I’ve enjoyed life that little bit more, especially the kids. Not nagging them to smile for photo’s, checking notifications etc. etc. I suppose breaking my phone has given me that time I need to waste real time playing, exploring and enjoying real life.