Episode III: Daydreaming

It’s officially spring break. I have time to write my thesis, ideate, golf, and rest for the first time in a couple of months. Part of this time has been spent reflecting, and part of that reflection is in this episode. I received an email last week from an iSight reader asking, “How can I be more creative?” That question sat with me all week long as I finished midterms. To be completely honest, it’s not an easy task to be creative. Through my experiences, I’ve learned that creativity is limited in rigorous environments. Many of us feel trapped by our own surroundings, adjust to the things that we see, and never have the time to express our artistic abilities. In fact, most people I know are limited by their surroundings. But sometimes, in the thick of our own reality, we escape from it by daydreaming. 

Right after finishing midterms and before heading back to Arizona, I watched the new Batman movie. I didn’t have high hopes for it, but it was truly a masterpiece. As a kid, I mentally wandered to be like Batman, a man in the shadows tackling major problems with sheer willpower, intellect, and physical prowess. I always loved Batman because he felt tangible. From the time I was three years old, I wanted to face incredibly large problems and conquer them because Batman could. He was my hero, and I still mentally wander to be like him. This is daydreaming: escaping your reality by mentally wandering to new places.

Everyone has a world their mind wanders to when physically confined to their surroundings. Some are based on reality; others are entirely new. I just happened to wander to Gotham in a Batman costume and recognized it for iSight because I watched the movie. Can you remember where your mind wanders when the world requires your physical presence? Take thirty seconds to imagine that place. I’m serious. Stop reading and let your mind wander.

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That place you wandered to is one that induces creativity. Remember and cherish it. Daydreaming provides an incredible dopamine rush because when your mind wanders, you see/find things that you’ve never thought of before. If you spend enough time mentally wandering, all of the new things that you just saw/found will culminate into a form of creative expression. A common way of creatively expressing those daydreams is through pictures; when bored, some people will sketch, paint, photograph, design, or visually express the picture of something they found when mentally wandering. Another way of expressing those daydreams is through words; when bored, other people will write, type, or speak out what they imagine. Which way do you think when your mind wanders? Take a second to answer that question.

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Now, there is no right answer on which way to think. Everyone’s brain is inherently different; however, the way you think is the one you will tend to express those daydreams in because that’s how your mind naturally works. I see both a picture and words, so I like to express my ideas in both forms. iSight just happens to be the written form and a starting point as I become more and more creative. My surroundings at Princeton were mainly academic and football-oriented, so I ignored this part of my subconscious for a long time. Now, I am grateful to have found it again. Also, I am truly blessed to have the support from my friends and family to be creative and allow my daydreams to become a reality. When I was eight, one of my daydreams was writing to help others. Here I am, fourteen years later, manifesting it into reality. 

But what happens when the world pulls you back into reality and out of that mental place? Earlier this week, I asked one of my friends, Jacob Brady, about it over the phone. His answer? Go back to it as often as you can.

Jacob played football with me in high school and was always bright. I asked Jacob specifically because I always saw him in the locker room with a notebook, so I wondered why. For context, the only times I saw him without it was on the field or in the weight room. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, but now, it does. Jacob wrote down all of the things he saw in his daydreams and continually refined them in his notebook. Every day, from the time he was a little kid until now, he had a picture in his head of a world that no one else had ever seen before. Jacob kept going back to that daydream because it was clear and exciting to him. How does he think? In words. He’s been writing for fifteen years. He applied everything he had in the tank into his words, and what was the result? His upcoming book, “Grayson Day and the Black Diamond.” I wanted to see how his thoughts translated to paper, so I asked him to read it before publishing, and he sent it to me. Let me tell you: his book was GOOD. The world he describes feels real, and anyone can hop into it. The imagery and story arc were so clear and profound, and I can’t wait for you all to read it when it releases. Jacob turned his daydreams into reality through creative expression and did it in every environment through thick and thin. Daydreaming was the tool that got him going, and now, he’s off to the races.

If you want to be creative, mentally wander to find something new. Daydreaming is a way to find that place of creativity and find your way of expressing it by recognizing if you think in pictures or words. Return to that place you wander to as often as possible, express it through the way that you think, and you will be creative.

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I can’t cover what the eye can’t see unless you tell me what’s missing from the bigger picture. Let me know what you think, send me any questions you have, and share the blog with the people you care about!