What is it to fantasise? I’m thinking less in terms of anything in the realms of eroticism or sexuality in this instance, but more in the day-to-day. When we daydream about where we would like to be, or what we wish we were doing, or who we would be with, what role does that play within us?

We all have those times where something isn’t going right, we have some time on our hands, or someone suggests something that makes us think, and our minds drift onto another plane where what we know of our life, self or situation diverges from our reality. Our mind conjures up alternatives to what we know, where we are, or even who we are. But to what end?

Can escapism purely mean a mental holiday from the mundanity of the every day, or is there a risk that by creating an ultimately unrealistic alternative reality that we start compare this to our real life which looks increasingly unfavourable in return?

“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.”

– Douglas H. Everett

Sometimes we allow ourselves wider scope to imagine life beyond what we have, and indeed some of the greatest minds and achievers have been inspired by thinking beyond that which most of us are capable, but there is still more to be said about manifesting these thoughts into something more substantial. To think beyond is one skill, but to be able to build that thinking into an improved life, cogent new theory or hypothesis, or utilise it to improve the lives of others takes a far greater ability again.

For most of us, however, simple daydreaming or fantasising doesn\’t necessarily build into anything significant, and indeed that may not even be the goal, but that does not mean that it does not have repercussions within our psyche.

The greatest problem with a fantasy is that while it is totally within our own mental construct, it will