Letting the Mind Wander
Do you daydream? I do. A lot. I have a very active imagination. When I was a child, this was quite the burden. I could very easily imagine monsters in my closet, and I slept with the lights on for an embarrassingly long time. As I’ve gotten older, I still daydream, but it bleeds into my real life less. I imagine worlds with mermaids and monsters, I project myself into my favorite movies, I think about what I’m going to paint next. In psychology, they call daydreaming “mind wandering.” I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is existing research on mind wandering, particularly in relation to creativity.
Apparently, there are different types of mind wandering. One iteration is fantastical mind wandering, where the wanderer imagines things that do not really exist, like magical potions or fire-breathing dragons. Another type is personally meaningful daydreams, where the dreamer ponders themselves, their life thus far, and their future. Some people also let their mind wander to the near future, making plans. This is the classic “what am I going to have for dinner?” scenario.
I found a fascinating study: “What types of daydreaming predict creativity? Laboratory and experience sampling evidence” by Zedelius, Protzko, Broadway, and Schooler. They found that people who engage in more personally meaningful daydreaming exhibited more creative behaviors and daily inspiration. People who engage in more fantastical daydreaming scored better on a creative writing task. People who practice fantastical daydreaming also just do more creative things in general.
Does daydreaming cause creativity, then? Not necessarily. Rather, it seems that people who tend to daydream tend to be more creative. More fantastical daydreams on any given day did not lead to more creative behaviors. Interestingly enough, increased planning-related daydreaming on a particular day did lead to more creative behaviors. If your mind often makes plans, it seems you are more likely to act on those plans.
As with most things in life, there’s a pathological side to daydreaming as well. Maladaptive daydreaming is not a recognized disorder, but there is a group of psychologists and clinicians that believe it should be. According to trusty WebMD, maladaptive daydreaming is when people spend excessive amounts of time daydreaming as a way to cope with anxiety and other unwanted feelings. It’s particularly common among people with ADHD. These daydreams tend to be very complex, with recurring characters almost like a TV show, and very intense. They can last for hours, are often intentional, and disconnect the dreamer from the present. There is no recognized treatment, but therapy seems to help.
It’s been fascinating to learn about something as ubiquitous as daydreaming. It’s amazing how interesting seemingly trivial things can be. I hope your daydreams are moderate and lead to some amazing creative output.
Happy dreaming,
Amelia
