Daydreaming is a warning sign in my case. Boy did I used to do it, and it was a symptom of a disorganized life and a disinclination to engage. But I think you have identified the space it occupies perfectly. It bridges work and not work. I used to work too little; some people can likely work too much.
I still think it's a phenomenon that deserves some scrutiny, and we may not all mean the same thing by it. "Failure to concentrate" is known to be a symptom of anxiety. Does daydreaming fall under this umbrella? Daydreaming likely differs from that sleepy period when one is trying to fall asleep, but how about the minutes in the morning when some of us fail to get up, and five minutes seems like 30 seconds? Again, the contrast with work strikes me there. You've dealt some with perception of time in this newsletter, and the way time passes slowly when one is feeling slowly and first arises is the opposite of how it passes so excruciatingly slowly when you have things you want to do and are stuck waiting in line.
The main thing about daydreaming that I see that is positive is that at least you are alone. Yes, it is and can be a running away, but it's not a running away to the technological numbing of the phone or television. And maybe running to work, too, for the lonely, is a way of not being alone. There's nothing necessarily glamorous about being alone, but one should be able to be alone, as one should be able to do everything, if the case calls for it.
Daydreaming is a warning sign in my case. Boy did I used to do it, and it was a symptom of a disorganized life and a disinclination to engage. But I think you have identified the space it occupies perfectly. It bridges work and not work. I used to work too little; some people can likely work too much.
I still think it's a phenomenon that deserves some scrutiny, and we may not all mean the same thing by it. "Failure to concentrate" is known to be a symptom of anxiety. Does daydreaming fall under this umbrella? Daydreaming likely differs from that sleepy period when one is trying to fall asleep, but how about the minutes in the morning when some of us fail to get up, and five minutes seems like 30 seconds? Again, the contrast with work strikes me there. You've dealt some with perception of time in this newsletter, and the way time passes slowly when one is feeling slowly and first arises is the opposite of how it passes so excruciatingly slowly when you have things you want to do and are stuck waiting in line.
The main thing about daydreaming that I see that is positive is that at least you are alone. Yes, it is and can be a running away, but it's not a running away to the technological numbing of the phone or television. And maybe running to work, too, for the lonely, is a way of not being alone. There's nothing necessarily glamorous about being alone, but one should be able to be alone, as one should be able to do everything, if the case calls for it.
I love this, especially the last sentence - keep reading & keep writing, love your thought-provoking comments.