Why Fantasy is a Necessary Ingredient for Living
As a writer, I live in fantasy. When I pick up my pen for my Bamboo Spark or
turn on my typewriter or open Evernote, I’m opening a portal of fantasy.
90%
of writing is pre-writing, pre-dreaming, and pre-thinking about what to do,
how to do it, and what happens next.
By Cameron Cowan
As children, we spent hours playing pretend and making up words and worlds. We
just say whatever we came up with within our heads. As we grow older we are
told to get rid of those skills and ground ourselves firmly in reality.
That is important for overall development and learning to be adults but we
should never completely squash the fantastic spark that we are born with. That
thing that runs free in our young minds should be cherished.
When we think about the future and consider what next steps to take we are
engaging in the best type of pure creative fantasy.
How fantasy can help you regardless of your day job
Now I’m sure you’re thinking, “I work in (non-writing related field) so how
will fantasy help me?” It might even seem like a complete waste of time. The
practical among us might resist the idea of contemplating nothing for ours and
thinking up things that haven’t happened yet or are not real.
I’m here to report, that as someone who lives a double life in fantasy as a
fiction writer and in reality as a commentator on life and the news, that
fantasy is vitally important to helping me navigate both of those areas of
life. It can help you too and in ways you might not suspect right away.
Here are five ways fantasy can help you in your everyday life.
1. Storytelling
If you are creating your own brand or your own business,
storytelling
is important. Creating thoughts, feelings, and desires around your business
and brand is a process of storytelling. Before I can tell you a fascinating
story I first must sit down and fantasize.
Where does it take place? What is the motivation? What is going on? How do
people change over time? This same process can be helpful to you as you create
your brand story. Even in the process of writing this article, I had to
imagine what I wanted to say and what I wanted my reader to experience.
It might not be obvious, but at a certain level, you can tell a writer who has
taken the time to tell you a story and someone who just typed some words for a
page view.
Your customers know this as well. In your brand storytelling you have to
answer these questions: Why should people be interested in following your
journey of discovery? What do you want them to experience and why should they
give you money and their attention for that?
Creating a powerful story that gets people excited about your process opens
both minds and wallets. That starts with a strong imagination that generates
fantasy.
2. Fantasy is pure creation
This is the fun part. When we fantasize and think about the best things that
can happen (as well as a few of the worse) we get to create our reality and it
is the purest form of creation. In my spiritual experience, we have a little
saying, “Thoughts are things.”
If your thoughts are scattered, lack order, or simply are just not there, then
it is hard to create the very special world that you want. When we create a
fantasy/story/narrative it starts to manifest itself in our lives.
That means that through fantasy we can shift that narrative to something more
positive and we can create something that we really want. As a writer, I spend
many hours teasing out plot lines and trying things out with characters. I’m
trying to decide if something works for them and what might happen in the
snapshot of their lives that is the novel I’m writing.
As the author of your life, you are afforded the same creative privilege.
3. It helps you check in with yourself
A healthy life of fantasy helps you realize what is and is not working for
you. I’ve found that I find myself in situations that I don’t quite understand
or what to be in. If I don’t check in with myself, I end up going along with
things that I don’t really want to do or agree with. However, I would rather
follow along the path, or with an unpleasant partnership just because I feel
like I have to.
That is no way to live! The only way to discover what my true feelings are is
to go within during my times of meditation (which I do with journaling and
other methods) and be very honest with myself about why I’m doing what I’m
doing and if I should continue doing it or make a change.
The only way you’re going to get the clarifying power of fantasy is to take
the time within yourself to think and evaluate your own emotions. Listening to
your gut is important and the only way you’ll know what your gut is saying is
with an expansive inner life.
4. It’s a great planning tool
Need to figure some things out? Need to problem solve? Just need to think? A
little fantasizing can help with that. Many of the answers to our problems are
within us.
Our subconscious knows what we want and often, how to get there, all we have
to do is access it. Before that important meeting or client review, take some
time to think about how you want it to go.
When you decide in advance how you want things to go you can be more prepared
with different scenarios, the information you might need to gather, or simply
just having a command of the language you want to use.
Taking that preparation time to get calm, get prepared, and get ready will
make for many more successes in all areas of your life. It’s a true secret to
infectious confidence that everyone admires.
5. It keeps your mind sharp
In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it is easy to let our minds get
clogged with all manner of distractions and problems. From endless social
media updates to political coverage and our personal relationships, it is easy
for a sharp mind to get a bit dull with constant use of mundane topics.
You can sharpen things back up with a healthy dose of introspective fantasy.
By letting your mind wander you can use more parts of your brain. Oftentimes
the best ideas come along during this time because everything begins and ends
in the imagination.
If we can’t imagine it, we can’t pursue it and manifest it into the material
world. Many of the best thought leaders read regularly. This is because
reading allows for a certain amount of
fantasy,
and the theatre of the mind creates the content book in your consciousness.
Exposing yourself to new thoughts and idea is a powerful tool to help you
solve problems that are around. Even family drama can become clear thanks to a
book, fiction, or otherwise.