Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Dreams: D is for Daydreams and Downloads

Daydreams Indulging in a reverie, or a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing while awake. Is daydreaming (lasting on average 14 seconds) a waste of time or the doorway to creativity? According to some psychologists, we spend up to half of our mental activity on daydreams. They help us realize our goals, and reveal our innermost hopes, desires and fears. 

We think of daydreams as scatterbrained and unfocused, but one of the functions of daydreaming is to keep your life’s agenda in front of you; it reminds you of what’s coming up, it rehearses new situations, plans the future and scans past experiences so you can learn from them.’ Reference 



Download This is exactly what you think it is; a download. You’re awake or asleep and an idea is downloaded to your brain. 

My Breakthrough Trilogy came to me this way. It just happened. The entire concept and framework was downloaded to my brain. Strange, I know. But I knew the end from the beginning and all I needed to do was simply write it out. Yeah, downloads are strange but they do happen.

Honorable Mention Door, Darkness and Death (I have not experienced this in a dream. Although I’ve fallen from dramatic heights, I’ve never had that big splat). 

Tomorrow E is for Epic Dreams

Question What do you daydream about? Have you experienced anything that resembles a download?

58 comments:

  1. I spend a lot of time plotting fiction in my daydreams and then there are the more stressful ones of planning out scenarios for meetings and the like :). I don't know about the download - probably, but nothing comes to mind (of course I am still only on my first cup of tea ;)).
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  2. Hi Stephen - I can quite see this ... I need what I call brain space ... and a lot of people say after a good night's sleep - they've solved the problem they were worried about. Sometimes things seem to slot into place ... our brain is magical.

    Interesting series .. and your Breakthrough Trilogy - well you had that breakthrough ... I always think of your snowstorm description in Boston ...

    Cheers Hilary

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    1. Hilary, smashing insight and thanks for adding to the thread. A good night sleep can do wonders for dreaming.

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  3. We do get some good ideas for stories from our daydreams.

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  4. I do not think I have had a Download but I am bad at
    Daydreaming and waste a lot of time doing it. And I
    need to quit.

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    1. Put those daydreams to use. You could have a million dollar idea!

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  5. I daydream about actually getting published. lol My current story was a concept download while I was dreaming. I woke up and ran with it.

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  6. Daydreams are useful as long as you don't dream your life away. Sometimes i've had a sudden flash of understanding about something i never realized before, but i don't think i've had a download as you describe it.

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  7. Great post, Stephen. I daydream all the time and most of my stories take place in that state before hitting the page. The problem is sometimes I think I've written it down and I haven't. Doh! Someone needs to invent a cable that goes from daydream world to computer. Save us a lot of time :)

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    1. Nicola, I feel your frustration. I now use my cellphone to write notes or speak my thoughts to record them for later.

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  8. I daydream quite a bit and you are right Stephen about them being useful. Oh yes Nicola forgetting to write down that idea can be very frustrating.

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  9. I daydream a lot about future events, or maybe that's just planning in my head :) I'm not sure I have downloaded though. I too have had those dreams falling from high heights or getting ready to plunge into a body of water and then waking up.

    betty

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  10. I've always daydreamed stories, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I started writing those daydreams down. I also daydream about naps at lot. Usually while at the day job. XD

    ~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

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    1. Patricia, I daydream all the time. just today a horde of Barbarians where doing quite well at defending their Steampunk village against an invasion of aliens.

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  11. I daydream a lot. About the future or about the novel I'm writing. Sometimes it's nice to get away for a few minutes!

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  12. Day dreaming is the best way to escape from reality for a bit. I love it. I love that it is possible. To be where you are and still be far away.

    Great post.

    D is for Diapers

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    1. Seena, escape is key here. And there's nothing wrong with that,

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  13. I've died over and over again in dreams. But I really hate when it happens during a zombie attack, thank goodness I never awaken as a zombie! LOL

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  14. my inspiration for writing comes in the form of downloads...
    daydreaming is a different genre altogether

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  15. I had a daydream I would play in my mind during a stressful period. This is when I realized the little daydream was more about the situation I was having a problem with. It is that little subconscious intruding your thoughts.

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    1. Ann, I think it's safe to say many of us have had similar dreams.

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  16. My story ARTHUR'S STORY: A LOVE STORY came to me in dreams. It was a wonderful experience but has never been repeated. Thanks for the great blog post.

    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge http://www.kathleenvalentineblog.com/

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    1. Kathleen, been there. Might as well take advantage of it.

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  17. I love my daydreams so much more than the ones that plague me at night! Thanks heaven they're helpful and good for you.

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  18. Sometimes I wake up inside a cofin, thats when I realise, OMG, Get me out of here right now! I'm sure lots of people have been buried alive and will be into the future, the only question remains is, whos going to be the next unfortunate human being buried alive for all atime? The question is, will it be you?

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    1. Spacerguy, you're scaring me. Tune in for N is for Nightmares.

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  19. I'm glad to know daydreaming is important. I do a lot of driving by myself so I have time to do lots of it.

    Susan Says

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    1. Susan, no reason to be sitting idle to daydream. You can just as easily be active. Just don;t be texting and driving.

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  20. I've always been a daydreamer - it's part of who I am. As for falling from heights in a dreams - yes, and no, I've never landed!

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  21. I've always been a daydreamer - it's part of who I am. As for falling from heights in a dreams - yes, and no, I've never landed!

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  22. The best stories I've written are the ones I've daydreamed out first--they come out more authentic that way somehow.

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    1. Melanie, this is exactly how I wrote Salem's Daughters. Some real world stuff combined with daydreaming imagination.

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  23. We have studied Many years of Psychology (we have more than a few "ailments" (Severe Personality Fragmentation, was said to be one of our most predominate traits). So we have read things that totally "agree" with your statements. A great day to you and yours, good Sir.

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  24. And "day-Dreaming" can be of a great help to "Creativity" of that You are very Right. This we know form many years of "experience". They are not always "conscious thoughts" , just some part of my "broken" mind doing something else, that is how the "voices" can quickly give a response to any time that we question their "ideas"(meaning, that "Details" have already been "calculated" elsewhere in my mind without my knowledge) ... as the great author, Robert Bloch, said, "Your insanity will have formed Habits. learn to Train those Habits"... thus making use of that which would otherwise "disable" the thinking process... And with the "Voices" we are never really "alone"...

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    1. Dr. Theda, our human minds are broken, in the physical, mental and spiritual realms. People have differing views on body soul and spirit and I have mine. Regardless, in this world we are not necessarily put together correctly and our dreams help us reconcile issues. Sometimes we recognize, acknowledge, and act while other times we don't.

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  25. I daydream often. I think it's completely healthy.
    I wish I could have a download about the book I've been writing for a few years now!

    I had a fortuitous download back when I was working on a media plan for a big project. We had a budget and when I finished the plan, I realized we had shorted our plan and had a big chunk of money left in the budget. We were up against the clock and didn't have time to go in and add TV shows and other rating points but I suddenly got the idea to use that leftover budget for a Sports Marketing campaign. It was a brilliant download, I saved us the budget and the client loved the idea. Whew!

    Michele at Angels Bark

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  26. I guess everyone daydreams and I can see how it would be beneficial to creativity. Nice, as an author you can just sit there and dream and then call it working.

    JO ON FOOD, LIFE AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

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    1. Jo, some people can translate these daydreams into a paycheck!

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  27. Daydreams are the whispers of your heart's desires. I guess my heart has a lot of them;-) More than once I've had a 'download' of beginning to end; WIPs that now impatiently await my attention while I get caught up with life and challenges such as this - but hey, I love it! Thanks, Stephen :-)

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    1. Whispers of our hearts desire ... I like that.

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  28. Interesting A-Z topics. I daydream a lot--I like to walk and think and it helps me be more creative

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  29. I love to daydream! I have daydreamed of living in Europe, being with James Bond, throwing a pie at Trump's face. i have also daydreamed about my dad still being here and my mom being OK (she has dementia). It's fun to day dream. I used to have night terrors where Dracula was coming after me or a huge spider a la Tarantula! i dreamt that I was falling but I didn't want to go splat and die in real life so I made up a rope, caught it and made it to the other side.

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  30. I guess that I have had this download thing happen before. Unfortunately, a good memory and talen weren't included in the download. In a dream, I was given a song from Heavenly Father. The words, the music, the most beautiful voice with which to sing it. I can still hear the voice. It is somewhat haunting at this point because I only got a few lines of the words written when I woke up before I could no longer remember them. The music was lost to me from the start as I have no clue how to write music (notes, etc.). But, it was a beautiful song!

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    1. Suzanne, music in dreams is not common. Very cool that it happens to you.

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  31. Day Dreamer - teacher often wrote on my report... 'Yes Miss. And now I'm a Gran to 4 I read books I've written to them at bedtime!'
    Nowt wrong with daydreaming... That's what I do at my desk; creativity at its best!
    @CazsBooks
    http://cazgreenham.blogspot.com
    #A-Z neighbour

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  32. I never stop processing information... I never shut my brain off, I don't sleep too much either... Very Nice Post... but you know that, that's why you posted it! Right!

    Welcome in the letter "D"... thank you!
    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2016]

    Stop over and find a free "SIX STRINGS: BLOGGING AtoZ CHALLENGE" Here: http://www.jmhdigital.com/

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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  33. I love a lazy rest on the patio where I actually CAN daydream. Looking forward to some lazy afternoons.

    Pioneer Women in Aviation A-Z


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  34. I daydream a lot. Most of my ideas originate from daydreams and when I was practicing law, I worked many of my cases in a daydream sort of state of mind. Then I committed them to pen and paper or my file. That's how I would create my closing arguments to the jury or work out problems with a case. Good cross examination questions and ideas often came to me during trial breaks while daydreaming. I've never experienced a download, not that I can think of or remember. I have a question about the death/dream/splat thing. I heard or read somewhere that if you fall in a dream and die that you die in real life. That's a myth, right? Great post. Thanks for sharing and making me not feel so lazy about my daydreaming.

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  35. I'm definitely hoping for a "download" experience someday! I love writing, but don't believe I've ever experienced something like that. But I do daydream a lot, and night dream, too. Your theme is quite interesting. Looking forward to seeing more throughout the month!

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  36. Interesting theme! I have daydreamed since I was very young. I used to have a big imagination as a child; picturing epic fantasies of talking animals and flying. Now, my daydreams consist mostly of just playing out a future scenario before it happens. Every once in a while I still fantasize :)

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    1. Elizabeth, go ahead and daydream and fantasize! Life's too short not too.

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  37. All sorts of ideas seem to come to me while daydreaming. It's almost like a focused meditation

    Open Minded Mormon A-Z

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  38. My plotting always comes when I'm driving, running or drifting off to sleep. I would say I get the best ideas when I'm not writing!

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    1. Jennifer, my best ideas come when I'm not prepared. I scribble them down or record them on my cell phone.

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  39. I wish they could hook me up to a machine like they did in the Matrix and make me smarter. I'd still want to be me, just a smarter version. Daydreaming... now...

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  40. Wow, I have never had an epic dream, can I order one please?! This is the most interesting stuff I've come across all day! Will be back soon :)
    @KalaRavi16 from
    Relax-N-Rave

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    1. Kala, glad you're enjoying the posts and thanks for stopping by!

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