I have always been the “zoned out but somehow smart” kid. The kid whose teachers always had a remark about her absentmindedness. I built worlds in my head. There used to be worlds where I was successful, rich and idyllic, but also ones where I was going through the most tragic fates imaginable. It was this secret pathway that only I had access to. In a loud, banter-filled home or in a chaotic yet boring classroom, I had my getaway on the ready, always. It was my own little way of dealing with reality, by detaching from it and going somewhere different, mostly better. As life went on, I slowly started noticing that it was not just me—there were a lot of us walking around the lane and sitting in conferences while daydreaming about a pizza or a better job or a happier life. This coping mechanism is the most romantic without a doubt.
The point is, you’re not always going to get what you want. Most of the time we just ease into the cards we are dealt and learn to be gleeful about it. But oftentimes, this world gets exhausting. Assignments due tonight, laundry overflowing in the bin and a thousand other errands biting at you from the back of your head. That’s when you feel like escaping into this little world that is completely under your imagination and creative control. In today’s age, when any semblance of control or choice over our lives are being bought away by billionaires that own every brand of cereal and every news outlet, it feels nice to have this little terrain of control.Â
See, we’re all aware that we live in sordid times. We see the climate getting worse every year, economies crashing down, parents complaining about prices and inflation, and genocides and war zones everywhere we look. As this awareness starts seeping into us, our instinct is to run. Because it’s easy. We lay in bed dreaming of making some change, of putting all the autocrats in a dungeon and planting tulip gardens. But we should be careful to not let that utopia consume us. Because daydreams are lovely, but if you keep escaping, how can you be present in the world you so desperately need to change? Action is the purpose of the human and it is fundamental to never take it away from ourselves.Â
We daydream to reclaim agency over our attention, and a true escapist knows that to dream is to create art. To piece a story, an alter ego, an entire world, bit by bit, in our little minds, is to create a masterpiece. A private masterpiece, actually. The fact that you get to keep this world all to yourself makes it even more tempting. There is an intimate, sweet, bond between one and one’s daydreams because the exclusivity of it elevates it infinitely. So, don’t scold the child zoning out on the fourth bench, and don’t label us daydreamers “crazy.” You don’t want to mess with people who share inside jokes with their own mind. Even the voices in their head can build worlds like fantasy authors, so, leave us be. As long as we come back to the present, we’ll be fine.Â