As children, we all know how to daydream. It’s not something we are taught. It’s a fundamental aspect to our ability of cognitive growth, and our ability to separate fact from fiction. It allows us to play, gives us a scope of freedom to apply our own personality and charm to the world around us. It also generally makes for healthier people. As we age, however, we often lose this vital component of our lives. The demands of a job, the responsibility of children and the general chaos of the world is a sobering factor. It can bring us slap bang into the world of reality at a moments notice.
This isn’t a bad thing. If you weren’t able to live in reality, you would have much bigger issues to deal with. However, if you lose your imagination capacities completely, it can be a truly rough time bringing them back. When this fades, it can leave you feeling down-and-out. Because imagination, love, relaxation and all those things encompass is often shielded by the ability to think creatively. Sometimes in a fantastical way.
We’ve all accepted an Oscar award in the shower on a cold morning, so it’s likely you’ll already agree with my points here. How do you incorporate more of this in your life? Can you train your ability to come back into a fantasy world of imagination? What this can do for you? How can it improve your mental health? Read on to find out.
Video Games
Video games are much more than the silly hobbies they used to be, playing Pong on an 8-Bit machine. Digital worlds are rendered and are amazing to behold, and what’s more, they are cheap to play. Some apps, like Final Fantasy 15, are portable and available to play at all moments of the day. These rendered worlds not only offer an amazing ability to soak yourself into the world and lore of a given environment. But they offer gaming mechanics which encourage creativity, reactive thinking and the ability to critically reason. Which can help improve your mental health.
Video games can be tools to train your cognitive capacities, as well as your ability to portably and conveniently transport into another world. Even if only for ten minutes.
Reading
Reading is much more than sitting down and opening a book. It’s a literary portal into another world, and the mind of the author. If you usually don’t make reading a hobby of yours, I seriously recommend you do. Try books that stretch your imagination on topics that you otherwise would not be interested in. For example, reading a book on WW1 history one week, the next a young adult romance novel. Then try a guide to the beautiful landmarks of Tibet. It can inform your understanding and generally craft you into an open-minded person with a pleasant perspective of the world.
Reading can truly take you into a fantasy world, even if that fantasy world is simple. Our reality in a different place and time. Being able to diversify your thinking like this allows you to truly become more reliable, able and confident in your daily life. Stretching your perspective often opens up your courage, rather than suppress it.
So what are you waiting for? Enjoy and jump into your fantasy world today! It could be exactly what you needed for your mental health.
This is so true in order to de-stress. You need to be able to take time for yourself doing something fun. My son and I will often break out into song or create lyrics for song’s we already love just to get a good giggle. Sometimes we end up laughing so hard we are crying while people around us think we are nuts. We don’t care. Sometimes it just necessary to be silly.