daydream more

I talked about it with my hubby, how cats don’t see people as people. They really do see us as big cats. I thought it was the other way around. All this time I thought my cat believed he’s a small hairy human living amongst humans. We daydreamed about this for a moment.

• Psychologists estimate that we daydream for one-third to one-half of our waking hours, although a single daydream lasts only a few minutes.

• Most daydreams are about ordinary, everyday events: paying the rent, getting your hair done, dealing with somebody on your job, solving a problem with your spouse or special friend. This kind of semiautomatic thought flow is very functional. Even though daydreams occur while you are shaving or ironing or walking to the store, planning and problem—solving just naturally happen. Our daydreams serve as reminders, keeping us aware of important things ahead.

• Israeli high school students who scored high on the daydreaming scale of the IPI had more empathy than students who scored low.

• Actually, the worrying of things can be classified as a form of daydreaming. When you worry, you are visualizing an unwanted or negative outcome to a situation. By repeating these negative images in your mind, you are more likely to make them happen. Next time you start worrying, try to think of a positive outcome.

“Everything starts as somebody’s daydream.” ~ Larry Niven