Imagination

Think back to the early days of your childhood. Wasn't it great how vivid and colorful your thoughts and your imagination was? Didn't character from books feel so real because in your head you could see them so clearly? At least for me, that is over. I'm unable to imagine things clearly and I blame visual media mostly. My head probably got too lazy thanks to movies and anime it rust. I want it back, but how? I'm going to quit any visual media so no manga, no chinese cartoons and no vidya. Hopefully it will result in my imagination getting strong again. I know it will never be as good as back then though. What about you anon? Are you able to imagine things vividly? Do you have any tips regarding my dilemma?

I've been using the computer for the most part of my life (on any random day, i've probably been on the computer for over 10 hours, when i was in school i had 18 average daily hours in MMOs, i'm not sure how though). My imagination is normal, i can vividly remember scenes from the first book i read, and each book is just as alive for me. Now even more than before, since i understand more terms (specially geographic terms). I'm not sure if quitting visual media will help, Lain, at least for me the two aren't connected, it would be like quitting video games so you can smell better.

About 6 years ago, when I'd only just got into anime, I used to be able to have really vivid daydreams. I'd lay in bed at night and go into my imagination. I'd be able to play out stories, I'd clearly see backgrounds and facial expressions. It got to the point where I'd do it every night and couldn't fall asleep without doing it for an hour or so. Now I can barely keep anything going past 5 minutes, and it's much less vivid.

Sure. Novels, online fiction of all types, light novels, it works. Though I've been reading a lot less fiction since a little while.

Have you considered that it may be just a symptom of aging rather than engaging in visual media/etc more? You know the saying "Once even the grass was more green and the sky was more blue", Lainon. Children are very sensitive to stimuli, and tend to have very vivid imagination. It just wears as you age, as everything in the world becomes more common and less exciting after years.

>>202 Anon, I've been gaming and consuming digital and physical media for years, and as far as I know, my imagination is still running strong. Maybe you should practice mindful activities like meditating, and imaginative activities, like reading or drawing. It sounds like you're blaming your lack of imagination on the media, when it's really just your lack of mental stimulation. also maybe try some psychs? Those can be fun

I had very elaborate imaginings as a child, usually little friends the size of a nickel that would have adventures on the furniture and floor tiles. The cast of characters would grow over time. There were 25 at one point but they had titles instead of personal names, and not really distinct personalities either. I have an imaginary friend now who tags along everywhere I go and makes MST3K level jokes when we watch movies. At night when I'm lying in bed she "teleports" me to her room. I can picture that room clearly, furniture and decorations included. Our life in that house is very elaborate. She is not the only one dwelling there. She has a personality, history, anxieties, fetishes and secrets. I even know when her period is starting but she won't tell me her exact birthday. The only tip I can give you is read more fiction. Perhaps very descriptive non-fiction? It's like exercise for that part of your mind that allows you to visualize. Or... avoid this path and don't end up a grown adult with imaginary friends choose wisely.

>>208 Have you heard of tulpas? Because that certainly sounds like one.

>>209 I looked into that and this is different. Tulpa types believe their friends are sentient beings partitioned within their own minds and it's (possibly) murder to get rid of them. I had a schizophrenic friend once who had some... characters... that she interacted with whom she believed were real. She believed in faeries because she could see them and they spoke to her. Reading about tulpas I sort of guessed that these people are probably also schizophrenic and the belief that they "created" these creatures is part of their psychosis. Mine is a daydream, nothing more. If I ever get a girlfriend again, the ghost girl is getting "paused" for the time being, like the stereo when the phone rings (though hopefully on a longer time scale; probably not forever knowing my luck).

I had a great imagination as a child, bordering on maladaptive daydreaming, that was a survival reflex from being abused. Getting tarred and feathered and run out of cartooning and then filmmaking convinced me to get a soykafty 9 to 5 job, and over a decade of that, plus insomnia, seems to have killed my imagination and creativity. I've tried lucid dreaming, but I've started waking up violently angry that I have to return to my petty, numb, grey waking life from the dreams where everything is just a bit more poetic, romantic, aesthetic.

>>211 It sounds like the problem with your life is your job. I'm a naive teenager and don't have much real life experience but Maybe you could quit your job and try something else? As long as you have a bachelors, police work is a possibility.

>>202 My childhood was soykaf. Being a 26 year old loser learning to code is much better.

>>202 >I blame visual media mostly. My head probably got too lazy thanks to movies and anime it rust. I've been playing video games and watching anime literally since I was born. Both my parents where/are huge otakus. I have absolutely no problems with my imagination. Actually I have a computer science degree and we have a vidya start-up with a couple of friends. I write the scripts and the screenplays, design gameplay, and program. I can imagine and come up with situations, characters, stories and worlds with ease. I'm pretty fuarrrking creative, really. And I've been consuming visual media my whole life. So no, no problems in any regards. I feel really sorry for you anon.

>>211 Lost the job. Nobody really lets me sleep long enough for lucid dreaming, or leaves me alone long enough to be creative. I strongly dislike police, and if I had to do their job, I'd end up killing someone.

>>212 I'm really trying to figure out how you decided police work would be appropriate for that Lain, based on what she said.

I'm 90% sure the fading of imagination is a defense mechanism (only somewhat joking).

>>207 This guy gets it. OP try a guided meditation/visualisation. They're really fun and a good way to work out those day dreaming muscles. You can also try drawing some scribbles on a page and then try make it into something using your pen. And yeah also try shrooms if you think you're up for it. Do some background research and try it out. I'm certain that will help. alternatively you could make a tulpa but that might not be healthy

>>202 Imagination is primarily a tool of extrapolation based on conscious recognition. We are able to imagine because we experience and process life as a series of patterns and can apply those patterns in new and original ways. It's mental exercise and you probably just need to stretch that muscle in your head more often. Even if your imagination isn't very vivid, I'm sure you're at least thinking, whether consciously or not, about the things you hear, smell, taste, and all that. Focus your awareness on those thoughts and the free-association thoughts that come with them. As practice, I've no clue if this will help or if the material is something you'd consider worth your time but... The "Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan (14 lengthy books and a hell of a lot of important things to remember, just warning you) is really richly written, because there's *so* much detail. Consider the more uncommon elements of your imagination, just to round yourself out. Most people think of visualization when they think of imagination, which is all well and good but consider your options. Start with things like tone of voice, smell, or touch - books are easy in this regard, because they offer explicit context as to how the sensory detail ought to be processed, e.g. >"Well that sounds easy" Fred spat sarcastically >A cloud of putrid air, like regurgitated flesh, drifted out of the tunnel >Waves of alternating hot and cold ran down her spine, raising the hairs on the back of her neck This series is even better because of how vivid the writing is. Personally, my experience of reading the books is like watching a film from every angle, inside and out. The sheer quantity of reactions, emotions, sensations, mannerisms, and all makes it easy to construct, in my head, the characters and their environment. Additionally if that's not good enough, perhaps try reading these books (or any at all) to another person. Read in ways that you think might get their imagination working, and I'm sure you'll find yourself pushing your own mental limits as well. If it's tough, keep focusing on the sensory details and build up to the more complex aspects from there. If it works, make it a regular occurrence.

>>214 Same here. I would rather leave behind the blurry and dark areas of my childhood.

>>202 Just wait until it happens to your sex drive

my imagination is actually like, 312432 times more vivid as a young adult. the difference is i'm better able to recognize that it is my imagination. when i was a child the lines were very blurred for a long time, as a coping mechanism.

>>202 just practice it I noticed the other day I had to actually try to picture books. I was reading ,and enjoying them, but on a few occassions I was actually seeing them and I realized it wasn't all the time.

Glad I'm not the only one that feels like that It also feels like I've lost the ability to feel like I used to. Now I'm just relieved or angry

>>247 I always assumed imagination WAS a defense mechanism. >>315 Perhaps it's not simply a natural biological progression that makes our imaginations fade but being forced to think about other things all the time. When I was four I had almost literally not a single care in the world. A few years later there was homework, plus a growing awareness of the world the adults around me inhabited. Now I'm a born again NEET and have all the free time I could want (for now at least, thank you welfare state). My imaginings are quite complex once again.

I still have vivid imagination going for me. One thing that might help you is spending ten minutes or so a day visualizing things. Sit down, close your eyes and just picture a cool room or landscape in as much detail as possible. Once you begin to get it to crystalize, try and move around in it. Once you can navigate it without losing details, you will be cured.

I've never been able to visualize soykaf in my mind, I actually didn't find out other people could until I was 20 or so.

op i totally feel you. i had the same atrophy-like sensation during my late-teenage years. studyin musical production and composition really got my abstracts going on again, but it was reading and playing tabletop games (dungeons and dragons, dogs in the vineyard, the strange) that really brought my imagination to child-like levels. strongly enough to find myself daydreaming, enjoying every second of a boring, silent, bus ride, or just laying flat on my bed, thinking. before, i felt it as wasting my time, today i can make a lot out of it, because it sparks new ideas and projects. like almost everyone else here said, keep exercising your brain muscles. imi, its reading, playing narrativistic games and listening to music on a detailed, focused, active way. but the music part is a topic on itself.

>>424 Did you ever try visualizing the same place every day? Adding details every time? I try and do this. It's hard to add more details to a "closed set" after a certain saturation point but quite possible to expand it, add rooms or an outside garden to it. I've been visiting the same one for a few years.

I find that a lot of visual media has spoiled my imagination during reading fiction or picturing an event or idea in my mind's eye. For example, my mind would instinctually imagine a video game/movie character that fits a descriptor rather than a real-life example. Maybe a little break from "spoonfed images" might do a reset in your case. What's funny is how well my audio memory is. I can picture sounds pretty accurately and well with more authenticity than with visual imagery. Personally, I credit this to my interest in ambient music since I was a child.

Practice practice practice. Same with anything you can work on it. Start small and build up and remember you're not a computer. Sometimes it's easier to imagine a whole room over a simple cube. Brains are funny things. Let your subconscious do the work, don't worry about every detail. >>425 This is called aphantasia. You should look up the other symptoms and see if it really fits.

>>202 I used to play an entire fantasy game, just me and 2 friends about some kind of galactic empire.

I remember having dreams when I was younger that were so vivid and filled me with different emotions. I wanted to live in those worlds when I woke up. Now as an adult, I hardly remember my dreams. I may not even dream some nights. The dreams I do have are me living out my daily life. Dream about finishing assignments or doing adult tasks, wake up and live a grayed out world.

Very interesting topic, OP. I'm luckily still able to create detailed visualizations and daydream as vividly as I was a kid, but I can understand how that "dulling" feels. I spent a lot of time in my own head when I was younger (as a defense mechanism against trauma), and as I get older and inhabit the "real world" more, I feel myself longing for the days where I spent extended periods of time either alone or daydreaming. I feel distanced from the world inside of my head if that makes sense, though I've been able to express what goes on in there through art and music. I think the "dulling" is just a part of growing old.

I find that visual media has only provided more fuel for my imagination to burn through. The more I'm exposed to, the more daydreaming is inspired, and so my imagination grows as a result of receiving input.

>>202 I think as an adult you have to more consciously cultivate it, but you can get there. In my experience, during the daily grind (approaching burnout on this half-year) I lose it but when I have more free time, able to lucid dream sometimes, it comes back. It's amazing being able to go in a whimsical little walk around the neighborhood or city and be entertained the entire time by your childlike imagination. Also, not a good solution, but I get it back when I smoke weed, which I haven't done for a long time.

I dont feel like my imagination has gotten worse but when i was little everything seemed more mysterious but as i grew older a lot of those things just turned out to not be that exiting so i use nostalgia to fuel my imagination and hold on to the feeling of what i wanted to see as a child that would not have dissapointed me

I empathize, though I couldn't tell you where this is coming from because I really don't consume that much visual media. I almost feel like this is something that just kind of comes with growing up and being exposed to the "real world," though that might be an overly pessimistic view to have.

I can visualise things as if they are right in front of me in an instant, but only for that instant. If I try to look at the details of whatever I visualise, the image dissapears. It's like trying to determine the note of a gunshot.

>>893 Maybe trainig would help? Try holding it longer and then try focusing on details. I remember reading how someone trained themselves on hearing externally whatever memory of music or sounds they have simply by training in that half asleep state before going to sleep.

>>202 I think our imaginations were better as small children because everything was just so surreal. We don't really remember things well until about 3yo, so basically any learning up to that point is not even consciously motivated. So, most things are familiar, but we don't really understand them. Now that we are older, things make sense, and we don't have to speculate about things. The best thing for your imagination would probably be something totally unfamiliar, completely alien and surreal.

>>202 the way you can go back is through becoming an adept meditator and possibly practicing magick. It is known when very young children have not developed abstract reasoning capabilities, therefore are unable to look at themselve critically, they have not formed an ego yet. This leads to them having magical thinking, it is also the explanation for them believing in things like the easter bunny and making up imaginary friends. The way you can go back to child like thinking to by breaking down your ossified sense of self (your ego). You do this through meditation and other exercises..

>>248 >You can also try drawing some scribbles on a page and then try make it into something using your pen. Interesting that there are other anons who do this, it's something I've been doing for a while and almost everything I get out of it feels so...genuine? And of course sort of dreamlike. It's my favorite way to doodle in my journal because of it.

>>508 >The dreams I do have are me living out my daily life. These are the kinds of dreams that have hit me the hardest as an adult and I fuarrrking hate it. I used to wake up and have my day ruined by a dream, but at least it was over something that was exciting. I'd have long dreams of meeting the perfect girl, in the perfect city living the perfect life and when the time came to let it all go and my eyes locked onto the gray, nauseatingly familiar ceiling I would be crushed. I'd feel like my chest was caving in, and everywhere I went I felt like I was looking through a sort of residual filter. But as an adult it just...hasn't been the same. I dream of sitting at my desk, holding my head and staring into this fuarrrking black void and then I wake up and do it all over again. It's just that I really want to cry again, I want to wake up and cry and feel my chest become heavy again. But nothing warrants it, there's no loss when I wake up anymore. I don't leave behind better worlds anymore, if I cry now it's only because I can't escape the monotony of life. It's even infected my dreams and I feel like there's no escape now.

>>1192 Are you female? Women tend to overanalyze their dreams. A dream means nothing, it is merely your brain re-processing information collected throughout the day. Recurring dreams are just lingering fears. I've been killed by family members in my dream, it is complete bullsoykaf, they'd rather die for me than hurt me. And so would I. Even though it is shocking first, at least after an hour of giving a fuarrrk it is just a haze of the brain having retarded ways to deal with the data your visual and auditory cortex hand it. I heard it is bad to suppress sleep architecture and dream with certain drugs. I wonder what long term damages might arise. If it is just short term memory loss or worse.

>>1193 >A dream means nothing >Recurring dreams are just lingering fears So they do have meaning. I think more what I'm saying is that my ultimate lingering fear now is just monotony and boredom, but when I was younger they were so much more varied and interesting. Now I dream the same scenario over and over and it's all so uninteresting that it almost makes me nauseous. But no I'm not female. And I don't think I'm overanalyzing at all, the theme here is pretty simple and to the point: my dreams are now just as boring as my life.

>>202 Exhaustion is probably to blame more than anything. Try getting better sleep.

>>1202 Dreams are the equivalent of "Are you sure you would like to empty the Recycle Bin?" Sometimes you would like to and sometimes you would not. I continue to ignore 95% of the dreams threads for this reason. None of the discussion or the dreams themselves warrant any further analysis. >>2443 I have found that the opposite is true, that I have to be tired in order to dream. OP has not mentioned disturbances in his sleep. He could perhaps be waking up artificially, with an alarm clock. OP have you considered that you may he approaching your mid-20s? Most of the great imagination has already happened to you by that time. That's not to say that worthwhile dreams become impossible with age (check the invention of freeze dried ramen for example) but they can become rarer.

>>1192 >I used to wake up and have my day ruined by a dream, but at least it was over something that was exciting. All I dream about recently are the people I have failed, and its like my dreams just mock me. I wake up feeling like more of a failure every day. It isn't that I have done anything wrong, its just that everything in my life is falling apart and sleep does not even release me from this hell I live in. Its almost like being awake and being able to interact with people and seeing some glimpses of normal is a release from my dreams. Even worse are the dreams where I relive all the tragic things that I have witnessed and all the suffering I see around me.

There was a certain magic feeling to life, intoxicating in a way that I fail to recreate with drugs and alcohol, I think it's just part of aging

>>4009 That is just horrible, really you should stop caring however, just try to let it all go. >>4192 I feel ya, its tempting but next to impossible to get back on that same level, but you just cant let it go. I dont know if its the times we live in or just our age that does it. It could be an age thing or we just forgot to train our imagination, if i ever get it back properly ill let yall know.

>>202 >>893 >>902 What you're looking for is a training regimen for visualization. There is one called image streaming. Image streaming: http://www.winwenger.com/imstream.htm In brief: http://www.winwenger.com/imagestr.htm Image streaming TLDR >The Image Streaming opens the mind to a flow of symbolic imagery as potent as that of any dream. But, unlike dreaming, you can practice Image Streaming while you’re wide awake, and you can do it virtually anytime, anywhere. 1. Sit or lie down and take a minute to relax your body and breathing. 2. Get an external focus to describe your image streaming to, like a friend (lol) or voice recorder on your PC or phone. Don't skip this step. 3. Close your eyes and go with your first, immediate impressions and describe them aloud, rapid-flow, in sensory detail. More free images will then emerge. Notice when the scene changes or other images merge, and describe these, as well. 4. The key is to examine and describe it aloud, in as rich detail as possible even if you feel at first as if you are "forcing" it and "making up" some of it to fill your description to your external focus listener. That is Image-Streaming. Each full-flow Image-Streaming session should run from 10 to 30 minutes. In my experience, 10 minutes is too short because my stream only really gets flowing after 8 minutes. According to Wenger, daily practice increases IQ as well as visualization. After 5 days I haven't become megamind yet, but I do notice better visualization ability. On the apple scale I've gone from 3 to 2, so I'm excited to continue this.

>>204 I used to do the same thing and also seem to have lost the ability to imagine as vividly. I would spend a lot of my childhood days either reading or daydreaming. I still remember so many imaginations of my favorite book, Treasure Island, like actual memories. I read that at the age of eight right before reading the Hobbit. While my memory doesn't seem to have lapsed, the recreation of imagery seems to have faded. I don't tend to see the scenes as clearly. I wonder if this is from the accumulation of knowledge and added ability to filter noise. As we grow accustomed to the world our mind starts to filter out these daydreams just as one would the sound of a passing car or the bird songs. >>280 Very interesting take. Recalling sharing my own writings with other, I have noticed I tend to get more passionate about some of the words and stress certain pauses or paragraph break to 'set the mood' perhaps. >Start with things like tone of voice, smell, or touch Reading the third example was a trip after that sentence. I could almost consider it some kind of literary empathy I experienced. Imagining the hot rush over my back then trying to feel a cold, I felt some kind of imaginary shiver run up my spine. It made me not only feel what the character was doing but help me imagine how they would react. >>5293 >fill your description to your external focus listener >That is Image-Streaming Now this makes me wonder if perhaps imagination is simply the ability to convert spoken words into visualizations or other sensations. I do seem to create picture stories from tales I get told from other. Perhaps by focusing on words as an oral sensation, rather than a visual, there is a somewhat empathetic response ingrained into the mind, where the sounds themselves, not the words, can be connected to feelings where unless someone sounds out the word or hears it in their head the brain doesn't capture that feeling.

>>5294 >Now this makes me wonder if perhaps imagination is simply the ability to convert spoken words into visualizations or other sensations. Not necessarily. The biggest reason that describing your image stream out loud is so crucial is because trying to do it silently is a surefire way to lull yourself to sleep.

Here goes what I think is the answer, because it has worked for me. Start diving, if its within your reach. Buy and make your own scuba gear, and save money for trips. When you dive, you are literally somewhere you are not naturally allowed to be in, so the mind, when feeling this, becomes enlightened and starts working at a speed not possible on the surface. your mind thinks you are in danger of drowning (cause you are) but your body simply doesnt drown. This is the kind of thing I think helps the imagination gain strength.

>>202 >Wasn't it great how vivid and colorful your thoughts and your imagination was? >Didn't character from books feel so real because in your head you could see them so clearly? Nope, never had much imagination

>>202 I felt this with video games. The magic is gone. Super Mario World and Mario Bros 3 was like being in some exhilarating parallel existence. I spent entire weekends in FFVII. Games used to feel like a direct experience that truly blurred the line between technology and reality.

reading this thread and thinking im crazy because i never had this level of imagination even when i was a child especially this post baffles me >>204 bc even before i discovered all of visual media, i had to either audibly voice my imagination or speak it in my head to "visualize" things and it's still the same im thinking i have aphantasia, but one question i have is are these daydreams and vivid imaginations as vivid as you have in dreams? because that's the only place where i can see expressions, backgrounds and such