Jack Sinatra: Daydreaming

If you find your mind just wandering off from time to time, Jack Sinatra says you’re not wasting that time, you’re daydreaming.

When we hear the word “daydreamer,” do we think slacker, airhead, or some bozo who’s got his head in the clouds? Does daydreaming bring to mind a bored student in English class gazing out a nearby window not paying attention to anything the teacher has to say?

Daydreamers dream everywhere. I should know. I have daydreamed my whole life. One minute I’m learning the quadratic formula in algebra, and the next minute, I’m saving the school from a zombie apocalypse.

Though the stereotype of missing my math lesson could be accurate at times, it is not the full picture. Skilled daydreamers, like myself, can focus both on the task at hand and simultaneously allow our minds to wander. In other words, the minds of daydreamers have to wander or they suffer from boredom. I have caught myself mind-wandering more times than I’d like to mention, but I rarely miss information because of it.

Daydreaming also breeds creativity. In 2012, a team of researchers at the University of California in Santa Barbara found that participants who mind-wandered came up with more creative solutions for solving problems. I have found that when my brain is challenged the most, my creative ideas just can’t be contained! Who knew science would agree with me?

Daydreaming is effortless and gratifying beyond most things in the real world. Once I break my constraints and embrace the freedom to create new realities, I find myself full of possibility and potential. Daydreaming is a powerful tool that encourages me to try new things.

So, the choice is ours; chase our daydreams away or encourage them to keep flowing. Non-believers simply chase them away, rationalizing that it’s a waste of time. Still don’t see the usefulness of daydreaming? I bet you didn’t know that Albert Einstein imagined himself running along a light wave; a dream that contributed to his theory of special relativity. Tim Burton, a professional filmmaker, daydreamed his way into Hollywood by spending his childhood creating posters for imaginary films. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not setting myself up to solve all the mysteries of the universe or anything like that, but I’ve never thought of daydreaming as a bad thing, and it appears I’m in pretty good company.

With a Perspective, I’m Jack Sinatra.

Jack Sinatra is a student at Redwood High School in Larkspur.