.jpg)
“what a day for a daydream” – Lovin’ Spoonful
“Oh, what can it mean to a daydream believer” – the Monkees
“Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you…Look at my mind…Floating away” - Aretha Franklin
So many songs about daydreams! Why? Because imagination is a wonderful thing.
Daydreaming is an escape mechanism I use when I’m bored, discouraged or afraid. All I have to do is close my eyes and voila! I’m floating away. This world, my world, is a different place. My sister called it denial. I call it nirvana.
The drive between Dallas and Houston along I-45 is one of the most boring stretches of interstate in the country. I have made it countless times and yes, have daydreamed, planning parties in my head. Big parties, theme parties, well-attended parties…and have stood happily in the background, proud of my accomplishment and thrilled to see everyone have such a good time.
In my daydreams, I have run into old lovers in the airports and caught up in the bar while waiting for a plane or on the same flight. My two inventions came through daydreams. My mom was dying and I was having trouble sleeping. Valentine’s Day was near and I thought someone might send me flowers….but how would I get them home? The travel agency where I worked was in Dallas and not only did I live 30 miles away, I drove a stick-shift car, making the hold-the-flowers-with-one-hand method difficult. In my daydream I designed a box that would hold the vase and not let it tilt over and Bloomin’ Box was designed. It went to market.
With the other, I was at the beach lounging on a chair waiting for a phone call with no safe place to put my cell phone. As I sat there, I came up with an idea that would not only keep my phone safe but would provide storage for car keys, wallets, other things that needed to be kept from the public eye. It hasn’t found it’s way to the local store just yet, but maybe one of these days.
I do my best daydreaming by the water – my imagination seems to come to life. When I was taking editorial writing in college, I would put my manual typewriter on the commode lid, sit in my bathtub and pound out what I thought were columns worthy of a Pulitzer prize. Now it’s sitting in a beach chair at the edge of the surf. I have written a dozen stories (all still in my head) and solved all of the problems of the world while looking out at the sea.
In my favorite daydream, I’m sitting in a swing on a tin-roofed porch watching the water, sometimes a lake, sometimes the ocean. There’s a white wrought iron table to my right and I can see a beverage with condensation on the glass. My dog Riley is at my feet. Some days it’s raining, and the pitter-patter on that tin roof is music to my ears. Some days it’s late afternoon and the water is like glass. It’s always peaceful and I “look at my mind………floating away………….”
