Day-dreaming

- an art or a waste of time?

Day-dreaming is generally viewed as an impractical, wasteful activity: one should be doing

something useful, not just sitting or walking around with ‘one’s head in the clouds’. But
rather than being of little worth, the capacity to fantasize is a priceless skill, a thoroughly
useful tool, a tool for all seasons.

Day-dreaming is an essential ingredient in most, if not all, creative processes. In the pursuit
of innovation and development, many organizations have been trying over recent years ‘to
capture the day-dreaming process’ by formalizing and institutionalizing the process of
creative seminars. Workshops where employees sit around ‘brainstorming’ and ‘being
creative’ are now mushrooming. But do they work? To a certain extent they can, but not
always. There are instances of outside consultants setting up brainstorming sessions for
companies where the chair person or director gives his or her ideas first. In doing so, they
set the parameters as no one wants to contradict or overrule the post. True brainstorming,
like true day-dreaming, however, knows no boundaries, no hierarchies and no fears. The
intention is not to disparage such activities, but they are too over-controlled and do not
even mimic the environment needed to day-dream and create. But they do show how the
creative force, so frequently despised before, is creeping into the mainstream, even if in a
contained manner. Very contained, in fact.

So where to begin? Day-dreaming or fantasizing is discouraged in children, so that by the

time they are adults it has been completely removed. While one would not want to have all
children sitting around in a kind of hypothyroidic haze of day-dreaming bliss, those most
naturally include to it should be given space to dream an their ability nurtured. Creativity
comes out of the unusual and needs space, in fact lots of space, to develop. Yet, life is based
on mediocrity and so society demands that creative flair be knocked out of someone when
they are young so they can conform.
As adults, then, it is by and large more difficult to day-dream in general. The limitations have
been set by others early on and by subtle reminders to keep people in place. Individuals in
danger of deviating from the norm are kept in their place by a permanent flow of seemingly
innocent comments designed to induce conformity (‘I don’t like that.’ ‘That won’t work.’)
quite often delivered subconsciously. Fortunately, the die-hard day-dreamers/creators
manage to struggle through.

Dreaming spots

For some of us, coffee shops, pubs or public places where people are moving around are ideal spots
for day-dreaming. Or, indeed, somewhere where there is running water, by a river or stream. The
constant movement seems to stimulate thought and ideas in a way that perhapss a library or the
solitude of a study does not. It may not be possible to hone the finished text sitting around in a noisy
café, but the challenge of holding together thoughts against adversity, as it were, is a great
galvanizing force. In the peace of one's home there are even more distractions, like the TV and the
phone. People who are not familiar with the creative process may find it hard to accept that places
like coffee bars are a source of stimulation. But why certain places and things motivate the creative
individual and others do not is difficult to fathom.

Is day-dreaming an innate ability or something that can be taught? While I personally am prepared
to accept that inheritance of ability does play a significant role in the process, I am more inclined to
the idea that the environment, and perhaps chance, play a much greater role. It is said that genius is
10 per cent inspiration and 90 per cent perspiration. The coffee shop experience bears this out: a
place of turmoil to engender the ideas and then back to the nest to flesh them out. The 90 per cent
is a notional figure. If one looks at the work of the great inventors and artists past or present, one
can see that more than 90 per cent of perspiration, as it were, went into the execution of their work.

Questions 29-35

Do the statements below reflect the opinion of the writer in the reading passage?
YES if the statement reflects the writer’s opinion

NO if the statement contradicts the writer’s opinion

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer things about this

Example Answer

People think day dreaming is a wasteful activity. Yes

29. Day-dreaming is a worthless skill.

30. Organizations should be legally bound to institutionalize day-dreaming processes.

31. Brainstorming is totally effective.

32. In the day-dreaming process there are no limitations.

33. Most children should be given space to day-dream.

34. Young people need to have creative flair knocked out of them.

35. It is good that some day-dreamers survive the process of conformity.

Question 36-40

Below is the summary of the second part of the reading passage above.

Using information from the passsage, complete the summary.

Choose ONE WORD from the passage to complete each space.

Busy places, where there is a lot of movement are 36. ______places to day-dream. Such
environments help to produce thoughts and ideas. In fact, in one’s 37_______

there are even more things to divert one’s attention. It is not clear why the creative individual is

38 __________by certain places and things. The question is whether day-dreaming is 39 ______

or can be learned. Inheritance, environment and chance all play a role in the creative process;
supposedly only 10 per cent is due to 40 _________-