Fantasy confined... trapped within dreams?

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This may be relevant as the faculty of imagination seems to be... different, at least, for ASD people.

As a young teen I've actually relished this capability of mine to just fantasize... mostly it was fuelled from video game storylines, but I felt I could create a sufficiently fantastic narration whenever I wanted, and I liked it so much that I once told someone fantasy was my best ability (not that I wasn't good at anything else but daydreaming... it's just indicative of its importance).

Now, all of that seems to have been childhood grandiosity and I've been rotting for the past half a decade. I can't even fully immerse myself in an external (artistic) fantasy, let alone create any of my own anymore... it's quite a contrast. Sometimes I wonder whether this is just AS evolving over time?

The thing is, what the subject line references is this weird sensation I get just before I fall asleep... I merely get glimpses, but flashes of my former fantasies could still be seen - hypnagogia is known to conjure up some things, but does this mean I was in such a perpetual state when I could fantasize while awake? This, by the way, is best typified in Satie's Gnossienne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLFVGwGQcB0 - which I did actually first hear just before waking up one day.

And then, of course... dreams themselves. How much do they borrow from our active imagination, and how much is it simply subconscious symbolism? How is it that we end up with boners due to some amazing sexual dream, but need to look up external material in our waking lives? (Yeah, *you* know what I mean. )

Here's hoping someone could conjure up some theories about this now, and hopefully this topic won't be merely read and ignored or only replied to by one person - *any* theories are appreciated!

I have been going through similar things over the past few months, in regards to imagination. It felt like my mind was stagnating, like I was missing something in my life. I was absolutely miserable. Then I came across this article: (click). The basic gist of it is, people in the modern world are miserable because we're isolating ourselves with technology. We're not developing meaningful relationships with people in the real world. We get annoyed with people who are different from us because we surround ourselves with like-minded people and "yes people", so we never get to build up a tolerance to criticism or irritation. As a generation, we are a fragile and lonely people.

Here's where I think this ties into imagination:

When I was a child and teenager up until the age of 19, my imagination was so vivid and full of life. Every day was a party in my mind and I was never unhappy with the way I had built my world nor the characters who inhabited it. Contrast that with the way that I am today: my fantasies are only jumpstarted by music and/or exercise, and I am absolutely stumped as to which direction I should take the stories in and which characters I want to use, and every time I try to make a decision, I am unhappy with it.

So what has changed between now and before I was 19? At 16, I dropped out of high school. When I was in school, I was forced to have real interactions with real people, and though it was usually more bitter than sweet, the lesser amount of time I spent in my imaginary world caused me to appreciate it more. It's sort of the same principal as getting to hear a song on the radio vs. always getting to hear it on Youtube. Which in turn boils down to one thing: everything in life requires balance. Yes, it is true that the real world is a cruel and often depressing place, so spending too much time in it isn't nearly as fun as getting lost in a daydream world. But spending too much time in the daydream world can cause the imagination to stagnate. All things in moderation.

My solution is to do some volunteer work. You aren't required to go there all the time like a paying job, but it will be enough to stimulate the mind and senses. Plus, you will be helping people, which is always a natural mood-booster.

And don't think I am just preaching without practicing: I absolutely plan on going out and doing some volunteer work myself, because I would love nothing more to regain the appreciation I have lost for my poor imaginary world and its inhabitants. I sincerely hopes this works, for both myself and yourself (should you choose to take my advice).

Oh, and as for dreams? I believe they are symbolic and I like to look up their meanings on this website (click)

I hope you found what I have to say to be useful. I know that I started feeling a lot better about my own situation after I came to this revelation.

(Well, I'd volunteer IRL if only such a job isn't as difficult to get as a real one! WTF. Society is screwed. I'm not going to bend over backwards to not even likely do things I enjoy. I already technically volunteer online... but, yeah, online is sort of part of one's mind, I suppose.)

...other than that, these were some of my earliest thoughts too after I noticed the dimming of the imagination. Generally, after secondary school, don't you think society makes it difficult for people to... form a society? (I mean, sure, not if one 'knows' people, so they'd get a job off them which they'd inadequately perform at until it's simply another factor that cripples the economy, but I digress.)

A thought I had just now, though: how do the Japanese manage to have such imagination (video games...) when they're also known to be introverted?

Mootoo, where would imagination go?

Think of your dream, enter it awake and see what happens. Put some Satie on, call him and see what happens. Shut the unnecessary lights and make shadows on the walls and see what happens.

You are looking for a door, when you only need a key. And for that key to turn the key is hidden in the key.

Aspie1, even though you think it's just growing up, you don't sense anything negative... do you still enjoy what life remains? (Because, yes, it seemed to me that this kind of imaginative capability could be equated with life itself - the more is lost the more life ebbs away to me it seems. Of course, if you have friends and a career you enjoy I suppose you could do away with the imagination... but, as I don't, it seems all I'm left with is negativity. Before I consistently had positive feelings while playing video games e.g. - now I don't. At best I don't feel anxious constantly thinking about the fact I don't talk to anyone for five days a week, but it's a huge contrast to my enjoyment as a young teen).

And... it can't be completely inaccessible because (besides the mere glimpses in my sleep) I found that hallucinogens seem to play with this kind of imaginative capability. The problem, of course, is consistency... i.e. would I need to smoke cannabis every time I play a video game, in order to get the same feelings as I did by default as a child?

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VisInsita, or should I say Morpheus , yes... lucid dreaming, you mean. I need to invest more time in learning about it. "And for that key to turn the key is hidden in the key" sounds like Alice in Wonderland, though.