I’ve done this since I was quite young (six or seven years old, I believe). In the beginning I just rehearsed important things, but by junior high I was preparing conversations and whole scenarios as often as possible.
I now use this at work, and when I trained new cops I encouraged them to do the same. As I drive around on patrol, I imagine all sorts of calls and situations, from the mundane to the horrific, and think through just how I would handle it. It is a great tool to keep me sharp and prepared.
All I’m saying is that when I win that Oscar, I’m gonna have the funniest f*ckin’ acceptance speech you ever heard, because I’ve been working on it for about fifteen years now.
One of the main reasons I never experimented with hallucinogens is because of my scary daydreams. I have bad trips every day!
I superstitiously believe that if I imagine it, it won’t really happen. 'Cause then it’d be like I had a premonition, and I don’t believe in them.
My pre-school teacher told my parents that I had a problem with day dreaming, much more often then others. I still have that “problem” today, at 24. Unbeknown to others, it really helps in resolving real problems. Plus it helps me to escape.
I’ve laughed out loud at things my made-up characters have said. It’s kind of embarrassing when it happens in a restaurant or something. I have written, produced, and directed over two dozen movies, all of which are constantly viewed on the private movie screen in my head. I also keep up a number of long-running television shows.
So yeah, I do this. All the time. I call it my “mental Tivo.”
My psychologist tells me that rehearsing and/or reliving conversations is never going to be anything but unhelpful. So I stopped doing it. From my point of view it was best to stop because I was going places that I really didn’t want to go - ie, getting angry again at people I’d already forgiven.
Wow, this is SO me! Every time I got down to the basement to do my laundry, I imagine taking a bad tumble down the stairs and breaking my neck. Hasn’t happened yet! Because I imagined it of course. Ditto for the ice I noticed on the sidewalk outside of my place. Of course, I have those ridiculous rosy daydreams too. Like the family’s throwing me a surprise party or a guy is head over heels in love with me. When the happy daydreams don’t pan out, it’s disappointing. That’s why the morbid ones are easier to have.
Teelo, the rehearsing for me amps up around bedtime too! In fact, I just had a pre-rehearsed talk with a co-worker today (that co-worker who I bitched about in the [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297581]]( [url) BBQPit ). Does anyone else get a weirdo buzz or deja vu feeling if you act out your rehearsed conversations?
I’m not sure what you mean by ‘a buzz’ but I can get kind of riled up if I don’t keep snapping myself out of it.
I have also on occasion spoke aloud during a conversation in my mind, it was almost embarrassing…
Sometimes if something has bothered me during the day I keep acting out different scenarios as to what I would do, and any consequences.
I do get deja vu all the time. I’d say mild DV 5-10 times a week, major double take DV two or three times a month. I never chalked it up to the ‘rehearsing’ part of my mind, but maybe that’s it.
I used to get premonitions when I was really young (starting about four when I started talking). I would say things like “Grandma and Grandpa are at our house” when they lived 12 hours away. We’d be out on an errand or something and when we got home, surprise, Grandma and Grandpa would be there for a surprise visit! (they had an RV, so they didn’t just sit in the car waiting for us :))
I also rehearse phone calls. I used to be terrified to call anyone. I still hate it, but I’ll do it. When I’ve got a particularly tough call to make (say, calling about a job) I’ll rehearse it and write it down until I’m satisfied.
The only issues I’ve had involve me thinking I’d done something (like, told my mom something important) only I never have, I’d only thought about it. Then the misunderstanding causes an argument.
Yes, I frequently practice my life, solving problems that have yet to come up but might. Also solving problems/running scenarios that won’t come up today but might someday. And things that may never happen, good and bad, that are very unlikely but you never know. Like being left behind on a scuba dive In Open Water, I’ve advised Drachillix that his body is to be used as a flotation device and he is welcome to use mine as same if I succumb first. Things like that.
I daydream all the time, even when I shouldn’t be. Though it rarely has to do with life except when I’m really stressed. Most of the time it has something to do with the story I’m currently writing…or the video game I’m currently playing at home. So I’m either thinking of solutions to ingame problems and mentally replaying parts I liked, or I’m rehearsing scenes from the story in my head that I’m trying to get right before they go down on paper. It’s a rather effective method, even though it usually ends up being much different once I get around to writing it down.
How do you just stop doing this? I’ve tried lots of times but I can’t stop myself from slipping back into fantasyland. Sometimes this is good, like when I’m rehearsing a story I’m writing before I write it, but there are other times when I’d really rather not be daydreaming. I’d especially like to stop the morbid fantasies involving myself or family members.
