"This I Believe: Daydreaming" by Marcus

This December, Advanced Composition students studied, wrote, and recorded audio essays. Students wrote and recorded their own "This I Believe" essays inspired by the weekly This I Believe Podcast. While we're publishing the text of each essay below, we strongly encourage you to listen to each student's audio essay for a more intimate experience.

I believe in daydreaming.

I believe in letting your thoughts overtake you and creating your own fantastic reality. I believe it is my right as a pioneer of imagination to be whoever, wherever, or whatever I want to be.

I’ve been daydreaming since day one. As long as I can remember, the world just … wasn’t exciting enough for me. I wanted to do more, and become one of the greats. I didn’t know how, but I wanted badly to become somebody, instead of this boring, responsible student. I dreamt about becoming a hero to save the day. I’d fly and fight and rescue damsels in distress; a way to de-stress myself.

I believe that your dreams mean something spectacular. They have been philosophized and pondered about for generations, but no one actually knows why we dream. There have been several theories, but I’ve found that I can only settle on one reason: our minds are trying to tell us something important.

I believe that our soul is never truly asleep, and it is constantly trying to grow and evolve and lead us to who we are meant to become. When we sleep, all of our inhibitions and fears and common sense is thrown out of the window, and our deepest desires and ideals come out to play; an all-out brawl with no boundaries.

And now you see, in that drunken, dazed, half-asleep mind of yours, your dreams. Most likely, your mind is showing you something you need to see. Now what would happen if you take the next step to making your dreams become your reality? You would have to translate your dreams into your everyday thoughts: daydreaming. Daydreaming is the next step toward what you need to become. After that, it’s just making sure that you work hard at your goal to make it come true.

Daydreaming can exist at any time or place, as long as you can picture it clearly. Personally, I enjoy listening to music when I daydream; a sort of soundtrack to use as a framework. Quite often, to go along with my action dreams I would listen to heroic soundtracks or lyric-less songs. This would enhance and better organize the picture in my mind.

For the longest time I struggled with trying to find out who I am and what my plan of action is for the next few years. I didn’t realize that the answer was right in front of me, all of my life. I wanted to save the day, and I didn’t need superpowers to do it. I realized that all I really want in life is a good cause to fight for and devote myself to. I decided to actually leave the comforting nest that is my room and search for a new cause. I found so many new things: robotics, volunteering, and most importantly: people.

Daydreaming has become a large part of my life, and I’ve come to really respect it. It’s helped me through a lot of tough times. And of all the things I’m thankful for, I’ve really got to hand it to God for the imagination that He’s put into my mind. I am who I am today because of my dreams and imagination that I’ve turned into reality.

So whenever you find yourself questioning yourself or have doubts about who you are and what you’re supposed to do, just sleep on it.