A long time ago, living in a fantasy world, was my form of freedom

It was important for me to develop a powerful imagination and use it as a means of escape. To be able to disassociate from the present was a coping mechanism. Young minds crave stimulation, and when this isn’t forthcoming, from those around them, developing a good imagination is important. And some might say that this can be beneficial in many other ways as we move through life. Lonely children can be very creative. This doesn’t make neglect right though does it? Fortunately enough, we humans do have a profound ability, to turn adversity to our advantage.

Now that we’re older, continuing to live in fantasy distracts us from being fully alive, and fully experiencing beautiful realities of life. We can miss out on what beauty the world has to offer

If our present situation is very poor or distressing there can be a tendency for us to remain with the coping mechanism of fantasy. The limitation of this is how it can tend to keep us stuck. When all we do is escape into imaginings, we will continue to live under difficult circumstances, for longer. If we wish to improve our lot then we must act. We cannot act if we don’t aspire.

And so bringing the mind into the present moment, even when we live under difficult circumstances, guarantees we become fully engaged with the realities of life

As painful as it might initially be, keeping the mind in the now moment, begins the process of setting ourselves free. We can’t be free if our minds our not present. We could argue that freedom is the escape fantasy offers, but we must ask: at what cost? Are we not three quarters of the way to being dead if we’re not at home?

It’s said that when we become aware of the breath and engage with our senses that we then come home to ourselves

Think of the image of a daydreaming person. Their mind isn’t present. Where exactly is that person whilst their mind is lost in the past, future, or fantasy? They’re not at home are they? So when we become aware of our breath – as taught during mindfulness workshops – we return home to ourselves. We can then either enjoy that present moment or decide on what we must do to improve it.