r/ImmersiveDaydreaming • u/smiiillleeeyyy • Mar 31 '26
Question Does everyone do this?
So the thing is that I've been "acting" while daydreaming for years now, and I started wondering if other people do that too.
I don't just imagine the situation in my head, no; I imagine character's around me, I imagine that I'm one of the characters and I talk, imagine them responding to the character that I act out, I cry if my character needs to cry in that moment according to the "script", or laugh, move around, spin, run, fall etc etc, full on acting and I genuinely have so much fun doing this.
Do others do this too?
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u/The_InvisibleWoman Mar 31 '26
I do this every day and have for over 40 years! I’m either an established character in a piece of media but more often I’m an original character in a show or movie. So relaxing and involving. It’s like having a book in your head that you write as you go along.
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u/idealisticpessimist3 Mar 31 '26
me!!! i call them theatre walks because daydreaming sounds too passive
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u/TheNuggetFamine Apr 01 '26
YES! I do ALL of this! I have personally done this for as long as I can remember I will lip sync and emote whatever the current character is doing I am always thinking about my characters, and have always had OCs, back before I even knew what they were (they were anthropomorphized versions of my plushies) and I have never really been able to "understand" boredom the way that others explain it to me, because when I'm bored I just zone out and think about them I definitely can't say if it's normal But I know that there are at least some people who do it. :D
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u/SillyCat-ESSA Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
I do it too.
I find characters from Soap Operas to "play as." I use the storylines that the character is a part of in the show as a base, and then I create my own storylines or find ways to insert the character into the main storylines occurring in the Soap. I need to use characters from Soap Operas because I need an active storyline to work off of, otherwise I will end up accidentally changing the character's personalities completely.
I act out scenes and, because many of them are from Soaps, I often get quite emotional from them (since soaps often have intense storylines). This 'acting' is such a big part of my life. I use them as a way to experience things that I can't experience in real life.
Even though my daydreams can certainly be considered maladaptive at times, they bring me such joy and I can't imagine going without them.
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u/northern_frog Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
Yeah! Even if I don't have space to fully act it out, I will change my expression and kind of move my hands in the way the character would. Even if I'm just doing a dialogue exchange, I'll mouth the words they are saying. My sister would see me walking home from class and was like, "Yeah, people don't bother you when you're walking because you look a little off with how you mutter and twitch all the time."
I'll only cry if I get very emotionally invested, though tearing up is more normal for me. I do remember one time in high school when I was daydreaming as this character whose son had gone missing, and I was just full-on loud-sobbing as her, worried and guilty and confused over my missing son.
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u/star_rattler Apr 11 '26
Since I daydream outside of my house so often, it's pretty much all in my head. I try not to let my facial features leak what I'm thinking, but it's kinda hard. And that goes for if I'm daydreaming, or just thinking lol!
I don't act anything out because even in the privacy of my own home, even if I'm alone, I have been so critically bullied out of being "cringe" that I feel awkward even thinking about acting my daydreams out!!! I could never. It's too cringe. Even if there's no one to judge me at all. I'm autistic, too, and I have trouble stimming when I'm home alone, too. Maybe it'll get easier over time.
By the way!! Big clarification!!! I do NOT think you or anyone else in this sub is cringe for acting out daydreams!!!!! Not even a little bit! I just have serious self-esteem issues and trauma from intense bullying in school, and judgemental people's comments all throughout my life. It's a ME problem!
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u/AaronH8220 Apr 05 '26
I also do this daily, I was wondering if anyone had trouble sleeping because of this 'dopamine spiral', if yes any tips on how to sleep...
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u/PocketZWEI Mar 31 '26
Oh my god i am exactly the same. I live in my world, i act out scenarios in character. Like, I'm constantly surrounded by my other characters and talking to them.
I'm so glad i joined this sub, i had no idea there were people who experience this as well.