1 2 3 4
2 3 4 5
oh comely
this special edition magazine is done all by me; chloe hughes they said I couldn’t do it. actually they didn’t. “they” were always very supportive and I do appriciate it. I really do. this is my hard work, and I am dedicating it to you. the “they”.
contributers page 8 photography competiton send us your enteries and win the chance to be published page 12 find out what happens to our daydreamns page 15 take a look at some lovely dreamy illustrations page 29 find someone who had a dream and has finally lived it page 31
18 29
31
Between you and me
4 5 6 7
Daydreaming isn’t just for nitwits We sat around in our office( i.e. the room where we keep the cakes) and deliberated on what to do for this issue. We sank into our chairs, propped our chins with our sticky (thanks to Liz’s Pink Crumble Cupcakes) hands, and thought about what we (and you!) would find interesting. Then we looked around at each other and took note of what we had all ended up doing…daydreaming. We thought about people’s dreams. Their childhood fantasies, dreams jobs, nightmares… When we started to look for willing beings to question about their daydreaming tendencies for this issue, we came across many a mind-wanderer. From the young to the old, the sensible and to the not so sensible… Daydreaming is nothing to feel guilty about. Did you know it is actually the brains normal state?
This issue enables you to feel guilt free for drifting off into space. I would put myself into the category of ‘daydreamer’. I often find myself root-lessly travelling to past events and playing the character of myself with one difference. I am not my awkward, strange self. Instead I am the confident coolster. I am also able to make up words at the drop of a hat apparently… Read on to alleviate your dull day and jump into the world of daydreams. Discover why we let our minds wonder and what this reveals about ourselves. From our life long wishes to anything to get out of spreadsheets at the office. You will find out why you daydream. And then you will learn to never stop. You can also see some rather lovely illustrations and enter a once in a lifetime competition… Let us capture your minds and take you away…
louis daydreaming away...
5 6 7 8
Megan is a fashion student. “I daydream all the time”. When she was younger, she wanted to grow up to be an actress, then a vet, then a ballet dancer...then realised they weren’t really career paths. When she was younger, she used to play the game of “Somewhere in the world...” to play the game you have to think of something that could be happening anywhere in the world right now.
Kathryn is also a fashion student. “I often let my mind wonder to my dreams and aspirations.” She also things of silly things such as planning trips and things that are coming up. She also dreamed about having a car. To her the best thing ever. Kathryn’s party trick is moving half of her lip and not the other half. It looks strange...
6 7 8 9
Phillipa is a Human Geographer. And avid daydreamer. She often wishes she had taken her life down the fashion route. She tells us about her childhood dreams, and what she feels she has left to come in her life. Her favourite colour is blue, because she doesn’t like pink. She once taught her dog to swim. It never floated...
contributors some people who helped make this issue
9 10 11 12
where do our daydreams go?
12 13 14 15
article and photographs by Chloe Hughes
13 14 15 16
“I was trying to daydream, but then my mind wandered” Steve Wright
Daydreaming, drifting off or mind-wandering - familiar to one and all - is more precisely defined as a state of mind where thoughts that are experienced by an individual are unrelated to what is going on in the environment around them. When wandering, the brain flits from one thought to the next, generating images, voices, thoughts and feelings. It is not known why we daydream. Is it to let your mind think about somewhat important things whilst physically doing something which is a great waste of time; ‘googleing’ ‘Ugly Sea Creatures’ (resulting in thousands of results of the so called ‘Fang Toothed’ Fish) or counting how many teeth are in your mouth? Or is to go deeper and to relive or review past experiences and memories, and then to think about how you would have done things differently? When I drift off into that world between being awake and nodding off, I think of past experiences I have had in my life, and revive them. I bring them out of the cobwebbed corners of my brain and force them into the sunlight. Daydreaming about embarrassing times, and how I would change them to make them less, ahem, ‘cringe’. I daydream to remember important events in my life that have been and gone. Reliving them internally, and re-acting them out. Memorizing people whose faces were once vivid images in my head, and are now fading and need to be kept alive. Reviving them
often helps this. It makes the memories stronger. It is also very common to let your mind wonder when participating in a boring task, such as, I don’t know, potato picking? Instead of being in a rainy field, you are suddenly whisked away to a fuchsia lit room surrounded by cupcakes and puppies, or in a fragrant rainforest, or in the driving seat of a new sports car, or… Although a daydream is something that is forgotten almost instantly, it is still important you allow yourself to exercise your brain in this way. It is imperative for your imagination to wander into your dream paradox. “People daydream most about sex, money and power” says Milton Wolphin, Pyschology Professor at USC. The reason being that these are things which generally people feel is most important to them in their lives. Is this always true? Not in my experience... I then became interested in what others daydream about. Are their experiences with this weird phenomenon the same as mine, or do they differ person to person?
Rachel, Pippa and Keith. Three different people, at different stages in life, told me about their own experiences with daydreaming….
14 15 16 17
keith
rachel
pippa
15 16 17 18
Shoes from all over: Kurt Geiger, Dune, Topshop, New Look...the list goes on and on...
16 17 18 19
As a young child Rachel dreamt about owning a pet hippopotamus. Now, aged 12 - so still a youngster - and on the cusp of adolescence, she is daydreaming about shoes; high heels, strappy sandals, glittery pumps. Anything to stick on the end of her enviously twig-like legs! Objects of desire that are elusive for Rachel, who is already very tall, with accompanying size nine feet. She also lives in a village with no shops, which combined with being homeschooled, means the internet, and her daydreams, are her only real portal into the world of fabulous shoes.
she wants to become. There is still the worry that these dreams may not ever be reached. In a recent survey done by iPhone users there are links with daydreams and bad moods. Thinking about what you feel are pleasant things when your mind wonders can change your daydream into a near nightmare! Your visions may suddenly crumble to the ground when your realise they are out of your grasp. Maybe just for now? Or maybe forever…
It is important for Rachel to daydream. When interviewing her, I asked her if she Heels are grown up things. In her daydreams ever daydreamed about the future. She they represent wishes to be like an adult. looked at me, confused, and said “No. there She feels she is now ready to grow up. Rais a possibility that the future will never chel could be described as a “grounded come.” daydreamer”; a daydreamer whose mind She told me how although she is aware of wanders only into realistic fantasies. how expensive shoes can be, they are still “insanely cute”. Perhaps she feels the shoes are objects of fantasy that take her away from her normal “Shoes will always be here. And they’re, life? They appear to represent her concept like, a necessity right?” of femininity, something that she aspires to be. It is almost as if her daydreams are helping her create the person who, in the future,
rachel, 12
“visualization is daydreaming with a purpose”
vintage Levi denim shirt keiths own D&G watch
18 19 20 21
keith, 76 Keith’s life story is fascinating and his daydreams, today, are often about reliving those moments that to most of us remain just dreams. When he remembers his past, and is in his reveries, he is the hero of his own story. He was a troublesome child, never the teacher’s favourite - labelled a daydreamer - yet he did well at school. His story reinforces the concept that daydreaming is not laziness or “goofing off”, because, it is believed that you use more of your brain when daydreaming than you would when focusing on a tricky puzzle. The pile of books that Keith is leaning on consists of titles that reflect his interests in life; gardening, painting, science, advocacy and travel. He has worked as a rocket scientist, patented non-flammable plastic, turned into an artist, explored rain forests and counted rare butterflies. Keith has proved that for those that dream it can
happen, even if it takes a long time. As a young boy Keith remembers daydreaming about wanting to be a train driver, driving the locomotive all by himself. He finally achieved this on his sixtieth birthday. The message Keith tells us is that everything starts as a daydream and his life ambitions and goals would never of had been reached should it not have started as a daydream in a young boys mind. I found him sitting in his studio, painting. Keith has a view of the town where he grew up. Keith has been painting this view so many times and by doing so has sparked all sorts of memories for himself and it has given him the opportunity to think things through. Painting, he feels, is the perfect way to let your mind wander. Keith has never tried to banished his daydreams. Instead he grabs them with both hands and lives them out to the full.
19 20 21 22 At the age of 7, all Pippa daydreamed about was sugar and growing up to become an Archaeologist. Why; because it seemed interesting and ‘Archaeologist’ was the longest and most complex word she had just learned. When you’re 7 what other reasoning could you give?
Pippa can’t explain her daydreams. She is very British, very patriotic and doesn’t think she wants to leave the country. However her thoughts may be, in Freudian terms, her unconscious thoughts becoming conscious, expressing what her real self wants. At the age of twenty, it is unlikely that her daydreams are reflections Now Pippa says “I don’t daydream, or ‘regrets’, but are rather fantasies I space out”. She feels she does it or ambitions. Pippa’s day dreaming to escape reality. Not because she may be exactly the tool she needs is unhappy, just dissatisfied. She to help her move forward through wants more from life. Escaping the the next stages of her life. Positive mundane and idealising, Pippa day- visualisation is a technique used by dreams about different careers and athletes to prepare them for comfuture lifestyles. She dreams about petition (8), helping them believe moving to France, speaking the’ they can be successful. Pippa’s day language of love’ fluently, working dreaming may help her play with for the U.N and drinking wine. various ways to move forward and help her come to decisions about her future.
daydreams as Wish-Fulfilment
pippa, 20
vintage Claire Campbell dress
21 22 23 24
22 23 24 25
dress from marc jacobs
23 24 25 26
24 25 26 27
Daydreaming can mean different things to different people. Some may think it is a waste of time, but after speaking to Rachel, Pippa and Keith I found out that it can mean a lot more than how it appears on the outside; eyes wide, mouth agape, ignoring everything in the world around you!
could remember. Catch them while you can, before you forget. Try and remember them forever.
Daydreaming, being the minds natural state, allows us to exercise our imagination and mull over important – but not immediately relevant – issues when the outside world has become boring and no longer holds our attention.
And remember…
Never be embarrassed to daydream.
Never feel that daydreaming is a waste of time. Daydreams will come and go and you will find it hard to hold onto the ones you wish you
“When your feet are still tethered to Earth, your spirit can soar with the help of your imagination”
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions” A touch of genius by Einstein. Without letting your mind wonder into its imaginative state, life would be a whole lot more boring. There would be no escape from reality, which sometimes, isn’t too interesting. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some daydreaming to do…
26 27 28 29
illustrater, wolverhampton
‘daydream’ by amy evans
28 29 30 31
“my name is Karin and my dream has always been to open up an old fashioned sweet shop. Now finally my dream has come true. Hopefully my shop will open the beginning of December�