Daydream Believer
Yesterday at work, I tested the relevance of our search engine (as I sometimes do), and one of the queries that I tested was "quizzes from Cosmo magazine." Having all of those quizzes with their little radio buttons in front of me, I was naturally inclined to try a few. You know, for research purposes. And I think I can safely say that the Ask.com user experience will be just a little bit better now that we all know my "Sex and the City" personality most resembles Carrie.
One of the other quizzes I took was something or other about imagination versus reality, where it sorted the quiz takers into one of three categories: the extremes of crazy daydreamer and boring realist or safely in the middle as someone who occasionally daydreams but doesn't get carried away.
Put me down for crazy daydreamer.
So the little blurb characterized me as someone who doesn't deal well with reality and who daydreams to avoid problems in my life. And since I know it's just Cosmo (and an intarweb quiz to boot), I obviously don't feel the need to put much stock into the whole "not dealing well with reality" part. But I am curious why being a daydreamer is considered a bad thing.
More to the point, I am of the opinion that people should live out their dreams whenever possible, but some (like the editors of Cosmo) would say this is fanciful and unrealistic.
Take my coworker Barry, for example. He is in love with Paris and has talked about wanting to move there. As far as I can tell, he's looked into jobs and flats and some of the details of moving. And so I tell him, if he's that into it, he should do it. Move to Paris! He doesn't have a mortgage or kids or a serious girlfriend keeping him tied here. And, much as he is damn good at his job, he longs to be in web design.
So, move, I say. He laughs at me like this is crazy--how could a single guy in his late twenties without a lot of responsibility just up and move some place else? I figure it makes as much sense as staying here and daydreaming.
He tells me that it's just a pipe dream and maybe it is, but I think it's worth pursuing. True, there's something to be said for always having a somewhat unattainable goal--always having something to lust after, for, if we had everything we desired, how could we possibly be happy?
But I don't think this is at all the same thing as moving to Paris (once in Paris, he'll have aspirations for a better job, better home, better car, etc). What it is is an attainable dream and I think it's silly to let it sit on a shelf. If this means I have my head in the clouds, then, so be it.
But if and when I want to move to Europe (or buy a new car or have a baby), then I'm going to do it. Because (hypocrisy noted) I think it's pointless to know what you want in life and then do nothing to achieve it.
One of the other quizzes I took was something or other about imagination versus reality, where it sorted the quiz takers into one of three categories: the extremes of crazy daydreamer and boring realist or safely in the middle as someone who occasionally daydreams but doesn't get carried away.
Put me down for crazy daydreamer.
So the little blurb characterized me as someone who doesn't deal well with reality and who daydreams to avoid problems in my life. And since I know it's just Cosmo (and an intarweb quiz to boot), I obviously don't feel the need to put much stock into the whole "not dealing well with reality" part. But I am curious why being a daydreamer is considered a bad thing.
More to the point, I am of the opinion that people should live out their dreams whenever possible, but some (like the editors of Cosmo) would say this is fanciful and unrealistic.
Take my coworker Barry, for example. He is in love with Paris and has talked about wanting to move there. As far as I can tell, he's looked into jobs and flats and some of the details of moving. And so I tell him, if he's that into it, he should do it. Move to Paris! He doesn't have a mortgage or kids or a serious girlfriend keeping him tied here. And, much as he is damn good at his job, he longs to be in web design.
So, move, I say. He laughs at me like this is crazy--how could a single guy in his late twenties without a lot of responsibility just up and move some place else? I figure it makes as much sense as staying here and daydreaming.
He tells me that it's just a pipe dream and maybe it is, but I think it's worth pursuing. True, there's something to be said for always having a somewhat unattainable goal--always having something to lust after, for, if we had everything we desired, how could we possibly be happy?
But I don't think this is at all the same thing as moving to Paris (once in Paris, he'll have aspirations for a better job, better home, better car, etc). What it is is an attainable dream and I think it's silly to let it sit on a shelf. If this means I have my head in the clouds, then, so be it.
But if and when I want to move to Europe (or buy a new car or have a baby), then I'm going to do it. Because (hypocrisy noted) I think it's pointless to know what you want in life and then do nothing to achieve it.