Our Private Thoughts Part 5
August 22, 2025
Our Private Thoughts Part 5
Some of our private thoughts are pure fantasy. We imagine lives different from our own. Perhaps we see ourselves in a paradise, surrounded by people we would never encounter in reality. Maybe we fantasize about having abilities we don’t possess or achieving things we haven’t yet accomplished. We might picture ourselves as heroes, or on the other hand, doing things we’d be judged for in the real world.
Fantasy is a fact of human life. We are the only creatures capable of vividly projecting ourselves into the past or future. We can imagine entire conversations, relationships, failures, and accomplishments that have never happened and may never occur. We dream up situations, people, and outcomes that don’t exist or are impossible. While some fantasies are purely recreational, some serve a deeper and more essential purpose: self-regulation.
Human beings use fantasy to cope with the demands of reality. Fantasies can ease pain and relieve stress. Built-up anger or repressed desire often find safe release through dreams, daydreams, and fantasies. In many cases, fantasy siphons off the energy of behaviors that if we actually did them, would have harmful consequences. At other times, fantasy provides a kind of satisfaction that simulates real experience but without the risk or inhibitions of that experience. Sometimes fantasies take us to forbidden places, places of serenity and calm, as well as to intriguing, exciting, and fascinating places.
You may have experienced this yourself, sitting quietly, breathing deeply, and visualizing yourself on a peaceful beach or in a tranquil mountain meadow. Though it is imagined, the relaxation is real. Or you might have imagined yourself in something like a speed chase that is as nearly as thrilling and invigorating as the real thing might be.
In Heartfulness Meditation, we visualize energy from Mother Earth rising through our feet and flowing upward through the body, filling every cell with warmth and serenity. We then imagine a divine light in the heart, radiating peace, connecting us to the Source. Although this entire process is imagined, the effects on the body and soul are real. In this sense, the imagined becomes actual. If it is felt, for us, it is a real experience.
Fantasy also has the power to propel us forward. It can help us imagine solutions, anticipate growth, and even develop new abilities. Sports psychologists use mental imagery to train athletes. A pole vaulter, for example, visualizes herself clearing the bar before the jump. She creates a mental “video” of success. This not only builds confidence, but conditions the brain to believe in and pursue what’s possible. What the mind can see, the body becomes more capable of achieving.
Of course, not all fantasies are morally neutral. Because they aren’t always constrained by ethics or conscience, they can evoke guilt and shame, just like dreams sometimes do. But fantasies, like dreams, are part of the psyche’s inner flow, that naturally releases and compensates for our primal desires and fears. For example, fantasies can compensate for negative self-esteem or for egoic inflation. They can give internal expression to our shadow and help us cope with shadow energies.
In the spiritually conscious life, fantasy can become a gateway to the Divine. We can imagine ourselves in communion with God, our ancestors, beloved family members, spiritual teachers, and friends who have left this realm. Through these inner images, we draw on a deep well of love and strength. And when we move from imagination into prayer, we shift from inner picturing to sacred presence. We commune with Spirit.
Spiritual practice: Imagine yourself surrounded by those you love—especially those no longer living. Feel their presence. Listen for their wisdom. What wisdom do they share with you?
Self-inquiry: How do you use fantasy in your daily life? Does it guide you, soothe you, inspire you—or all three?
Dear God, For the gift of imagination, and for all the good it has brought—and will continue to bring—we are truly grateful. Amen.
