Daydreaming: Unlock the Creative Power of Your Mind [Paperback]

Diane Barth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998

Much has been written on the significance and interpretation of nighttime dreams, but what about dreams that occur during the day? Here is the first book to explore this rarely researched phenomenon--a habit that can occupy thirty to forty percent of our waking hours and one that offers valuable clues to discovering personal happiness and satisfaction. Drawing on actual cases from her own extensive studies in the area, psychoanalyst F. Diane Barth guides readers toward an understanding and appreciation of their daydreams. She explains the significance of not only a daydream's content but the context in which it occurred. Numerous helpful exercises show readers how to decode the messages contained in their daydreams, how to tap into suppressed emotions and thoughts, and how to keep a daydream diary. Most important, Daydreaming disproves the notion that these diurnal reveries are a waste of time. In fact, as Barth points out, daydreams can provide comfort and relaxation, enhance self-esteem, act as a new tool for creativity, or point the way toward the resolution of a nagging problem.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014025031X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140250312
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,740,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A straight-forward, comprehensible, intelligent exposition of the value of daydreams!, September 16, 2005

By 

Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Ho Chi Minh City/Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daydreaming: Unlock the Creative Power of Your Mind (Paperback)

Daydreaming is a very fascinating phenomenon. For as long as I can remember, I have been a daydreamer. According to experts, daydreams are "coded communications" which can yield abundant clues, when examined, about ourselves & our hidden needs, desires & potential.

Ever since I have read about Albert Einstein's daydreaming ventures which eventually inspired him to fine-tune his famous Theory of Relativity, I have been hooked by this subject.

This book is one of my first books on the subject. I acquired it because, firstly, it was written by a highly-respected psychoanalyst & psychotherapist, which gives the book some credibility. Secondly, I was trying to tie up some "loose ends" in my understanding - & further application - of strategic thinking & scenario planning.

In the three leading books, among many others, on strategic thinking & scenario planning, namely, `The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World', by Peter Schwartz, 'Scenarios: the Art of Strategic Conversations', by Kees van der Heijden, & `The Living Company: Habits for Survival in a Turbulent Business Environment', by Arie de Geus, there was specific mention about the work of Dr. David Ingvar, a neuro-scientist in Sweden, concerning `memories of the future.' In short, he talked about the brain's innate ability to anticipate the future through imagined stories (or scenarios).

Parallel in my relentless pursuit, I have read & digested a few brain books by another neuro-scientist, Dr. William Calvin. He talked about `ballistic prowess": in short, the brain's natural propensity for strategic visioning (thinking about the future).

This book, especially Part 1:

- what is a daydream;
- understanding the symbols in your daydreams;
- searching for the familiar in the unfamiliar;
- using daydreams to cope with fears;
- how day dreams & night dreams connect;
- using your daydreams at work;

has enlightened me tremendously, particularly to the application of daydreaming at work & to its practical connection to strategic thinking & scenario planning processes.

Now I know, daydreaming is more subtle, whereas strategic thinking & scenario planning are more deliberate attempts. Combining all these approaches in a systematic manner & synconvergently (with apologies to Michael Gelb), & as part of further experimentation, I want to make more deliberate conscious as well as subtle unconscious attempts to allow the more vital, hidden clues to surface. This will serve as my work in progress as I continue to pursue better understanding of these subjects through reading & experimentation.

The author's suggested practice exercises are well-thought of & the recommended personal dream journal is certainly a helpful aid.

Despite the `new-agey' connotations of daydreaming, I am impressed that the author has blessed readers with a straight-forward, comprehensible, intelligent exposition of the value of daydreams. With my personal inputs on strategic thinking & scenario planning, as outlined above, I trust readers will now have a better perspective.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yields clear and intuitive insights, July 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Daydreaming : Unlock the Creative Power of Your Mind (Hardcover)

A smooth and compelling narrative yielding clear and intuitive insights. Contains provocative examples and exercises culminating in enhanced self-awareness. Extremely helpful for anyone interested in expanding their choices in their day to day lives.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enlightening and motivating professsional work, September 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Daydreaming : Unlock the Creative Power of Your Mind (Hardcover)

Ms. Barth has written not only an enlightening book but one that both motivates and enables a general reader to begin to understand and touch his or her heretofore, unexamined, but very common human behavior.

Daydreaming is an area all of us experience almost daily. Yet it is appalling how such little attention has heretofore been brought to the subject, by professionals who are sufficiently knowledgeable about personal behavior, to attempt to make the subject so effortlessly available to oneself.

Ms. Barth's book is intellectually stimulating while thankfully straightforward. This capacity to write so lucidly about a relitively unexplored subject, while clearly demonstrating her competence in psychotherapy, makes the reader wish that she would write her next book very, very, soon.

Simon K. Mencher