Is it normal that i continue visiting a fantasy world in my imagination?

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16 Comments

I am a 30 year old married man. When I was probably 7 years old I created characters in my mind. They live in the present, but they aren't based on anyone real. For the last 20+ years I have developed this imaginary world. The characters have aged, gotten married or divorced, died, had children, etc. They all have birthdays, jobs, hopes, fears, etc. It is an extremely elaborate world. Is it strange I still fantasy about this all the time at the age of 30 when I have my own family and life?

Is It Normal?
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  • Maiumaora
    12 years ago | pl

    Lots of other people do it. I do it, too....I have well over a hundred characters at this point, spread over several worlds, a pretty big timeline, and several stories that I've yet to completely work out, but hope to make into comics someday.
    I've only been working on mine for two or three years at this point, though, I'm sure I'll work it all out eventually.

    Most people who come up with these kinds of things are artists and/or writers. ^^

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    • chubbawubba69
      12 years ago | pl

      Hmm, good to hear. I don't really intend to put them into a story or anything though, it is really just something I do when I'm bored.

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  • evildoctorporkchop
    12 years ago | pl

    I've done this ever since I can remember, I'm 18 now and I can't see myself ever stopping, it makes my life interesting. So yeah, normal.

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  • randomjelly
    12 years ago | pl

    Write it all down...become an author.

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  • detroitlove81
    12 years ago | pl

    I grew out of mine but i used to sometimes daydream like this. The only thing was that my characters were all a part of the WWF when i was a kid. I would day dream as if i was watching the Macho Man wake up and his breakfast was being prepared by Ms. Elizabeth. The Ultimate Warrior would scare the shit out of people at the grocery store etc. Hulk Hogan was actually everyones friend in real life and they all respected him. I totally get it. Thankfully i dont do that anymore but damn i remember it. And yes, to everyone reading, i am telling the truth.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago | pl

    How many characters are there? And how have you managed to keep track of the lives of these characters for over 20 years?

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    • chubbawubba69
      12 years ago | pl

      There are 5 guys who are sort of the core characters. They are in a band together and 4/5 are brothers. Each of them has a wife, children, exes, family, friends, etc. Some of them used to be in the military.

      Overall there are probably around 100 named characters, but only the core 5 and their famalies have a lot of detail. There used to be a couple of more core characters but they died. One was old and the other had brain cancer.

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      • [Old Memory]
        12 years ago | pl

        Sounds like it requires alot of effort.. I dont think its particularly normal though, I've never heard of anyone else who does this. But if you're okay with it then its cool I suppose.

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago | pl

    that sounds really interesting!

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago | pl

    Don't be worried about it! That's actually very interesting, you could probably write a book about that world! I do the same, except I live in worlds created by books.

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  • alv1592
    12 years ago | pl

    I agree with jelly...you could write books. I don't know if it's normal or not, but you have a vivid imagination.

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  • chubbawubba69
    12 years ago | pl

    Also, to add some detail, I always assumed I would grow out of this, but I never did.

    I also know what will happen to the characters in the future, like how and when they will die, etc. I just don't know what day-to-day stuff they will run into up until then. That stuff I come up with on the fly.

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  • chezycheze
    12 years ago | pl

    Why do you do it? What about it makes you happy? And you don't do any messed up or bad things in this world, do you? I think the motivation has some degree of effect on how normal I think it is. But, just given what you said, I'd say that it's not normal to live in an imaginary world for your whole life. But, it's normal to imagine an imaginary world.

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    • chubbawubba69
      12 years ago | pl

      Why do I do it? Mostly because it's a habit. I don't really "live" in the world, I really only visit it when I'm bored or doing some routine task. I may think about it while I'm showering, cutting the grass, or doing some other mundane task that doesn't require much thought.

      I'm also not in the world. I'm more of a third person. The people don't general do anything that exciting. It's mostly just everyday life.

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      • chezycheze
        12 years ago | pl

        Ok, cool that clears up some things. Well, I often think about what I would write a story on if I were a writer and I generally imagine characters and what sort of things they do and think about so I think its fairly normal as long as it doesn't get out of hand and you don't lose control of your thoughts.

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