Where would our minds be if they weren’t left to wander? Would we be mindless robots or animals without a heart? Thankfully, we aren’t. Mind wandering is a surprisingly common that hasn’t been studied until recently. Studies have shown that 30-40 percent of our daily lives are spent day-dreaming about an off-topic event or idea. Even as I began to write this post, my mind wandered off countless times. Perhaps it was because of my resistance to homework, but I did involuntarily shift my focus to a video I had just seen on YouTube.

However, what really caught my attention was a small paragraph near the end of the article that discussed how mind wandering promoted creative thinking. As I began to think about the topic, I realized how vital mind wandering is to the success of fiction. It would simply cease to exist without the ability to create an entirely different reality. The ability for our mind to wander gives us the opportunity to do this as our minds can create virtually any situation. An example of this is a book I am currently reading called “The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel. Based on a story from a man he meets, the author creates and embellishes a story of a boy who survives in a life raft with a 450lbs Bengal tiger. Yeah right. It is fairly entertaining however. anyway, check out the article as it is interesting and relevant to all.