The Ni Fake Nap

[Usehername]

This thread had a few comments by Ni dominants re: the Fake Nap.

So, what consists of your fake nap? What do you do? What do you seek? Do other, non Ni-dominants have their fake naps?

My INFP bro and I have discussed how we actively create daydreams; without it we get really cranky. But clearly he is not Ni dominant, so do Fi dominant types do this as well? Do other types?

My Fake Nap:
*I have an assortment of probably 3 dozen "main daydream" situations; I resort to one of them depending on my mood, what I want out of my daydream, etc.
Sort of like how you have such a knowledge base of character interactions with a television sitcom, you could easily create a new "episode" and just fall into the pre-formed characters to explore their interactions.
*I have integrated real life friends into my fantasy world (which actually isn't very fantasy-oriented; it's always "normal". Just extraordinary, unlikely circumstances happening to "normal" people.) I have also stolen movie/TV characters, given them new identities and allowed them to fill a role in my daydreaming situation.
*I have an alter-reality family. Their character traits were laboriously selected (although the labor was pleasurable) and well-thought out so that I can best find my identity in this alter-reality. The good parts of my identity. This helps me figure out how to behave as myself without it being a reaction to the character flaws in my real family. (I do love my real family. But I think the other Ni dominants will know what I mean?)
*I explore how I feel in situations, and "live out" how I would process things before they actually happen.
(the basics being death, marriage, etc. but also including trivial reactions to weird circumstances.)...


Perhaps this is why the Ni dominant NT is so calm in stress situations? We've all "lived it out" before in our heads, so we just run the program IRL?
How are INFJs in stressful situations? I really haven't read enough about them and don't know any IRL to include/exclude them from that.

[Metamorphosis]

Wow, I do this all the time. I think half of my life is spent in my head sometimes. I also have a couple of scenarios/places/whatever that I return to often, although they have changed over time. It's actually what made me think of the song The Quiet Place by In Flames that I posted yesterday.

It's like a form of self-hypnosis.

[Usehername]

My daydreaming repertoire definitely changes over time, evolves... but then every once in a while, I'll accidentally hit a neural pathway and remember one from way back and MAN it just brings back great memories; i surf the daydream and get the warm fuzzies of being 13 again or something

[Metamorphosis]

I know what you mean. The nostalgia is awesome. I really can't imagine not having a seperate world in my head like that...but then, if I didn't I would probably have some idea what was happening around me most of the time. At least now I have a good excuse for walking right by people I've known for years without noticing them.

[erm]

I pretty much do all that's in the OP, though it's rarely very in tune with reality.

I find it easier to enjoy music if I'm daydreaming along with it as well. Sort of like a music video, except more crazy.

[Usehername]

Originally Posted by erm

I pretty much do all that's in the OP, though it's rarely very in tune with reality.

I find it easier to enjoy music if I'm daydreaming along with it as well. Sort of like a music video, except more crazy.

My INFP brother says his are more surreal than mine. I think he's more prone to make a whole new world, whereas I take the existing earth; it's more efficient so I can get to teh good stuff of daydreaming

[Dark Razor]

I do this too, though my characters are not as fleshed out. I think generally I focus more on the action than on the characters. Though I have also incorporated people I know in real life into my stories.

And I often can get completely absorbed in my daydreams, especially when listening to music, it is an important way of relaxing to me actually.

[Rohsiph]

It's such a natural, every-day thing for me that, especially prior to meeting the insinuations of substantially different personality types, I find it hard to believe that people can exist without at least some level of detailed "escape" worlds.

It makes the concept of "boredom" pretty hard to believe, knowing that I can easily summon up an internal imagined world when nothing enticing is happening in front of me.

[Kyrielle]

I do the same thing. I don't often use people from real life, but I do tend to use characters from movies and books to form the basic structures of a lot of my characters. Sometimes I even make new characters, though they'll still possess some sort of archetype to make creating their personality a little easier.

And there are certain places I visit repeatedly. Certain storylines that are so well established, all it takes is the slightest of nudges and I'm miles away.

[lbloom]

I have two kinds.

The first is more common. I'll replay parts of conversations with people from my life that affect me closely, and extrapolate them, movie-like, to a ton of different scenarios. Some of these scenarios may be whimsical or wishful.

The second form shows up when I'm at peace, or really want to be. It's more nebulous than the first. A good example would be flying through dark purple clouds. I think pretty deeply in this mode, but it's not concrete.

(<--- Me's INTP)