#neuronarrative

[jacks-manidiary]

I& know that people tend to wish to go in the complete opposite direction and have problems with daydreams taking up too much of their lives, and that for most people it's something they do unconsciously or unintentionally, but.

How does one start daydreaming more?

I& have daydreams pretty much daily but I& still don't feel like it's enough. But I& just either don't have the attention span or enough ideas to keep going for longer. Music distracts me& and brings me& out of it. Pacing does too.

I& have been feeling especially guilty because I& haven't been getting much privacy for the past few years and now that I& have a week or so for myself& in the house, I& feel guilty for not using it all for daydreaming. Or like, using it for daydreams that aren't particularly exciting.

Sooooo........ any tips?

[caffeinated-eccentric-polymorph]

"Can you explain this gap in your resume?"

Oh yeah, I was busy overthrowing the government on another planet.

[kiruliom]

ah the vicious cycle of "I feel like I dont have a place in the real world so Im spending most of my social energy daydreaming" but that leads to me losing my place even more in the real world

[foleys-help-blog]

Tips for handling a daydream block

It happens to all of us at some point, and it sucks. here are some tips on how to deal with it from my experience.

There can be different or causes to it. First, you have too many thoughts. Whether it's because you have a lot on your mind, because you're stressed, or whatever other reason, if your brain is too full, it can be hard to daydream. Second possibility: your brain feels exhausted, empty. You're tired and it's hard to think, period. Third, you're just out of ideas!

✦ If you can and like to meditate, meditation is one of the best ways to calm down your thoughts and give your brain some respite.

✦ Napping can help rest too! Depending on the person, this might not help if you're in the first case though - I know it doesn't for me for example.

✦ If you lack ideas, look up some prompts, or maybe get into a new series or book! You need to feed your creativity, along with letting it rest.

✦ Do something else! Go for a walk, do some coloring, try a new art form, change up your habits! This can both help you get inspired and rest your creative muscles.

✦ Chat with other daydreamers! Whether it's gushing or venting, not feeling alone is a great help in feeling better

Now, while those are great to help getting out of a slump, sometimes only time will truly get rid of the block. In the meantime, there are ways you can stay connected to your paras and paracosms!

✦Make playlists your paras would listen to ✦Make moodboards ✦If you've written or drawn things related to your daydreamns, look at those ✦Make your paras a list of books they've read, would like to read, would dislike, etc! This can work with hobbies, movies, cartoons, food,… ✦Create a timetable of a typical work/school day of your para if it applies ✦Make jewelry for your paras; you can wear it to feel like they are with you or to think of them. ✦Make collages or art inspired by your paras, paracosms and daydreams! It can be super abstract! ✦Create outfit boards for your paras ✦Make memes about your paracosm ✦Try a meal or snack your paras would like! ✦Fill in personality quizzes as if you were your paras

Rest well, and happy daydreaming friends! 🪁🌟🫧

[wonderlightdaydreams]

Alterreality Coining Post 2.0

On August 9th, 2023, I posted “AlterReality: A Coining Essay”. The purpose of that post was to coin a term that describes my personal experience while getting out my thoughts on metaphysics, imagination, and perception in writing. However, due to the personal nature of that essay, I wanted to make this post in collaboration with Lav (@WinreyPlace) and others to clearly and plainly state what alterreality is. While it is a broad term, there are limits to what it does and does not include.

As defined by someone else in the alterreality server: “Alterreality is a process of creating one’s unique sense of reality via imagination and belief. It can be described as a lifestyle or a philosophy, with one central idea: what makes something ‘real’ is nothing but the belief that it is real.”

Another definition Lav gave was “imagination as a lifestyle”. Alterreality can also be interpreted as daydreaming or imagination-based fantasies overlaying or interacting with consensus reality.

What alterreality covers:

Many experiences of those in the self-shipping community, such as going on dates with your f/o in the “real world”

Adding a fantasy narrative to your life (i.e. tests at school becoming monster fights) as long as you choose to believe in the fantasy narrative as part of your perceived reality

Many experiences are classified as roleplay, again, as long as you choose to incorporate the roleplay into your perception of what’s happening in your own life

What alterreality doesn’t cover:

Involuntary spiritual, psychological, or metaphysical experiences 

Any alternative reality experiences you were born with or had awakened within you

Identifying as something while living a non-altered life (i.e. if you’re wolfkin and you are going to mundane human school while only experiencing that physical reality, that's not alterreality)

Manifestation and law of attraction concepts. Alterreality, while it interacts with the shared reality we all experience, doesn’t change its course; instead it builds onto or reframes it. Alterrealizing should not and does not make struggles in consensus reality disappear or cause the universe to provide a more positive life. 

In short, alterreality has three aspects: intentionality, imagination, and belief. Alterreal experiences are incredibly varied and diverse; however, they all require these elements. 

Now, with the above fully explained, let’s understand the why and how. Starting with the why.

There are infinite reasons as to why one would alterrealize their own life. I do it because I find mundane existence to be boring, and I want to engage with something that is beyond mundane human life without believing in anything, particularly spiritual or supernatural. Any reason is a valid reason to create alterreality. You can do it for fun, as a coping mechanism, to connect better with your alterhuman identities, because you love fictional characters or worlds, to help you understand complex things better, as a tool of exploration, personal growth, and creativity, and so much more. You don't even need to have a why at all! There is nothing wrong with fucking around and finding out with your life :3. 

In terms of how to do alterreality, I repeat, there is no one way. I’m still figuring out all the ins and outs of doing it myself. But my best piece of advice is to give yourself permission to fully live inside of whatever fantasy narrative you choose to and let yourself believe in it. This can sometimes be a demanding or difficult process, especially if everyone and everything around you is conforming to consensus reality, but just like they find meaning existing in consensus reality, you are allowed to find meaning existing in alterreality! Another way to phrase all this is to just “fake it until you make it”. Ask yourself questions like  “What world or narrative do I live in?”, “What form does my alterrealized self take?”, “How would I act and speak in my alterreality?”, “What would my tasks, goals, or challenges be?”, and things like that. If you cannot do something in shared, mundane reality for whatever reason, make-believe a reason why you cannot do it in your alterreality too! As you develop your alterreality and discover what works and what doesn’t for your brain, you’ll find it will come more naturally to live out your imagination-fueled life. 

This world is in desperate need of whimsy and wonder. While there are various ways to make your life more whimsical, there are not many that involve actively living a lifestyle of fantasy. In a world where time is a finite resource, where the “have-tos” outweigh the “want-tos”, and where playing pretend is shunned once you age out of childhood, alterreality is a way to live in the physical realm, while embracing the fantastical. So, what are you waiting for, step into a world of your wildest dreams!

[alyssasmaddworld]

that sickly sweet feeling you get when daydreaming a love scenario and it almost makes you a bit nauseated at how sweet it is >>>>>>>>

[soupofcryptids]

I am a multiverse traveler. A cosmic explorer. I seek out beauty in all worlds, I am the keeper of magic knowledge.

I am the universe creator, from my mind come forth worlds of mystery. I am master of imagining.

I am entity of all dreams, swirling color. Dreams of chaotic beauty spill from my eyes.

I am the wanderer

[dolleriumfluffle]

Daydreams, Ghosts, and Plurality - Experiences of a Dreamway System

I think, in writing this, our goal is just to give a glimpse into our personal experience with identifying as dreamway, and how deep of an impact being neuronarrative has on our plurality. We saw a post about someone wanting more plurals to just write about experiences - so, here's some of ours, to share about ourselves, to ramble, and in hopes that someone might connect.

Our first ever signs of plurality as a child were through daydreams.

For as long as we can possibly remember, we've been traveling. Even as a very young child we lived a constant life of daydreams, of worlds we could disappear into in our head - and, more importantly, the people we met in them. Some of them were fictional; the fairies of the Pixie Hollow movies and the cures from the existing Pretty Cure seasons, both things we grew up with and deeply loved. These were perhaps our first experiences of walk-ins, as they would appear in and leave our daydream worlds as they pleased. Others were self-made, and would continue to appear with us until we had our first syscovery - a grey kitsune and an angel, who would protect and care for us on our journeys.

Our daydreams have always had a spiritual component, one that we would never really understand until we became an adult and learned about astral travel. We continually had spiritual beings appear to us in our daydreams, such as yokai like the kitsune and fae-like beings - and, most concerningly to others, dead relatives of ours and friends. We once told a schoolmate in elementary school that we had seen her grandma who passed away a few years prior. Her deeply superstitious mother proceeded to tell our poor aunt that she believed we were cursed.

We used to journal to each other as a child, writing to each other by name and creating journal entries in the form of letters. People, including us, dismissed it as an overactive imagination. However, it felt so fulfilling to us to write about our day and know that somehow, the people in our daydreams would see it, and sometimes even write back.

As we got into our teenage years, we began to be aware of these daydream characters as more than just daydreams - they were alive, they existed separately and had their own thoughts and feelings. We confessed to an online friend at the time that we had "people in my head" that lived in "my own world", which would eventually lead to our first syscovery. This initial group is who we sometimes call "the original 12" - a series of 12 system members who have been around since we were very young, appearing as daydreams until we realized who we really were.

We were very confused about our origins at first. We hung out in tulpamancy groups for a brief time, wondering if this was maybe how we had come about. However, we soon realized it just didn't resonate, so we moved on to some general endogenic groups and forums. We really appreciate the people we met during this time, who were kind to us in a period where we really had no idea what was happening with us.

Having a headspace always came very naturally to us. We never really understood how to describe creating and interacting with one, because to us we had always been daydreaming about ours. It was an incredibly in depth other world with its own rules, its own people, its own life. Even before we knew the extent of it, daydreaming had a huge impact on how we interacted with each other and how we navigated our own plurality.

After some very stressful life events, the coming awareness of our amnesia, and a while with a good therapist, we were diagnosed with HC-DID.

This led to a long period of self hatred and fear, where we were less sure than before about our life and each other. Thankfully, with the help of therapy and finally having a good support system, we were able to recover from this part of our journey. However, even after this we still had a strong sense that there was more to our origins.

This was when we discovered the term dreamway and the origin paragenic, which hadn't yet been coined when we had our first syscovery. Suddenly, everything made sense! There were people like us! Our daydreams, paracosms, and paras were an essential part of our system, and this was a known experience.

We're extremely grateful for that discovery. Our paracosms are an inherent part of our headspace - many of our introjects used to be para versions of fictional characters. We are able to travel freely between them, continually encountering new people, new worlds, new lives. There is a strange spiritual component to them; we've often heard people say that "paras usually know they're in a daydream," and this isn't true for us. They exist autonomously of our daydreams about them, almost as if they really are in another world, unless they get pulled into the main system and gain awareness of it. Similarly, we can use our headspace for spiritual means, using daydreams and astral travel to encounter entities of all kinds.

We feel greatly at peace with ourselves having discovered daydreams and connected spirituality as an essential part of our system and its origins. There is a lot of joy to us in being mixed origin - in knowing that even there our initial splits were due to programming, there is so much more to us, so much that has in fact helped us cope and stick together since that initial split.

At the end of the day, we want people to know that being mixed origin can be amazing, and can be an essential tool to a system's growth. We hope maybe other neuronarrator plurals or plurals with MaDD may see this and relate, and also we just want to spread more posts about joyful in depth system experiences. Thank you for reading!

[obnebulant-mogai]

Made my own version of the Malagender (link) flag because the one I found didn't really resonate with me!

[Image ID: A flag with five equal horizontal stripes. In descending order, the stripes are navy blue, light blue, blue white, pink, and light purple. End ID.]

[sophieinwonderland]

On the topic of long-term systems: I only really discovered enough about the plural community to understand I had a place in it in 2023. But I'm a median system with origins in neuronarration, and recently when I was going through my stuff I found a document I saved with information about maladaptive daydreaming - and the 'date modified' of the file said 2012.

In 2012, I was only familiar with the very shame-based term 'maladaptive daydreaming' - I don't think 'neuronarration' had been coined yet - and I wasn't aware of the connection between neuronarration and plurality. But I was already using a LOT of mental health strategies based on making use of my headspace and my median systemhood, enough to know that the neuronarrative cognitive behaviours were really not something to just get rid of, they were a strength. The plural community has an understanding of how headspace tools can be used for mental health, so having the terminology to find this community has felt like coming home. But clearly I've been living in this way for at least 12 years.

Thanks for the addition! Glad you've been able to find language and a community suited to you! 😁

[running-on-daydreams-and-spite]

Me when a character canonically has a decently okay mental health instead of being on the verge of collapsing every two seconds like they do in my paracosm:

[protectingtulpas]

Do you think redirecting my MADD (Mal-Adaptive Daydreaming Disorder) to create a Tulpa might work?

Meditation is difficult because I live with a lot of noisy people and animals, and my MADD already makes me more likely to stop what I'm doing and go on an imaginary rant about stuff - do you think this might help?

(I know it'd probably be way slower than conventional means, but still, y'know?)

Heyo! So this is actually a completely viable method long as you're careful, as lots of neuronarrators end up feeling like their paras are actually conscious after a lotta interaction. If you set up the beginning concepts of your tulpa within your paracosm and let em develop while using tulpamancy guides as a guideline, it'd probably work similarly to how a lotta tulpamancers start off by spending a lotta time in their headspace with their tulpa. When I was super "young" I loved just getting the choice on where I wanna move around and what I wanna explore. I bet a paracosm would be super awesome for a new tulpa just getting their bearings!

MaDD IS something that causes distress or dysfunction, tho, so make sure to remember a few things: for one, try and keep your proto-tulpa away from any disturbing or traumatizing things that could be in your paracosm- it really sucks to have avoidable trauma mixed into your creation, so if your paracosm is super unsafe, not a good idea to create a tulpa in there. On the OTHER hand, I know a lot of paras and sometimes paratives too are totally unaware there's a world outside of their paracosm, but I'm gonna go ahead and say it's Not Really Cool to intentionally do that to a tulpa. Don't keep them trapped in ur paracosm, or try and convince them it's their only place, or try and keep them from being aware of the outside world in any way. DON'T TRUMAN SHOW YOUR TULPAS, I think that's pretty obvious.

Ummm other than that I'd say you know your disorder best! Daydreams can totally be a tool for a tulpa to give em a lot to do out of front, as well as an innerworld identity, which can be really nice! But be super careful not to put them in danger or treat them like unconscious entities like paras or NPCs. Hope that sums it up!

[caffeinated-eccentric-polymorph]

I've not found any yet so here's my shot at one right before October starts!

💭 Daydreamtober 💭

(or really daydream[insertanymonthhere])

Honestly this is just the same as any other art challenge: write, draw, collage, do whatever you please! Skip prompts, mix them, finish late, start early, as you wish! Just have fun and don't overwork yourself 💟

The tags: #daydreamtober #daydreamtober2024

The prompts:

❂ 1 - Home

❂ 2 - New meeting

❂ 3 - Secret

❂ 4 - Feast

❂ 5 - Smoke

❂ 6 -Travel

❂ 7 - Dreams

❂ 8 - Letter

❂ 9 - Chase

❂ 10 - Confession

❂ 11 - Fear

❂ 12 - Monster

❂ 13 - Trap

❂ 14 - Injury

❂ 15 - Family

❂ 16 - Old friend

❂ 17 - Justice

❂ 18 - Hobbies

❂ 19 - Comfort

❂ 20 - Fight

❂ 21 - Rest

❂ 22 - Self-care

❂ 23 - Dating

❂ 24 - Distrust

❂ 25 - Flowers

❂ 26 - Cycle

❂ 27 - Yearning

❂ 28 - Doubt

❂ 29 - Love

❂ 30 - Haunted

❂ 31 - Celebration

Divider by @/cafekitsune

[jacks-manidiary]

Daydreaming and alterhumanity, and how they intersect

(As a disclaimer, this essay assumes familiarity with both subjects and relating terminology. If you find a word you don't know, feel free to look it up on your own.)

On the surface, it may seem like neuronarration and alterhumanity are two quite different experiences. In one, you fully realize that you are merely an author watching events play out in your head - it's a world you tend to just visit, voluntarily or not. And alterhumanity is the trait of being nonhuman/an alternative identity consistently in your waking, non-dissociated state. But some of you may already be catching the parallels.

Most people perceive their daydreams from the point of view of their parame. In that moment, when you are immersed in the world around you, emotionally (and perhaps even spiritually) you are that parame. You feel it on every level, and many even report a feeling similar to dysphoria when that feeling is interrupted. So of course, it's no wonder that sometimes this connection will persist into the daily life outside of daydreams.

It's quite a common experience to use alterhumanity as a method of escapism, too. And even shifting just rhymes too well with the daydreaming immersion. For many alterhumans, trying to recall their other life can involve vividly perceiving the occasionally quite narratively dramatic events that happened. The two experiences are quite different, but it's easy to see how the line would blur for some.

Both daydreaming and alterhumanity come in a variety of shapes and forms, both involuntary and by choice.

In particular is of interest the veritbonding part of daydreaming that quite a few people experience - it's a case where neuronarration and soulbonding mix together, and I& think it demonstrates the way that daydreaming influences the life of the neuronarrator outside of the fantasy.

All this is to say that neuronarration can very easily become an integral part of your identity. I wouldn't be surprised if perhaps the other way around was possible too, alterhumanity turning into neuronarration, although I& myself& have not heard of such cases.

Now as for my& own experiences with this, I& have felt for quite a long time like my& parames were more than just parames - they were me& directly, on a deeper level.

When you experience the life of someone through their eyes and feel every bit of what's happening to them, when you don't just observe but also act and make decisions as that character, at some point you get attached. At some point, for me&, I& started feeling like the words I& had were insufficient.

And after looking around and seeing that nothing really fit, I& turned to the alterhuman community and, although still not relating entirely in every way, I& think I& found the path for me& to take with my& approach to my& parames.

I& hope this resonates with others who feel that these two subjects intersect, and would love to hear your stories or thoughts on this!

[parative-culture]

Fictoparative culture is being your source and wanting to be treated like your source while also being so much more than your source, being more expansive and multifaceted with all the maladaptive daydreaming we did before I formed.

~Dabi 🦋 from @seraphim-collective

SO valid and sooo relatable. fictparative struggles frfr

:P (required sign off)

[wonderlightdaydreams]

Alterreality as Praxis

There is magic all around us. There is magic in the stars and trees, in the music I'm listening to right now, on the device you are reading this on, and most essentially, within you. If you prioritize neoliberal rationalism, there is a chance that you are saying to yourself, “but Xylia, this world isn't magical, it is purely scientific. All of these things that you speak on were either created through mundane means, or via an unfeeling, uncaring universe.” While that line of thinking is very helpful for numerous reasons, it's no fun, isn't it? I have spent many hours thinking and writing about alterreality; a worldview that consists of believing in magic and imagination by choice. In this essay, I will briefly explain the value of seeing the world through magic, whimsy, and play, as well as why doing so is an inherently radical act. 

In a western, neoliberal society (the society that I am currently living in), every day from the moment you are born to the moment you die (for the most part) blends into each other. Elementary school goes into middle school, middle school goes into high school, high school goes into postsecondary, postsecondary goes into your career, you get the jist. While some are lucky enough to be able to create magic for a living (via art, programming, cooking, baking, etc ad infinitum),  this magic is constantly being sacrificed on the altar of profit. What can start out as a powerful spell often wilts and decays into nothing more than a husk. To be honest, artists are the last people I blame for this. After all, their time and energy-the most precious resources one can have, are being spent in the name of keeping their meat sacks afloat, when it could be used for so much more. But..what if it can be used for more? What if we could embark on the revolutionary act of crafting breathtaking art using nothing but the power of our imagination, transforming the everyday actions we take to sustain our physical selves into a living, dynamic canvas?

Before I tell you how alterreality is revolutionary, let's establish a little more ground work. Being that I have already defined what alterreality is here, I will give a few examples of what it can look like. It can be imagining a trip to an otherwise mundane grocery store  as an epic adventure through a  fantasy dungeon, where you allow yourself to feel like the hero, instead of a cog in the machine. It can be seeing the world as the cyberpunk dystopia it is, acting as a powerful reflection of truth. It can be seeing the world as the beautiful place it could be, creating a better world through imagining yourself already living within it. It can be as infinite as time and space, or as small as being a bunny baking bread. This is alterreality. This is revolutionary. 

More than anything, alterreality is inherently radical because it is the ultimate form of self expression. Yes, you can wear clothing that goes above and beyond “the norm” (and you would be practicing a powerful form of magic by doing so!) as a form of protest, and yes you can support and uplift your local community whenever possible, but what if you wanted to go above and beyond that? What if you wanted to turn  yourself, your very beliefs, as a weapon against the powers that be? What if you wanted to use play and fantasy, not caged within the borders of a game, but as a way to roam free beyond the walls that have been set out for you? Most importantly, what if you wanted to do all of this, but keep your sanity in a world that seems hellbent on reminding you how everything is either Perfectly Fine As Status Quo, or going up in flames? This is what alterreality allows you to do. So hero, take up your sword, cybernetic arm, teacup, or anything else you can think of, and begin your quest against the true enemy, The Evil Mundane.