Am I mental or are there others like me out there....???

[Starlight1984]

Firstly, I know that I have an extremely active imagination, I'm an over-thinker and also an only child so had to make scenarios up in my head a lot growing up😂

But there are some directions my brain goes in which I don't think are normal?? And I don't know whether it's actually a condition or has a name but would be keen to know if there is anyone else like this here on MN?!

I will give an example from today (which is what made me think) and see if anyone gets this!

So I was walking through the city centre earlier and passed a man on the street walking the opposite direction. He looked like he was of Middle Eastern descent, pleasant face, thick glasses, maybe late 50s / 60s... Dressed well in a long wool coat and big colourful scarf. Canvas bag across him. Very boho. Kind of a retired professor vibe?! Anyway (and here's where I might sound insane), instantly my brain kicks into creating a scenario and straight away I get a feeling of what his house looks like (lots of bookshelves, thick fabrics, big armchairs, lamps with big shades with the tassels on...). Maybe incense or a candle burning and some soft music (maybe jazz) playing on the radio. I can picture him sat in a big leather chair in the corner of the room, reading and then getting up to check on something cooking in the kitchen...

This happens a lot to me! Not with everyone I see but certain people, the sense of knowing them and their lives is really overwhelming?! I never speak to these people and I'm probably way off the mark ("retired professor" probably lives in a modern high rise apartment and actually works in tech😂) but it's so strange that it's such a strong feeling?!

But I also do the same when I walk past certain houses and can see inside, I get an instant feeling of who lives there, what they do for a living, the way the house smells, the conversations they're having whilst cooking...

Can anyone explain this? Am I just a bit of a dreamer / avid reader with a good imagination? Or has it actually got a name?!

Would be interested / love to know if anyone else is similar too!

It's called imagination.

Normal. Imagination is standard issue for us all.

Enjoy it.

Yes I do this often

I've been known to do the same.

I also can pretty quickly and 99% of the time accurately get a vibe from people and trust or distrust them.

As a pub landlady that last one is handy! Take this week- two guys come in quite late, almost closing time. Start asking questions about how many of us work here and are elwe doing well. They then get on the phone and suddenly, 7 others turn up. None had ever been in before.

I told DH I thought we were about to be robbed. To the point I emptied the till of all but two notes and coins, and also took the bag with previous cash takings out the safe and upstairs.

Queue one of them looking in till on being served, making a comment on "you've not done well tonight (cheeky) and then nudging one of the others.

They all walked out leaving near full pints on the side. I genuinely think they were about to empty our till. Not on my bloody watch. Even DH said he felt they acted weird.

So intuition can be very handy sometimes.

I do this too, but, to be fair, so does almost everyone I know.

I think what you're describing is more than imagination, or at least a very vivid and immediate sense of imagination.
Could be something like apophenia, the tendency to perceive and make connections or patterns in unrelated or ordinary things.

Could also be empathy and intuition, although you don't know how correct you are in your assumptions and musings.

Thats a condition of almost all human brains, not a special condition.

That's normal.

I have an internal monologue that's chirping away all the time.

Unfortunately you are not special.

You just have an imagination, the world of fiction would be pretty boring if people didn't have one.

Normal. I make a living out of it. (Novel writings. One of mine emerged from imagining a back story to two people saying a tormented-looking goodbye to one another in a wet car park.)

Is it that you believe you're correct about the lives of strangers you're thinking about? You mention that you get an overwhelming sense.

I think it's very normal to wonder about strangers lives. I do it a lot. So much so, that it makes me question my own life. That says more about me than anything😅 I need to get out more!

I consider myself to have a pretty good imagination, but no, I don't do what you do OP, not very often anyway. Sounds fun to me - I'll have to try it.

What I do do, all the time, is give strangers makeovers in my head - male or female. What they could do with their hair, their clothes, their makeup, to make the most of themselves. I get quite annoyed about people I see regularly on TV - newsreader, politicians etc who could make so much more of their appearance.

To be fair I did used to be a beauty therapist with my own salon, so it was my job to help people look their best. Old habits die hard.

Really?! I don't know anyone who does!!! That's why I thought I was weird! I mentioned it whilst out with some friends recently and they all looked at me like I had two heads!

Oh my god I love this! Maybe I've missed my calling in life as a writer?!

I do have to say that I am a professional author (novels) and that many of my friends are too, which might account for it!

Are you perhaps a big reader? If one reads a lot of novels, one tends to organize everything one sees in narrative terms! I do it all the time; leap from one bit of info to a whole framing story.

😮

Yes!!! Not so much at the minute as we've had a lot going on but I have always loved reading and so yeah, I guess a lot of it comes down to that in terms of creating a story!

Definitely check out your local creative writing group! Public libraries is a good place to start.

Also, whenever I see someone like this (who I have created a little story for) my thoughts spiral to "gosh I would love to live life as a bohemian artist in Paris, sitting sipping red wine at lunchtime with my arty friends" (I am not arty, nor bohemian, nor French).

Don't get my wrong, I absolutely love my life. I love my DH, I love our little house and overall we're very content and happy but I constantly imagine other lives in other times, even to the point of thinking about what job I would do and how I would dress.

So glad it's not just me though 😀

Well, start writing. No qualifications needed. Before too long you too will be casting speculative glances at someone on a bus and thinking ‘That’s exactly the way Louise in my story would tie her scarf/deal with a god-botherer alongside her trying to interest her in Jesus/ keep hitting the ‘Stop’ button even though the driver is shouting ‘Stop doing that, woman in the hat!’’

On Christmas Day I thought of a way I could use that irritating Miss Dior ad where Natalie Portman says ‘What would YOU do for love?’ to end a scene.

I don't think it is though?! DH thinks I'm insane when I tell him these things 😂and I mentioned it to some friends and none of them do it either?!

How accurate are you?

It isn't normal...people get annoyed when other people think they might be special in some way and like to put them in their place.

Certain personality types have better imaginations than others. Maybe you're an infp? Many novel writers are. I'm an infj with very little imagination.

What about when she shouts "PROVE IT" That must be able to be used somewhere :)