Do you have a 'rich inner life'?

[Twattergy]

And if so, what's in there?!
I think I do, in so much that despite a fairly busy life I spend quite a lot of time in my own head, and I like it.
For me, a rich inner life means I enjoy thinking about a range of 'non essential' things like music, nature, art. I'm interested in my own ideas and in how I process the world around me. I am company for myself, if that makes sense.
Unsurprisingly I'm therefore quite happy spending time alone. I am also very sociable. So it's not at the expense of connecting with others.

my favourite inner life scenario is imagining the best buffet i’ve ever been to, and i’ll regularly add more items or breakdown certain items into recipes. It goes hand in hand with my ‘ideal day’ daydream which involves spa/peace/cleanliness/lovely hotel type scenes. 🥰 It usually starts on a Thai theme/flavours. It’s a great one if you can’t sleep too!

One of my regular 'can't get to sleep' methods is to re-cast horribly mis-cast actors in real films and to then re-imagine the film with them in it.

The Thursday Murder Club is a current theme.

Yes same, recognise all the above.

Yes, what was anyone thinking not casting Ray Winstone instead of Pierce Brosnan?

I used to cast Donna Tartt’s The Secret History in periods of insomnia, but all my original cast are now far too old or dead. (Philip Seymour Hoffman was my Bunny, and would have been utterly perfect.)

I don't, I guess thought of it as being self absorbed but reading these replies it's not like that. DH does, he contemplates scientific and mathematical problems.
I probably lack imagination and my head is only concerned with mundane stuff or worries. I don't analyse myself or label myself. A fantasy world sounds healthy.

Wow, this really resonates. I’ve always thought of myself as a self companion. I find it very reassuring and a constant, even when I’m spiralling with anxiety about one thing or another. I am an only child so always wondered if this arose as a self protection mechanism. But clearly it’s more common than I realised.
I never understand it when people say “aren’t you worried about dying alone” or whatever, because we’re all always alone (and I say this in a house surrounded by young children/chaos, never physically alone), but that’s ok? It’s normal?

Amazing casting there! Well done.

Ray Winstone was EXACTLY my cast there too!

I do, since I got sober 10 years ago, I have grown a profound inner contentment and core peace. I have made lots of intentional decisions to cultivate and protect that - I read, garden, paint and do yoga. I also swim, see friends, look after my horse , dog and cats, care for my mother and three young adult children - I find it amazing that 10 years ago I was chaotic, unhappy, in debt, stuck in a miserable relationship, overweight , unfit and anxious all the time. And one single decision paved the way to change all of that …

Sounds very like me.

@WhatNextImScaredyes, on the dying alone thing. We are alone ultimately and I don't have a problem with that. I have friends with faith and they are never alone because of the presence of God that they feel. They feel sad for me in my god-free aloneness and find it hard to understand how I'm completely fine with it.

@Bothythanks for sharing. I did wonder for those that don't feel they have an 'inner life' does that mean they think only about actual things (mundane as you describe it). Like if you watched a film, would your mind reflect at all on it, like how it made you feel, the mood of it, the characters? I watched an arty British film on my own a week ago and I've reflected on it many times since, maybe just for a minute here and there. It's like I am interested in my own reactions and feelings about things like that. That's one way of explaining what an inner life feels like for me.

I have always been a big daydreamer with a complete alternative fantasy world. Can't imagine being completely stuck in this one without it. I have phases rerunning particular story lines. I know it's called maladaptive daydreaming and I think there have been times when I have spent too much time 'there'. Dh teases me when he can see I'm talking to someone in my head. I do read a lot - but sometimes that can't compete.

Interesting to see how many are referring to day dreaming. I don't feel an inner life is day dreaming, maybe day dreaming is a subset of it? For me it is more like a legitimate part of my functioning. Like a place where I can think, imagine and process. Its richness is due to its contents being of my choosing, rather than due necessarily to what's happening in the outside world. Maybe I'm just giving daydreaming a posh name?!?!

I’m like you @Twattergyin that I have a ‘companion’ with me at all times. It’s me, but a nicer version of me, maybe. I learn a lot from this ‘other me’.

I see my rich inner life being about spiritual development. Meditation particularly but training in becoming a calmer, happier and wiser person, and having control over what my mind does.

It's because you're not even allowed to daydream these days without it being pathologies!!

pathologised

A fantasy world sounds healthy

For me a rich inner life isn't a fantasy life but involves taking an interest in the things I listed above - art, nature, literature etc - and using them to nourish your soul and well being. Make life more absorbing and vital.

@MeltonInTheHeat he is only (very) good in English! He devours books and loves reading (though so do I) but I ‘see’ them and like others have a whole film alongside the words. DH thinks this is odd whereas obviously I think he is 😉! His recall of what is written down is better than mine I think because my hyperfantasia adds bits on that weren’t there! For example I know in one old film the narrator recalls an event and I can ‘see’ it clearly. I was quite shocked when it was just one (almost) throwaway line and I had a whole scene! So I have to be careful with my ‘photographic’ memory!

If I watched a film it's instantly forgotten and I think of it only as to whether I enjoyed the two hours or not. I read a lot but a book is the same as a film. If I loved it I am sorry it ended but an average book is forgotten quickly.

I do like writing though, and I can be creative and imaginative when I constuct a any piece of written work. I wonder whether any of you write all these things down?

I thought everyone had this to varying degrees? I’m ok with my own company unless the past comes creeping back, then it’s all very jagged and I prefer to be busy and not alone.

Lovely! I feel this is only possible when fewer financial stresses and other anxieties are minimall, or do you have tips?

It's an antidote to stress and anxiety.

Be outside and walk amongst trees whether it be the local park or a forest. Download the Sounds app and you've got access to Radio 4Xtra and lots of plays and books.

There is so much in life that we can't control, we need to create a safe, calm space within ourselves. A hinterland.

I love the phrases self companion and hinterland!
Inhabiting an imaginary home, knowing where the light falls, feeling the texture and colours and smoothly gliding from room to room and owning all of the space is what I spend most of my days imagining/experiencing in my mind.Has anyone let their daydreams or self companion influence big life decisions? I'm trying to plan the next stage of my life, and its this inner reality that is calling insistently, rather than the more "practical" (i.e. cheaper, more pleasing to my YA children) choices.