Replies

So this blog post will be some kind of reply to the comments I got from my question in A Little Bit Darker. I am so chuffed that you took time to reply and here I will return some of that with my own thoughts.

Span King said that we exist in reality but live in fantasy. I really liked that reply and I can relate to it, very much. I often feel I live in my head more than my reality. He is right, I think, when he says that we may try out personas freely in our fantasies. I do think we learn from that process but it is, sometimes, I think, hard to come face to face with aspects of you that you don't appreciate, like we may find we have a cruel streak, or we can be very scared of things.

I am not sure what Paul means by racial memory but maybe it is something similar to Jung's archetypes (or the way we think of Jung's archetypes). But, although I don't believe in racial memories, as such, I think I like the idea of some of the imagery of our fantasies comes from something that is beyond our conscious desires and thoughts, something that is, perhaps, older, more hidden, and harder to reach and understand. Maybe fantasies function like myths, although very personal myths, some of which we share with others?

Wystan wonders if my question really was if you, dear readers, are ready to read some of my darker fantasies. I honestly believe my question was a honest one and that I am, really, curious about what you think about your own darker images. I think, maybe, Wystan, still is right. I always wonder if you would be put off if I was a tad more honest and showed something really dark. This blog is my blog and about my fantasies and I have shown you, I think, some of the nastier sides of me. I will try to continue to be honest, because I want to. And that may mean some weirder fantasies, some silly, perhaps, some romantic, for sure, and some cruel.

Wilhelmina points to the fact that fantasies are different when you are in the mood and when you are not. What may seem brutal and cruel can be exciting and arousing in one moment to be nothing but crude and boring the next. I notice this when I get carried away writing and later read it and wonder: 'did I really write this?' Often when I write the fantasy is a memory and a basis for a story, rather than anything else. I think the text works better as a story that way. Another thing she talks about is that desire to make everyone happy in a story. I am thinking of the characters in the story. It is hard to leave someone really in agony. I want happy endings and I want people to say yes to what happens to them. I try, sometimes, to disregard this and there are some stories on my blog that have something of that in them. Maybe that is the darker side, really, to be really cruel to the people involved?

Michael points out that I have no duty to be balanced in my writings. He is right, of course, and perhaps all this ranting is about me worrying about your reactions to my stories. But I can tell you, in earnest, that when I write silly and romantic stories, I don't do it because I feel obliged to do that. I do it because I am silly and romantic at heart.

Jim's comment is a little cryptic but I think he tries to tell me that fantasies are not necessary reflections of our desires but images that we have inside that we are working on and with and things that needs to be expressed. I am not completely sure I got it, though, but to continue on that thought: I agree, I think fantasies are part of who we are and not just something we do for fun. I think they are part of what we want, need and have to express. And that there may be knowledge to be had by looking at our dreams and fantasies.

Anonymous points, I believe, to the fact that the story is not a truth in itself, it is a story, a creation and different things affect the coming of life of a story. There is a connection, I think, to desires and hidden thoughts that may be explored through writing, and reading too. If that is part of what they wanted to say, then I am with them.

Your thoughts and insights really broaden my perspective and I love to read them and think about them. Thank you, ever so much, for taking your time and thank you for reading.

But, none of you, really, replied to the question...smiles.