impelled to action, and if she
knew of any real thing to do she would do it and not worry; but there
is nothing to do, except in imagination. Worry is fundamentally due to
the necessity of doing something with any matter that occupies our
mind; it is an imaginative substitute for real action.

But worry may be something of an indoor sport as well. Consider
this--if the mother really believed her child had fallen into the
pond, she would rush to pull him out; but while she is worrying for
fear he may have fallen in, she remains at home. Really she expects to
see him come home any minute, but by conjuring up imaginary dangers
she is getting ready to make his home-coming a great relief instead
{499} of a mere humdrum matter. She is "shooting the chutes", getting
the thrill of danger with escape fully expected.

The normal time for a daydream is the time when there is no real act
to be performed. A strong man uses it as the amusement of an idle
moment and promptly forgets it. But one who is lacking in force,
especially the personal force needed in dealing with other people, may
take refuge in daydreams as a substitute for real doing. Instead of
hustling for the money he needs he may, like Micawber, charm himself
with imagining the good opportunities that may turn up. Instead of
going and making love to the lady of his choice, he shyly keeps away
from her and merely dreams of winning her. He substitutes imaginary
situations for the real facts of his life, and gratifies his mastery
motive by imaginary exploits. He invents imaginary ailments to excuse
his lack of real deeds. He conjures up imaginary dangers to worry
over. All this is abuse of imagination.

Dreams

Let us turn now from daydreams to dreams of the night. These also are
play of imagination, even freer from control and criticism than the
daydream. In sleep the cortical brain functions sink to a low level,
and perhaps cease altogether in the deepest sleep. Most of the dreams
that are coherent enough to be recalled probably occur just after we
have gone to sleep or just before we wake up, or at other times when
sleep is light. At such times the simpler and more practised
functions, such as recall of images, can go on, though criticism, good
judgment, reasoning, and all that sort of delicate and complex
activity, do not occur. Daytime standards of probability, decorum,
beauty, wit, and excellence of any sort are in abeyance; consistency
is thrown to the winds,