my imaginary world...

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Hi guys,
I did a post about this a year ago, but no one probably remembers it so I'll do a bit of an intro. I live in an imaginary world as someone else as well as in the real world, where I'm me. I write stories about the person, my alter ego, and paint pictures of him and his friends etc. I'm rather involved in his world as well as mine, this may not make any sense to anyone, but some people might understand.

Normally things are ok with my imaginary world and everything generally runs pretty smoothly. However sometimes it starts breaking down and I remember people like my parents and councilors and other people saying I have to stop with my imaginary friends because they're bad and I'm too old etc etc. I really really like my alter ego and I don't want to get rid of him (i've had him for about 8 years now), but I'm starting to get sick of his friends (the other people in my imaginary world). I try and make new ones for him but it's hard to place him in a new place with new friends because I'm so used to him being around his old friends for so long. I've had breakdowns and anxiety attacks because of my alter ego changing too much and whenever I feel like he's about to leave me (maybe the people were right and I'm getting too old for him) I get really nervous and anxious and my waking/real life starts to suffer, because so many things I do are about him (my art, music etc). I don't want my whole life to be a battle with my alter ego, but at the same time I don't want to chuck it all in because it gives me an outlet for my frustrations with life, and art and music. It only ever seems to go down the drain when i'm really stressed, which I am at the moment. Maybe I'm relying too heavily on him to get through things and should stop worrying about it?

I'm posting this in hope that other people have the same experiences / have had the same experiences as me, and can maybe offer me some advice because it's not an easy topic to explain to people, (especially councillors, NT friends, parents etc).

-Cad

hello Cad
your alternate universe is quite complicated, from your description of it. it seems to me it would be hard to keep track of something with all that complexity without "complications" occuring now and then. my alternate universe differs from yours in that mine is a retreat from the outer world, has nothing in common with the outer world and is just for me, not for the head shrinkers or any other folks outside of the wrong planet.
i am guessing here, but i would imagine that if you created the "friends" of your alter-ego, you can also UNcreate them with the same kind of sustained willpower that created them in the first place. that is how i handle unpleasant thoughts, by shunning them every time they arise, and with each shunning they get a little bit weaker until i have gotten them down to the size where i can finally drown them in the bathtub, so to speak. can you try to do this to the unpleasant "friends"?

take care
bruce

I have an alter ego/imaginary world too. Though mine is a set of four sisters, not one person.

Double post, sorry.

Thanks for the replies, Bruce and EaglesSayMeow I guess i can uncreate them, it's just hard figuring out who his new friends would be. They've changed over time to reflect different sorts of people i liked or were interested in (e.g. there's a young corporate boss guy at the moment), and I guess I just have to find a group that are more fitting with who he is at this particular point in my life, or suit him better.

Maybe your alter ego needs to relocate. That way he has old friends and new friends. After a while the old ones can fade away.

Amazing. :O I too have an alter ego in an imaginary world reminiscent of the 19th century.

Use your alter ego as a scripted character. My chracter does things I wouldn't and has confidence. Writing out her lines helped me to gain confidence and argue intellectually. And currently she is suffering in silence, so I created new characters to help her through.

It's hard for us to write out new characters due to limited social knowledge. So I solve it by creating intellectual themes and questions on philosophy. Practise writing this way, and when you're more mature write the way you want to.

Another thing is you are not your alter ego. You AE is who you MIGHT have been. So apply wishful thinking or "if this had happened, I would ..." Exploring the possibilities is what gives you a plot that compensates for lack of pyschological understanding.

Alternately create a depressed AE to depict the loneliness of being different.

What sort of genre are you writing may I ask? maybe we can exchange writing tips?

I do something similar, though not the same.

You're never too old for imaginary friends. Just stop telling other people you have them.

And move someplace else (in your imaginary world)-- another city, another country, wherever.

Or tell your friends you don't like them and want them all to go away. Make 'em all mad. Then have an epic war.

Or, as a last resort, make a new world, a new alter-ego. Or a new world with the same alter-ego. Or do a Crisis story.

Mine is complex and quite large. General Creedon is my "Marshall" if you've seen Mr. Brooks then it's his id. Thing is though, it feels like I've been there before, and it definitely exists.

Guys, it's nice to know I'm not the only one who goes through this.
@Ackman - I haven't seen Mr. Brooks, but sounds interesting.
@DandelionFireworks - I don't tell many people I have them, just my art is all about my alter ego and people start wondering who he is after a while. I just say ' a character,' by my parents know all about them, and councillers have asked about who he is before - seeing my paintings of him. He has moved around the world before (which is basically a city, but he was born somewhere else and has been out of the city before) and i have done the epic war before to get rid of annoying friend (who was this obnoxious corrupt cop). I guess I could always make him move to a new suburb, or get a new job, or move back to his family.
@Mudboy - good idea. He has old friends from stupid friends who I got sick of, randoms he talks about (e.g. old friends from his previous work, or when he was in jail) and...oh dear this is more complex than i thought
@Vilette - interesting post! My imaginary world is basically a distopian city, which is based loosely on suburban Australia (I'm australian), cities I've been to, and NYC and other big cities I'd like to go to. It's sort of a mix between being 1920s and 1980s. My AE didn't come from this place though, and it's not on earth, but he is British and from Earth. And like your character, he's the opposite of me in that he's confident, loud, talks all the time etc and helps me with my confidence because I just think how would he act in the same situation. All my stories and paintings about him are about his life in this city. Oh and exchanging writing tips sounds awesome

What a coincidence. My character is in a dystopian society, a bit like fantasy without magic. It's partly based on the stuff I read in Victorian books, partly modern fantasy in the likes of Terry Pratchett. I think it'll be existential too. The protagonist lives near a squeaky-clean fascist island state where perfection is the ideal. She's more confident than I am, but definitely more naive and more intellectual.

Awesome! I love Terry Pratchett, when I actually have time to read. Dystopian societies are awesome to write about and paint...they reflect a lot of the feelings I have about the world at times. It's interesting that the protagonist lives near a fascist island...the country my city is in is run in a communist state, partially because I'm a socialist ha ha and my character idolises the socialist leader of one of the parties, but he doesn't like my character at all, and all the things my character believes about the leader is wrong

That's the odd thing about my imaginary world. My 'girls', the four main characters in the universe, aren't actually complete opposites or copies of me. They're simply people, with their own set of rules, completely separate from my life.

I guess one of your themes is disillusionment? That's deep.

My book supports a party like the Liberal Democrats in the UK except it's called something else.

Have you read Aldous Huxley? It's good way to gain tips.

Dissillusionment ha ha that's it I don't know much about the Liberal Democrats, I've never read Aldous Huxley either, what sort of books does he write?

Aldous Huxley wrote a dystopian novel called Brave New World where people are so unrepressed that they are encouraged to take drugs, watch movies called "feelies" and do trivial things and share partners. However Shakespeare is forbidden material. It's like excess NTism in a way.

In Island, it's about a paradise where people practise Buddhist philosophy and are brainwashed with calmness and reason. It's considered the opposite of Brave New World.

Then you've got the novels about characters facing intellectual delusions in high society. They're kind of boring though they can be enlightening because it's mainly interaction and no real plot except dull domestic scenes. Don't know, you might try Point Counter Point.