Is An Overactive Imagination Mortally Sinful?

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nsper7

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Sorry for all these questions, but they bother my conscience, which I admit can be Scrupulous.

First off, let me say that one of my hobbies is writing/thinking about screenplays and such. Anyway, I tend to have an overactive imagination/thought life, which I admit sometimes enters into the realm of evil thoughts. For example, imagining myself as a cruel dictator persecuting people or trying to force people to love me or something like that or even thoughts in the misogynistic realm of wanting to persecute women . Is this kind of overactive imagination and envisioning as being powerful and perhaps even evil a mortal sin? Please note that I am not seeking to act out any of these thoughts physically nor do I have any plan to. It is more a way to deal with my feelings of powerlessness, inferiority, being unloved by women. etc. Is such escapist fantasy mortally sinful?
 
nsper7 said:
Sorry for all these questions, but they bother my conscience, which I admit can be Scrupulous.

First off, let me say that one of my hobbies is writing/thinking about screenplays and such. Anyway, I tend to have an overactive imagination/thought life, which I admit sometimes enters into the realm of evil thoughts. For example, imagining myself as a cruel dictator persecuting people or trying to force people to love me or something like that or even thoughts in the misogynistic realm of wanting to persecute women . Is this kind of overactive imagination and envisioning as being powerful and perhaps even evil a mortal sin? Please note that I am not seeking to act out any of these thoughts physically nor do I have any plan to. It is more a way to deal with my feelings of powerlessness, inferiority, being unloved by women. etc. Is such escapist fantasy mortally sinful?
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Finally! Someone I can relate to on this subject! I’m not an a writer, but I’m an artist who draws comic books and manga (which involves creating a story and drawing it, which, like you, requires an imagination). I also have scrupulous tendencies. We both have the capacity to create a story in our minds that’s very vivid and alive, and then create it in tangible way, me with art and manga and you with screenplays and actors. In both cases we both realize that we don’t intend to make a reality out of these fictional happenings, and if we do, it’s only in that they exist in a fictional format for others to appreciate. I think it’s when others are exposed to our imaginations that we have cause for concern because then they’re possibly being exposed to mortally sinful material or being put in an occasion of sin.

In the past, I made a thread in this forum about whether or not a fan comic I was making was moral or not, and after alot of interaction with the members here, and discernment and prayer, I/we came to the conclusion that as long as I toned down some of the things that existed in the original story and did what I could to avoid anything blasphemous, that drawing the comic wouldn’t be mortally sinful and might actually be a good thing. The more I analyze it and discern, the more I feel that such a project is morally neutral, meaning it’s all in how I draw it and tell the story and what I have the characters do and say that would determine sinful material, not simply that I drew it.

The same situation is true for you. You like creating stories and would like to see these stories and scripts acted out, perhaps on stage, in theater. You want to make real what only existed in your imagination, and I think that’s a gift from God that not everyone has. Not everyone is creative. However, with that creativity comes an awesome responsibility I think. Because you have the power to create something from nothing and expose other people to it, you have a responsibility as a Christian to not lead others into sin or an occasion sin or scandal by what you create, be it written word, or a play. The same is true for me. A comic book can impact alot of people from all age groups, and I would have an equal responsibility to them.

You’re honest enough to admit that some of these things you want to write or create are, in reality, not good things, but given you’re telling a story, I think they’re ok if you’re creating this adversity with the intent to create the necessary role of an antagonist or evil for the protagonists to interact with. If this is the case, and the violence or cruelty doesn’t just exist for your own pleasure and there’s a plot point or story behind this, then I think it’s perfectly acceptable provided you make it clear, through the protagonists, that evil and injustice is not right and the climax sees and end to this evil.

To do this is simply telling a story, and evil is actually a necessary element at times, depending on the genre you’re working with. If there’s no adversity or struggle a story is pointless. Whether it’s a knight rescuing a kingdom with a band of rebels from a tyrant king and his vicious take over, or it’s a realistic story about love, there’s always something working against the morality that’s in the story, and it’s necessary to be there for the morality to have a point or issue with. If everything is fine and dandy, you have no substance or story, and that’s boring.

As long as you remember that these thoughts and events don’t represent you or how you are in reality as a person, and that this is just a story, then there’s nothing to worry about it.

As for having an overactive imagination, if you are truly afflicted with such a thing, I can hardly see how that’s your fault. You can either turn it to your advantage or consider it a cross to bear, just as with the scrupulosity. Either way, some good can come out of it. 🙂
 
Also, since you are wanting to write or imagine these happenings and they are being fueled by your own personal experiences or emotions, I think that’s to the benefit of the stories as well, since they’re being fueled by something real and that makes the stories more endearing, or easier for others to identify with.

If you suffer and vent that suffering into a story in such a way as to share your experiences with other people, and you make a story out of it where these issues are resolved in a moral way, you might be in a unique position to help people and yourself. Such stories could be therapeutic in a way. Your imagination is able to capture their attention and your ability to identify with them will keep them wanting to read more. You can find some peace in a story and possibly help others do the same thing, as well as have some fun along the way. That’s what a nice story can do for people.

I’d pray over this if I were you, and ask for discernment in how to handle any issues you think are problematic.
 
But sometimes I envision myself as that brutal tyrant and I am not so much planning on turning it into a screenplay as I am just fantasizing about being a brutal tyrant. But I do realize at some level that it is fantasy and I am not trying to act our my fantasies in real life or anything.
 
nsper7 said:
But sometimes I envision myself as that brutal tyrant and I am not so much planning on turning it into a screenplay as I am just fantasizing about being a brutal tyrant. But I do realize at some level that it is fantasy and I am not trying to act our my fantasies in real life or anything.
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I think that’s ok, as it allows you to vent however you’ve been hurt or whatever emotional damage you have or even just daily frustration, by creating a fictional character, whom you take the role as, to vent that frustration and it allows you to vent it in a fun way. I’d caution on getting in too deep, though. Since evil tyrants don’t usually find peace in the end. They usually die through the sword of God’s justice, their empire is overthrown, or something horrible happens to them…or they’re just miserable people. I’d rather create a role for myself where I’m a good guy who suffers from loss or setback, but fights the tyrant and his evil to vent and find peace for myself and others. The evil tyrant persona is a dead-end, and if you get into the habit of seeing yourself as this tyrant, I don’t see that as healthy in the long run.

The characters and situations are all fictional, regardless and this is the only way, other than prayer (which you should seek first if it’s that much of a problem) that you can vent these frustrations in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone else. That, or getting a good, catholic psychologist. You’re keeping it to yourself, I’m assuming, so no one is hurt by what you’re doing, and you’re presenting it in such a way that it doesn’t represent reality.

We all get angry and are hurt people, but you have the ability to make something more of it, and actually find a peace or vent/outlet through your own imagination. The danger in all of this is getting in too deep and using your fantasies as a way to escape reality and not have to face your problems. If your only way of venting, for instance, is to imagine yourself as the tyrant abusing people, then you’re really just cheating yourself. You’d be satisfied on an imaginative level, but the real you would feel empty and unfulfilled by your imagination and the fantasies would get darker. The problem may even become worse as the evil tyrant would have to do even more evil than he did before just so you will feel the same satisfaction in reality.

It’s hard to answer you without knowing the extent of your imagination or the specific issue you’re having or where it’s going and where it is now. If it’s just at the level where you have fantasies that you’re some overlord, that’s just your imagination venting your daily frustration, and I see no harm in it so long as you’re not purposely creating or entertaining immoral thoughts and mortally sinful things.

To daydream itself, is not a mortal sin, nor is having a lucid, or overactive imagination. It may just require a discipline of it. I think it’s a gift and something you can turn to your benefit if you know how.
 
I have a very active imagination, along with the kind of ADD that can lead to hyper-concentration. I don’t think I have much tendency towards scrupulosity.

I can see **some **danger in imagining yourself as a tyrant or a misogynistic villain. (I mean “some,” not “a lot of.”) If you are using your imagination to “get into the head” of a fictional character, and make them more believable, whether you intend to write about them or not, then that is probably OK.

But if you are imagining yourself to **be **these people, just as a way to indulge in fantasy, it could become an occasion of sin, since you could feel tempted to do these things. Even if you are able to immediately overcome the temptation, it’s best to avoid it altogether.

It **might **also reveal a character defect you need to work on, if you really prefer being the “bad guy” to being the hero. (I said, “might,” not “does”!!!)

Better to fantasize about yourself as the hero saving the people from a tyrant, or rescuing the heroine from the villain.

God bless you (and Otaku, too),

Ruthie
 
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nsper7:
Anyway, I tend to have an overactive imagination/thought life, which I admit sometimes enters into the realm of evil thoughts. For example, imagining myself as a cruel dictator persecuting people or trying to force people to love me or something like that or even thoughts in the misogynistic realm of wanting to persecute women . Is this kind of overactive imagination and envisioning as being powerful and perhaps even evil a mortal sin? Please note that I am not seeking to act out any of these thoughts physically nor do I have any plan to. It is more a way to deal with my feelings of powerlessness, inferiority, being unloved by women. etc. Is such escapist fantasy mortally sinful?
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While I will not deny what a previous poster has said about the ability for you to use your hurts in order to develop characters in a story, I do not think that that is what you have said that you are doing.

I cannot comment as to whether or not this is mortally sinful, but in case you don’t know the three “requirements” for a sin to be mortal: it has to be grave matter, you have to have full knowledge of what you’re doing, and you have to give free consent to doing the action in light of the first two.

Stepping away from whether it is mortally sinful, I would point out that “escaping into fantasy” is not psychologically (nor spiritually) healthy. I am amazed at how open you are about the reasons which you go into escape mode, and I think, if your diagnosis is really the reason for escaping, that you should count it a blessing to know why you do what you do. That is an immense step in the right direction.

There’s a line from Mary’s Magnificat that is especially enlightening with regard to our imaginations, and with regard to humility: “he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts” (Luke 1:51, RSV translation). I would recommend spending some time in prayer with this line: read it, read it slowly, sit with it throughout the day; think about it when you are tempted to “escape.”

I say this because we are called to be humble as God’s children, to imitate Jesus in His humility. What is humility? Humility is the acceptance of the truth, of the way things are. What is truth? Truth is the “adequation” of our minds with reality, i.e., our mind’s reception of reality / the impression (think pushing your thumb in Play-Do) of reality on our mind. And so, in these circumstances, it seems that when you are presented with the emotions which cause you to want to run, you are escaping both from reality and from the acceptance of the reality, and running away “to the imagination of your heart.”

The reason why it is not healthy is because you are deceiving yourself. If you continue in this direction, it will never end and will become more intense and multiply to other aspects of your life. Through continually escaping from the way that you feel (inferiority, etc.), you are never dealing with what’s at the root of the problem - and that’s why it’ll never go away. It’s like putting a band-aid on a wound which needs stitches.

Where do you go? I don’t have a clear answer for that. First thing: God. When you begin to feel overwhelmed by the fear, look to Him. Ask Him why you feel this way, ask Him to bring you to healing, to shine His light on your darkness, to wrap you in His loving embrace; ask Him to free you from fear. Don’t expect a “voice” to come thundering down (in whatever way: sound, feeling, vision, etc.) immediately. It is a wound, it will take a lot of time and perseverance (and most importantly, trust in God while you are walking through the darkness with Him and to Him).

Also, in light of the circumstances, I think it is an important aspect of humility to realize that your fears could be in error. That is, just because you feel overwhelmed by powerlessness, inferiority, etc., does not mean that that is the way that it really is (or should be, i.e., is that the way God sees you?) nor the way that other people think about you. Also, watch out for the devil here, he will hit you where it hurts (and even try to convince you that he’s not part of it / that he doesn’t exist).

Since you admit to having a strong imagination, I would recommend spending time with passages from Scripture: enter into them as you would in these other “fantasies.” In particular, I would recommend Matthew 14:22-33: Jesus and Peter walking on the water. (spoiler warning: the following could limit or help you in your reading of it; just let the Lord lead you. In reflecting on this passage, notice when it is that Peter falls: when He takes his eyes off of Jesus because of his fear [wasn’t the wind blowing before he stepped into the water?]).

I’ve gotta run to class though (kind of abrupt, no?), I’ll send up some prayers for you in your journey to Him.

Take care and God bless you,
Kevin
 
. i think a good remedy and test ing of spirits, would be to say a prayer, giving to God, your imagination. Then refuse to dwell on anything with a basis of negativity toward others, or self exaltation.Apply a remedy like the one given earlier-apply your imagination to affectively entering into a scripture meditation fron Jesus parables, or fron the great heroes of the Old Testament. As for mortal sin, no one can judge you, but there are 3 things needed objectively speaking for morta lsin to be committed. A serious matter, full consent of the will and full knowledge. However, I believe you would do well to change, with God"s grace, the direction your imagination is going.
 
ppeter said:
I would recommend the following reflection written by a priest that I know on the subject of the imagination:
stmaryspendleton.org/e-book-imagination-gone-wild
It’s a spiritual and educational approach to problems with the imagination.
Praying for you.
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I happened across this topic just as I needed it. Thank you, ppeter, for the link to the wonderful reflection! I have started reading it and know that it will help me a great deal.

God bless you.
~TE
 
I do not believe that it is mortally sinful for you to be experiencing an over activity of your imagination at this time. I read that you are making a journey in RCIA so that you may come into the Church. It is possible that you are becoming aware of areas of your life that need God’s healing ie. feeling unloved by women, and a sense of inferiority and powerlessness. Scrupulosity doesn’t do anyone much good because it causes people to put pressure on themselves to be perfect. We mere mortals tend to do things to excess! You mentioned that sometimes your imagining contains themes of force, and domination of others to the extent that you call them evil thoughts. Compare this with the Holy Spirit who brings peace and balance. This does not happen overnight…It takes time and perseverance in the practise of our faith. You will know in yourself if your mind is not peaceful. It may be helpful to place those thoughts before the Lord and allow him to work in you to regulate your mind. God meets us where we are and is always at work to lead us to the true, the good and to things that will build us up and the people around us.
I went through a period of over activity of my mind after being many years in the new age and returning to my Catholic faith. I can look back now and see that my thoughts were up and down and all over the place for a time. Just remind yourself that God loves you; understands you and submit your imaginings to Him.
 
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