Reverie in Venice

Includes bibliographical references (pages 32-34)Man's inner dimension has held a fascination for scholars, scientists, philosophers and artists over the ages. The nature of the world of private experience, was first looked into in great depth with the clinical investigations of Freud and Jung. Over the last twenty years, Singer (1975) has extensively researched the world of daydreams and fantasies. His conclusions were, that fantasy and daydreaming are basic capacities for creating images and playing with the future.\ud The purpose of this study was to investigate the dimensions and characteristics of the daydreaming behavior of the residents of Venice California. Venice was selected because of the various lifestyles, ideas and rhythms present in the community. It was hypothesized that the character of the community provided the ideal setting for a rich fantasy life.\ud A total of 40 subjects were selected at random. The subjects were questioned as to the frequency, circumstance, content, affect and actualizing potential of their daydreams.\ud The results of this study showed that all of the subjects did daydream daily. 95% of the subjects said that they daydream often, the other 5% said they daydream a little. The dominant and recurring motifs were travel, happiness and planning for future action, while other themes covered every imaginable possibility. The most popular places for daydreaming were by the ocean and in the home. The results indicated that all of the subjects enjoyed their daydreams, and with one exception tried to realize them.\ud In conclusion, Venice seems to provide the stimulation and the necessary solitude, to nurture and cultivate an active and varied fantasy life