You can read fantasy to improve your life.
In Terry Pratchett’s Wee Free Men, you can become a witch if you have the abilities of First Sight and Second Thoughts. First Sight is the ability to see what is really there, rather than what you wish was there. Second Thought is thinking about your thoughts. (There are also third thought and fourth thoughts, but you may end up walking into a tree if you use those too much.)
Ordinary abilities become fantastical in the right light. You can use that as motivation to learn the skills and abilities you really want to have. Do you see the world as it is or do you see it as you want it to seem? That thought you just had. Why did you think it? Does it actually make sense? What do you think about having that thought?
Magic as Aspiration
Magic inspires new thinking when it is framed as science instead of mystery.
In The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson, the Forger can recraft anything into nearly anything else by studying its history and changing a few details. She could change a plain vase into a 4th century Ming Dynasty masterpiece by altering when the clay was molded and who it was molded by. Tiny detail changes could create an entirely different outcome and identity for the same materials.
What would you be if some details of your life had been different? What if you were born to different people? Had different friends? Succeeded on that one project that failed?
What version of you ended up successful? What details were different that helped them get there?
Can you use some of their strength?
Approaching Problems Differently
I approach problems differently when I think this way. I don’t believe that magic is real, but I find great benefit in imagining that it already is.
Somewhere there is a planet where they write fantasy about Earth.
What do you think they say about us?
What might they say about you?
A lot of really cool questions in here. Second Thought is very similar to the concept of mindfulness, at least in my experience. It’s a valuable skill, learning to analyze your thoughts in a more objective light. It has helped me determine some of the beliefs about myself that were false.
I like the concept of changing just a few details in a past to drastically change the outcome. It reminds me of a discussion surrounding the movie “Arrival”. If you had the ability to see your future, would you try to change it? This could be applied to the past as well. Knowing what you do now, would you change anything? It’s such a hard question because there is a possibility that you lose valuable things in redirecting your course. Will you lose friendships you would have valued? Will your personality be completely different because of your redirection? Are there some things you simply can’t avoid, even if you see them coming? So much to ponder!