‘Lotto’ more to Lotto than winning it
In a recent YCBS, we wrote about the Lotto and asked the ceist whether you might be better off keeping your wager, due to the prohibiting odds stacked against winning. But I omitted something from that article, something I thought of later.
I suppose the ‘Irish Hospital Sweepstake’ was the front runner of a national lottery in this country. A ticket in the ‘Sweep’ cost a £1, certainly not cheap. But then, you could buy a quarter share for five shillings.
My aunts were home from England and America and all staying with my granny in Ballinock. The visitors, awash with cash, were laying out some of it on ‘sweep tickets’. Granny wasn’t inclined to participate – despite the urgings of a range of accents. Never mind the persuasive pressure, Granny held out and declined to part with any of her pension. Some weeks later, whoever was in the house tuned in to the radio in order to learn who had won the sweep. The numbers were called out along with where in the country the tickets had been purchased. After the audible sighs of disappointment at not winning from the assembled, Granny had this to say: “Now… wasn’t I lucky I didn’t buy a ticket!”
For a few weeks after purchasing the ‘sweep ticket’ the buyer had bought the right to dream. That is what we neglected to include in our last article; the right to dream and to fantasise about winning. This pleasure is included in the price of your ticket and can give hours of harmless fantasy and escapism. So, is fantasising good or bad?
Fantasising is good; and like so many other good things in life, it is good only in moderation. Daydreaming has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety and also helps with problem-solving and enhances creativity. When it comes to setting goals, taking the time to dream your dream is known to prove beneficial. To fantasise about what you might do with your Lotto win is pleasurable and a little respite from the tough graft of everyday life.
Obviously there are different sorts of fantasies and some are not good. There are those unfortunates who fantasise about bad luck befalling their neighbours or how they might ‘fix’ somebody. This is not good for the fantasiser. Fantasising over a long period can easily tip from being normal to being abnormal and unhealthy. Bad fantasy consumes a lot of everyday living and the sufferer tends to float in and out of a fantasising state throughout the day. Bad fantasy drains your energy, while good fantasy gives you energy.
There is no simple, objective way to know when the good becomes the bad; but if it disrupts your day to day life, it’s not great. It is ok for me to fantasise about being marooned on a desert island with… ah… like… Des Cahill… like, but if I spend all day planning what I’ll say to… what’s-his-name, it has become unhealthy.
The man who made his name and billions of dollars from ordinary people’s fantasies was, Walt Disney. It is 100 years since Walt invented Mickey Mouse, the first cartoon with synchronised sound. The wise heads laughed at the very idea, but ‘Mickey’ was a sensation. That showed that the people longed to watch and listen to fantasy, as well as creating their own in their heads. Walt Disney struggled initially, and went bankrupt at the start, but he followed his dream – and as the say, the rest is history.
When Disney started work on ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ in 1934, the project was known as ‘Disney’s Folly’, but Walt ignored the jibes and he had the last laugh.
Walt Disney died in 1966 and for about 20 years after that, there was a lull in the Disney creativity. Then, under a new chief executive, Michael Eisner, came the Disney renaissance from 1989. ‘The little Mermaid’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Lion King’ gave a whole new generation that wonder of fantasy. Mrs Youcantbeserios and I visited Disneyland in California in 1979. My aunt took us there and I only went out of politeness – thinking the place was only for children. How wrong I was: I still retain beautiful memories of that day… and maybe the experience stayed with me and improved the dreamer I was born!
Like say, Glasgow Celtic and Manchester United soccer clubs, Disney makes more money these days from merchandising than making dreams. But they still turn out those fantasies!
So, dear reader, go ahead and scratch that card and do the numbers. You probably won’t win anything – but the fantasy will do you good!
Don’t Forget
It could be you.