Fantasy is exciting. It is also insular. It consists of the impossible project of trying to take a break from the intimacy of reality. The major purpose of our fantasies is usually to delay or even prevent real intimacy! This is why I sometimes refer to this kind of fantasy as ‘alienating desire.’ Alienating desire is any desire which drains reality from life. In fact, is it really desire? Do we really want our desires to “come true?” Or is it just desire for desire; the desire to remain in desire, and separate from the object of our desire?
