Escapism

I have ever and always wished to escape the life I live. Emotional pain and physical responsibility ever and always characterize my existence and although the pain is growing pain, it is pain none the less. Thanks to this I have developed nifty ways to escape the reality I'm in.

Traditionally I've always done this through writing. I love writing short stories and things like that which allow me to escape into characters and stories I create. Characters such as Jake Maxim personify me without the chains of traditional responsibility to fulfill my God given destiny. I think this concept is mostly what I desire to be able to escape.

I know God has a future planned for me, one I must pursue by going to college for an education, to deal with situations that present disappoint me, etc. Because of this responsibility I cannot just go join the Army, or French Foreign Legion, I cannot decide not to go to college, or not to do a million things which would be easy.

Escapism helps me get out the desire for adventure, while still fulfilling my responsibility to do what is right. Although writing for the longest time was the primary way for me to escape, it is also the most time consuming.

In addition to writing, movies often offer a form of escapism but not in the usual sense. I do not escape into the movie, it is after the movie that I escape into the story line with an entirely different story, with me and things I know plugged in. In a form of day dreaming, this form of escapism may seem slightly egotistical in that I put myself in the positions of the movie characters, but more it is a way to simply pull back from what is going on.

The last way and what has become the more common way for me to escape is using music. It allows my mind to wander mostly uninterrupted. Mindful of the music I listen to, escapism in this form tends to allow stress to diffuse and can mystify people around me that I don't seem to care that life might be going down the tubes and I'm as indifferent as if I wasn't there at all.

As long as escapism doesn't take over, it offers me a wonderful tool to allow creativity and relaxation to creep into my over crowded schedule. Don't let your dreams rule you, but keep them alive, because that is why we really live.