Escapism
Posted by VickyC on January 25th, 2010
I read this quote today from a book mark:
I am reading this book because I don’t want to think about my life. I believe it is what is known as escapism.
How true is that!!! How many of you pick up a book, turn on the TV, hit the internet in an attempt to procrastinate from life? I know I do!
Life is supposed to be so simple – we need to eat, sleep, find a way to support ourselves, and find time to fit in menial tasks like washing clothes and tidying things up. I wonder if the cave-dwellers ever procrastinated or partook in a bit of escapism from time to time in an attempt to ignore their troubles..? Why do we end up making everything so difficult for ourselves?
It made me think of that article I wrote that had the section about choices in the grocery store causing us stress. Shopping doesn’t have to be difficult. If you like Red Delicious apples and they have 3 different kinds, find the best looking kind for the lowest amount of money.. Or if you’re being frugal, just go for the cheapest one! But we don’t do that.. We might see a dress, and we’ll pick it up, try it on, put it down, pick it up again, go into a different shop, still thinking about the dress we didn’t buy, then go back to the shop a week later only to find that they have sold out. And then you’re mad at yourself for a month for not buying it in the first place.
So why do we avoid things? Is it laziness? The fear of failing? Maybe we’re waiting for something better to come along? Or is it because we just get too comfortable? I know that with my life, so far whenever something has seemed like it’s ruined my life completely, I always know that everything will eventually work itself out. Maybe I’m too complacent, knowing that the people around me have my back..
But escapism is really not a good way to deal with things. Pretending to be blissfully unaware may work for us for a short amount of time, but after a while, things tend to catch up with us and sometimes, the problems we have may seem even worse. Kind of like “Confessions of a Shopaholic”… But luckily, the movie had a happy ending.. Unluckily for us, when the closing credits roll, we’re right back where we were when the opening credits started – hiding from life, and escaping from our problems.
Then again, a little bit of escapism from time to time is good for us! It’s nice to unwind with a book or a movie. Like most things in life, everything in moderation is the best way to go!
But if you’re reading this when you actually have something to be doing, then copy and paste the following into the comments:
I am reading this post because I don’t want to think about my life. I believe it is what is known as escapism.
Thanks readers! 
VickyC xoxo
Tags: Complacency, Escape, Escapism, Hiding, Ignore, Life, Moderation, Problems, Procrastination, Stress, VickyC, VickyC.me