Indulgent Escapades..

One line of thought as an excuse to indulge oneself materially is that of escapism. In an attempt to run away from a whole lot of messy thoughts, a haunting past or an intimidating future, you try to indulge yourself and become oblivious to all that might be slightly uncomfortable. Partying and rocking the dance floor, drinking away to glory, binging on food, catching on with the movies, amusement parks and everything that would leave you too tired to stare at the fan and think, when you’re getting into bed. Or you might just take someone there for a night’s company and wake up in the morning to again busy your self in the web of life.

People tend to have a negative disposition towards partying too hard too often and all of this indulgence is interpreted as vices in some way. Why don’t we see that they’re only means to an end and not really the end in itself. And well, why hate the means, when there’s not so much wrong with the end itself. Would someone make an unqualified remark that all escapism is bad? Sometimes, life gives you jerks so hard that you need momentary escapes in order to absorb the shock well.

What about psychotherapy and counseling to victims of natural and man made disasters and accidents? Isn’t hypnosis sometimes used as a justified scientific way to help someone get over something that would be extremely difficult for him to come to terms with. What is that if not temporary escapism?

It’s a courageous thing to say that one should face reality as it is, not as it was or as he wished it were. The complexities of life sometimes forces you to believe counter to reality, perhaps humor yourself or just plain distract yourself. Escapism may not be a weakness, it could be used very well as a strength in some cases.

I don’t want to sleep tonight looking at the fan and thinking about all those many things. Is it a bad idea that I go to the gym, jog around some, play some sport, lift some weights and come back so freaking worn out that I would crash as soon as I hit the sack. So if this is acceptable, what’s so wrong with someone who parties hard every night, gets high and drunk, only for the objective that he sleeps easily. Some others would take sleeping pills with the same objective.

The judgment of what’s avoidable only comes in, when you let these escapes strengthen you as a person over a period and not let them overpower you. It’s you, using them and not becoming a slave to them.

wanderer