Do you pratice mental escapism?
You know, let your mind drift on to another life you could live? Or some better story than the one you are currently living?
I’m sure that most of the world has done that at some time or other. And plenty of us have been doing it today.
When we do such things they feel good to us. They lift our mood and take our head somewhere better than where it currently is.
But others see this behaviour as a mistake. They see it as us believing in some fairy tale or miracle that just won’t happen. We will get advised to come back to reality, be realistic, and stop living in a fantasy world.
And so we go back to our normal humdrum existence accepting that perhaps it wasn’t good for us in the first place.
But, that would be a mistake as our well meaning advisors are wrong and we are very right to enjoy escapism.
Because, in fact, it is a very healthy thing to do!
Making its mental mark.
Do you watch Christmas films?
Not just the blockbuster ones like Home Alone or It’s A Wonderful Life but the regular batch of Hallmark romantic seasonal movies?
These sugar sweet Christmas tales revolve around someone who has been badly hurt suddenly finding love at Christmas. Usually they have travelled to some small town and discover happiness where they least expected to find it.
And we watch these Yuletide love movies in our droves. In 2021 for example over 80 million people viewed one of their Christmas editions in the US alone. They may seem far fetched and a fantasy, but we love the made up illusion.
Maybe it’s love we seek or belief that amazingly great things can happen out of the blue.
In truth, we know it’s escapist entertainment, but our minds love it and need it. Because they need to escape too.
The pressure of life on our mentality today is intense. From increased stresses at work or getting work, the cost of living, energy crisis, affording a home and bills, and wars and conflicts regularly springing up, mentally we feel besieged. Our heads are exhausted watching and worrying at the next potential threat or concern.
The figures are stark. Some 1.2 BILLION people worldwide are now living with a mental issue. This is DOUBLE the number recorded in 1990. Our mentality is struggling to cope with modern life. I have written about Stress on this blog and new ways of approaching it.
For now though our minds need a break from the negative it has to deal with it. And that’s where escapism comes in.
We don’t disappear into Cedar Hollow for a Christmas film. We escape our pressure cooker existence to see if Beth will find love with Matt as she bakes grandma’s old cookies for the Christmas Cookiethon competition.
Which saves out head health and makes us feel better all over!
Imagining a happier world.
What do you imagine?
If you are like the vast majority of humans, you imagine all the things that could go wrong. From losing your home due to the spiralling costs of living to having no job plus other personal pitfalls you are worried over.
We are brilliant at imagining…..the worst.
Far from escaping into an amazing life, we take our minds into some hell hole type existence. Again and again. Come on, be honest, when did you last think and see an awful event coming your way in your mind? Last week? Last night? Ten minutes ago?
By now we all have learnt what this leads to. Anxiety, high stress levels, blood pressure issues, poor sleep and concentration, irritability, and emotions all over the place.
All from seeing a bad self played movie in the mind.
So what do you think indulging in mental escapism will do for you? You know it! Enhanced health at every level and a far more enthusiastic outlook on life. So long as you escape into existences that can occur (nice house by a river, your own marketing company, getting a book published) you will be alright. Go off into la la land envisaging yourself the best friend of Richard Branson and his new business advisor or Kylie Minogue falling in love with you (ok that was mine), and you’ll end up hating your current life.
Be a personal escapist and you will drift off into nice places and into improving health too.
Imagining a happier world puts a smile on your mouth and in your body.
Nothing lost, everything to gain.
Imagine being on a white sandy beach in Barbados.
Or swimming with dolphins or opening your own coffee shop with its own pet zone.
Whatever your escapism moments are, don’t stop having them. They protect your health and project your aspirations. Two perfect outcomes. In fact, mental escapist souls become the happiest and healthiest among us.
Their active minds almost activate a complete life change. It’s like a magic spell that lifts them out of their long rut and transports them to better places, a better total experience with life with the best self coming out to lead it all.
Follow suit. All the clouds that hung over you, will melt them away as the new sun that rises in your mind burns them away with great scenes you love.
Which speaks of one undeniable truth of the whole process – there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.
It could end up helping you turn the corner, turn the page somewhere in your life, or finally take your turn at being happier than you ever, well, thought. Imagine that.
It’s not mental escapism, it’s mental freedom!!
References – Fortune.com – Hallmark’s catalog of 300+ Christmas movies.
Healthdata.org – Global mental disorders have nearly doubled since 1990 (published 21.5.26).
Photo attributions – free to use under Pixabay Content Licence by Hansuan_Fabregas and TatyOcampo and North_Studio.
