The journey of escapism

Escapism’s definition is as follows: performing an action or a behavior in order to escape reality. It acts as a Life buoy; like a Savior.

The first idea that comes to find when we think about it is addictions. Addictions to a substance: drugs, alcohol, tobacco, medicinal drugs. Those are pretty obvious for most people, and are highly regarded as bad to the eyes of the general population. When we see an intoxicated person on the street, we are quick to judge them.

Other forms of escapism also include more “tolerable” behaviors such as overeating, gambling, scratch cards, porn, shopping, video games, scrolling on social media. Those we do, and we don’t think much of it. It’s part of our routine and it’s considered “normal” because it seems acceptable and is not labelled as bad compared to drugs or alcohol.

There are also subtle forms of escapism: chasing a romantic partner or looking for “the one” at every corner, hanging out with “friends” that are in fact toxic people that do not lift us up, stories we create in our mind, clinging onto an event that happened a long time ago, our attachment to pain, to suffering, to scarcity. Those forms of escapism are definitely not seen as such. They are considered genuine human needs for connection, loyalty towards others, or traits of character we are born with.

Escapism can also be found in “healthy” actions: working out, working a lot, family gatherings, dieting, and so on. There is a fine line between working out every single day to get results, or working out every single day because we do not validate ourselves the way we are now. There is a fine line between working a lot because we love our job, or working 24/7 because we do not wish to confront our loneliness. There is a fine line between spending time with our family to create healthy relationships and memories and spending every day with them and neglecting our partner and our love life. There is a fine line between dieting strictly every day, and not enjoying street food while on a trip.

Not all forms are created equal. We judge others for experiencing more serious forms of addictions, and we find it normal to spend two hours on Instagram before we sleep. We judge a homeless man for being high on the street, believing he should have his shit together and get a job, while we never condone our three course meal from our favorite fast-food chain three times a week. We judge our female friend in her thirties for living the van life and being single without attachment, while we do not realize how we have been manipulating our partner to meeting our emotional cravings and validating our ego.

When we experience escapism, we think that we are very much in control. The opposite is true. We are not, and because we are not tuned in to ourselves, to what really feels right to us, we use something on the outside to avoid confrontation and accountability.

I agree that our society contributes to our unhealthy habits of escapism: tobacco or lately, vaping, the latest fashion trend from luxury retailers, nutrient-poor foods. Apps or websites, or streaming platforms, want us to spend as much time as possible with them. By doing so, we trap ourselves, spend the most precious resource we have on them (time), and we don’t give ourselves the right drink to fill up our cup.

Escapism acts as a coping mechanism, because our reality is too painful. By coping with an addiction, we avoid looking at our stuff and feel the pain. Some coping mechanisms appear to be nothing, but in the long run, they matter. Because we decide what we put in our body, mind and what we experience from it. We all wish happiness in this world, despite what people do or say. We are all aiming at living a comfortable Life. And because we do not remember our potential, our infinite power, and have forgotten our Light, we cope with low vibrational states of Being. Why? Because it is much easier than confronting our shit. These behaviors feels like a complete declaration of war to ourselves. We must look at them from a place of non-judgement; observe them without attaching to the story we’ve created around them in our mind. This process is one of the many processes to be used to get to know ourselves.

If we decide to be true to ourselves, we will feel in disharmony with escapism. We will experience pain and misalignment. Let’s be compassionate with ourselves and always feel our pain and suffering as feedback we are not heading in the right direction.

It’s important to take the time to reflect on why we entertain these behaviors. Let’s think about how we got to believe what we believe about ourselves. When did this start? Has someone said something that we took at face value, because they were an authority of some sort? Why do we binge on Netflix at night, without stopping? Why do we binge on fast food after a hard day at work? Why do we use? Some people are so deep in pain that they will tell us that they do drugs simply because they like it. It takes a lot of work and will to learn our why. There is always a why in every one of our actions followed by positive or negative consequences.

It’s worth mentioning that escapism is part of the process in our journey of healing our stuff and confronting our reality. We are constantly changing; some times feel tougher than others. Some moments are more joyful. As humans, to feel too much can be unbearable sometimes. When our inner system crashes, we try to numb it. It’s all part of the process. We all go through that several times in our Lives, and like everything else, this too shall pass.

When it comes to other people, let’s remember that we cannot save them. They can only save themselves. Trying to do the work that others need to do, and experience it within themselves, is not our role. We cannot put their hand on the steering wheel. It’s a proof of unconditional love to let them walk the path themselves.

When it comes to us, the path of escapism can feel lonely and scary, but if we want to elevate and live a fulfilling Life, we must overcome those patterns. The solution we are looking for is already out there. Some other human has already lived a similar story to ours. The solution is not what, but when. When are we decided to find it? When are we ready to walk the path, and feed ourselves with healthier behaviors, actions, beliefs? When we look at that with honesty, nothing or no one can prevent us from succeeding. Nothing can tell us we are wrong, because we have to digest it, to feel it in our core and use this resonance to embody our higher Self. The solution is out there, the state of Being is ours. Everything that we are looking for is already inside of us. It only takes a yes to Life.

With love and gratitude,

Caroline

© Caroline Caanl 2025. All rights reserved.