This way out

Hello, fellow thinker!

I would like to wish you a great week this week.

May you have the strength, courage, and resilience to overcome your challenges. May you see the opportunities in front of you and seize them to your benefit. And may you and your loved ones stay warm, safe, and healthy.

Pass it on…

The older I get, the more I feel trapped. The daily grind of work, bills, school, chores, and shopping makes me feel like I’m navigating a maze of my own creation. Perhaps it’s not so different for people with a lot of money, but I imagine that threshold is pretty high. Most people seem to increase their expenses as their earnings grow, so the cycle continues. While I can’t speak for the wealthy—I’m not a billionaire yet—this feeling of being trapped seems universal. Whenever I bring it up, it’s met with an understanding nod or a similar story.

Whether it’s a child who needs extra care, a job that demands constant attention, or both, life can feel suffocating. Maybe it’s the weight of a high mortgage when you’re the sole breadwinner. Or perhaps you’re single and feel isolated, with no one to love or be loved by. These situations all lead to that same feeling: being stuck. The search for an escape becomes inevitable.

There are many forms of escapism—some harmful, some helpful.

Harmful escapism often involves substances like alcohol or drugs. I’ve been there myself. Another modern example is doom scrolling, endlessly consuming negative content online. This behavior has detrimental effects on our mental health, relationships, and even our eyes. It can lead to “phubbing,” the act of snubbing loved ones by focusing on a screen instead. This causes strained relationships, decreased communication quality, and social isolation.

On the flip side, there are more productive forms of escapism. Playing an instrument, painting, journaling, or writing a blog can offer relief and creative fulfillment. Literally escaping by flying to another country provides a fresh perspective. Running—whether outside or on a treadmill—is another effective outlet, often feeling like a literal run away from the monsters in your head.

Music, in particular, has been one of my favorite escapes. When I stopped drinking, I stopped making music. Recently, I realized how much it still means to me, but I need to make it less isolating. Maybe instead of working solo in a studio, I need to join a band. Collaborating with others could make it even more enjoyable.

Then there are more passive escapes like movies, TV shows, concerts, or comedy clubs. This weekend, I indulged in a Rambo marathon, and it was fantastic. These moments of escape help balance the hardships in our lives. In fact, play is one of the most primal activities in living creatures, woven into our very nature. Fantasizing, dreaming, and even sleeping are ways we escape while remaining conscious in this world before the final escape.

Is death the ultimate escape? Is all escapism a form of death?

Whoa, that got deep…

Or is it more about renewal and transformation? For me, escape usually means doing something new. There’s energy in novelty. While some people fear change, I find it exhilarating. The transition can be scary, but the new reality that follows is often rewarding. We’re more afraid of the process of change than the result itself.

Take switching jobs, for example. I often feel energized and perform at my best during the first year. This might be why I’ve been successful in my career, making strong first impressions and thriving in new environments. The same principle applies to starting a new year or chapter in life. Fresh starts recharge my batteries and give me a renewed sense of purpose. By the end of the year, though, I’m ready for another escape to recharge.

Escapism isn’t always grand or dramatic. Moving to a beach island, getting a tattoo, or adopting a new fashion style can all be forms of escape. Tattoos, for example, represent a way to escape pain by choosing a pain we control. They leave a permanent mark, symbolizing self-inflicted change and a redefinition of destiny. Perhaps this is why tattoos are so popular among prisoners; they offer a sense of agency in an otherwise controlled environment.

Even my daughter’s early emo phase was a form of escape. She wanted to break free from the stylistic cage we had placed her in by asking her to dress “normal.” Everyone, it seems, wants to escape something. Even my cat waits for me to slip up so it can dart out the door.

If escape gives us energy, could the path to happiness lie in a moderated, sequential, and continuous plan for escaping the things that no longer stimulate, reward, or bring meaning to our lives? I used to believe in the idea that “no matter where you go, there you are.” In other words, we carry our minds and perceptions with us, and the world we experience is just a constructed hallucination in our brains. If that’s true, then perhaps the ultimate escape isn’t physical but mental. (Take the red pill.)

Escapism can be both a release and a transformation. It can help us step away from the confines of daily life and return with renewed purpose. Whether it’s running, creating, collaborating, or simply watching a movie marathon, these escapes remind us that we’re alive, capable of feeling joy, and always capable of finding new meaning.

So maybe the key isn’t to avoid escapism but to embrace it—to escape wisely, deliberately, and in ways that bring us closer to our truest selves. After all, every escape is a step toward understanding who we are and what we need to thrive.

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Keep thinking, my friends!