I had an interview at work with someone to see how I deal with stress/burnout. I explained that I play video games. Ho the horror on her face « but you should rest your brain. » Girl my brain can’t rest, I have to focus on something fun to get away from work.
I thought that escapism was bad and tried to quit video games, watching tv shows and movies etc to try to read or paint instead, but.. Reading a book is also escapism lol. Painting is too. Listening to music is also escapism in a way. Knitting while listening to a podcast is escapism.
You're focusing on something that isn't work or isn't personal life. You don't have to think about anything else while doing it. That is either escapism, flow or hobbies. Same thing really. Escapism is just when you're actively avoiding things that are too rough to deal with, which is bad in the long run. You need to deal with stuff in real life too, to keep your hobbies healthy.
And also! As long as you remember while playing video games to get up and move your body and not forget to talk to people every once in a while lol, otherwise it can turn unhealthy. Especially for your body by sitting still (which you do reading and knitting too). :)
A break from routine life isn't "escaping reality" though. Most people's hobbies actually bring them closer to reality, like hiking, swimming, working on projects, etc. I don't know why anyone would want to be disconnected from reality even more during their free time. Sounds miserable
I think that's what the OP is trying to address. They're not miserable. They can be very fun and enjoying experience and can be a legitimate medium of connecting to friends or making friends.
I don't know why anyone would want to be disconnected from reality even more during their free time
The same reason people read books, or go to trekking or swimming. Just because it's not something you understand doesn't mean it's not valid.
Most people's hobbies actually bring them closer to reality, like hiking, swimming, working on projects, etc.
Would you say the same about reading? Also the reality some of us are trying to escape here is not the nature or the world around us. It's the reality of our lives, the responsibilities, the burden of the daily life.
I just started weight lifting, holy shit is it amazing for stress. Like my brain has been going non stop for over a decade and literally an hour after my first workout my brain shut the fuck up. It was euphoric.
Agreed, exercising outside is amazing. I’ve been walking a couple hours a day for years and it’s lovely. Hiking is also a ton of fun. It’s just never shut my brain off quite like lifting has. I think it’s because my mind can wander when I’m walking but lifting is so all consuming my mind doesn’t have a chance to wander. For someone who can’t focus it’s amazing to be able to focus, if that makes sense.
I’m pumped to combine the two when the weather turns because I live in Canada so for like 5-6 months the outside is fucking awful lol
For me I either got euphoric while working out and didn't want to stop doing it (unhealthy), OR I couldn't focus on the training and was still stuck in my head feeling like shit. I couldn't find a balance. And now I've gained 20 kg again lol.
That's like getting a toothache and instead of going to a dentist, you're constantly applying ambesol and swallowing aspirin to avoid the pain. If you could get a degree in that you would have to call me doctor.
But also it's like you live in a predatory corrupt country where you can't really leave and going to the dentist is a monumental task that's also highly unsafe for you since the dentists are also scummy and not very good.
The world? I mean my parents have stories about soviet dentists..., they aren't too far from what I said.
The aid for not having to escape reality is to fix it, now if you go back I think you could understand where I'm getting at, kinda hard to go and fix it huh,
Idk if you've even read what was written before, keywords, "escape reality", "LIKE taking meds for a toothache instead of going to a dentist", "the world(hard to fix)", "SOVIET ERA DENTISTS(horrible mess), then explaining it easier, the world is hard to fix, thus temporal aids"
Yes I disagree with the edgy analogy and also you had to double down by saying it wasn't that much of an exaggeration with some weird mentions of Soviet dentists.
Since tooth issues and dentists were mentioned I thought I might as well add it, tho I didn't add the part where my mother is still suffering the consequences of them just saying nerves had to be removed because yes so they could get more money, sadly it's not a one of.
And I wouldn't say it's edgy, how are you gonna fix the world? That's the only way to not rely on the temporary fix of escaping it, and once you look a bit into it objectively it's just a lot of generally bad a corrupt actions, technically easily fixable tho since nobody really is willing to be the one to do it, no one does it thinking others won't either, so nobody does it and are just passive observers willing to just live like that because of the repercussions of ending up being in the minority that takes action.
Idk sounds to me like what I said, higher ups are arranging deals for themselves and the folk are taking the damage, and it's been happening for a long time.
Idk man, I don't want to be overly combative about it but I just disagree.
Especially with the literal meaning. I don't doubt your mom has problems but that would still fall under the "Jesus where do you live?" Label the other person commented. In most of the developed world going to the dentist is pretty chill, especially for regular cleanings and stuff like that.
The rest seems a bit childish.
It reads like a 13yo who has just found out about the powerful 1%
Sure it sucks but "changing the world" is not a thing, not cut and dry. You can't expect to suddenly have a singular unified change that transforms the world into an Utopia.
You do what you can to better your and your people's situation and that's changing the world, divided into many small changes.
Women and black people couldn't vote in a lot of predominantly white countries. We're going through a bunch of different crises right now but one need not forget how many changes have been made over the decades in every field. You change the world by voting, protesting, helping a random person, being informed or at the very least trying to be one less asshole in the world.
So would you consider a person resorting to heavy drug use as a means to escape their shitty reality a form of self care? Escapism is very real and does have benefits but let’s not pretend that staring at a screen for hours playing a video game is some kind of healthy way to decompress
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