Good Escapism, Bad Escapism

I love escapism.

But there’s a good kind and a bad kind.

The good kind is when you escape from a narrow world into a broader one.  You allow your mind to take you where your body, for whatever reason, cannot go.  You refuse to accept the shackles of external circumstance and exogenous suffering, and you cultivate freedom and adventure in your own heart.

The bad kind is when you escape from the possibility of a broader world into a narrower, “safer” one.  You live in your mind as a way to avoid taking the difficult action your body could.  You refuse to acknowledge that your shackles are the result of internal issues and self-imposed suffering, and you feed delusion and distraction in your heart.

The first kind helps us ascend the pain of this world.

The second kind prevents us from doing the hard work necessary to grow.

Escaping pain outside your domain of control is elevating.  Escaping the pain inherent in self-betterment is debasing.