'How I Tried To Escape Reality'

Why does one escape reality and what consequences do his or her actions hold? Evading real life can be a way to cope with the harshness of the world or can be an innocent activity for fun. Sometimes being excessively imaginative will force someone to be naturally less confrontational with his or her real problems. Therefore causing him or her to go through the motions every day, without specific goals or hopes of improving his or her life. Escaping reality can be harmless temporarily but can show negative effects when repeated.

Fleeing from actuality is a way to avoid enhancing an individual’s life and confronting his or her problems head-on for his or her best interest for the future. In the article, “How I Tried To Escape Reality,” published

by The Fader magazine, author Julian Kimble, discusses the process of him evading the pressures of his everyday life and the negative effects it had on his well-being.

Kimble explains, “bingeing indicates excess, and overindulgence- in carbs, Hennessy, cocaine, sex, or episodes of Breaking Bad- is simply flight from the world’s unpalatable truths” (Kimble 5-6). He eludes sensibility by using certain addictive indulgences in excess in order to run away from the harsh realities he did not expect to face. At the end of the day, dilemmas will only grow greater and more complicated by running away from them. By slipping away from reality, individuals cope with their issues instead of facing their problems. In the short story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” written by James Thurber, he tells the story of a middle-aged man who lives an unhappy life and often daydreams to flee from the harshness of reality. When he was in the middle of a daydream while driving his wife startled him by shouting, “‘Not so fast! You’re driving too fast!’ said Mrs. Mitty. ‘What are you driving so fast for?’” (Thurber 1). Mrs. Mitty is an unpleasant aspect of Walter’s life and instead of discussing his concerns with her, he daydreams to leave her unpleasantness and his unhappiness when he is with her. He could easily speak to her to

improve his relationship, but instead finds it easier to daydream; although, some could argue that an individual eludes realism to better his or her current situation and to benefit his or herself. Altogether, one can resolve his or her life issues to an extent, by facing his or her problems with a goal and initiative to resolve them. Escaping reality is like putting a band-aid on a deep cut, it will work as a temporary solution; however, long-term solutions require an individual to confront his or her issues to improve oneself.
Running away from one’s problems will eventually bring them full circle and force him or her to deal with even deeper rooted issues. In The Fader magazine article written by Julian Kimble, titled, “How I Tried To Escape Reality,” when discussing the effects of binge watching a television show he says, “It’s a fleeting high, anyway. Netflix’s ‘Are you there?’ prompt is a totem that never fails to bring me back to reality, where accomplishments don’t equate to happiness and the pressure to meet some unattainable level of excellence… only leads to a dead end” (Kimble 7). Kimble alludes to Christopher Nolan’s Inception, when he mentions a totem. In the 2010 movie, when a trained spy would dream and evade real life they used a small item like a top or dice, that he or she only knew the weight and mechanics of, to give them an idea of if he or she were dreaming or awake. By utilizing this diction, Kimble means to say when he avoids reality, by binge-watching, the prompt saying, “Are you there?” always brings him back to the real world. This brings Kimble back to the real world and he has no choice but to deal with the actuality of his problems. Expanding on Christopher Nolan’s Inception, at one moment in the movie main character, Mr. Cobb, searches for a sedative to induce deep sleep and dreaming. When discussing a certain sedative with Yusuf, the sedative specialist, he takes Cobb to a back room revealing tons of people sleeping and dreaming with the use of the sedative. While astonished at the sight of all the dreaming, seemingly unconscious bodies, Mr. Cobb’s colleague, Eames, inquires, “They come every day to sleep?” (Nolan). Yusuf’s assistant answers, “No, they come to be woken up” (Nolan). Throughout the flashy storyline, Nolan expresses important themes of escaping reality. When an individual slips away from reality frequently, his or her method of escapism becomes his or her only reality, or that is how he or she perceives it. One becomes trapped in a false sense of actuality and does not prioritize the problems going on around him or her. When one realizes the seriousness of life issues he or she will have no choice but to deal with the repercussions of one’s actions.
The struggle to find the true meaning of life is a journey and running away will not postpone that journey.

In The Fader article, Kimble notes after avoiding actuality often and being reminded of his problems, “When my brain started feeling like a labyrinth of unfinished tasks” (Kimble 2). He runs from reality so often that he postpones the necessities of his daily life. Running away from the real world can leave one feeling lost and confused when life forces he or she to deal with the repercussions of his or her daily life. In the 2013 film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the main motif of the entire movie revolves around “the quintessence of life” (Stiller). The purpose or quintessence of life is “to see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life” (Stiller). When an individual runs away from the concreteness of the world he or she avoids the true purpose of life. Eventually, life will force one into it like a mother bird pushing a baby bird out of the nest to learn to

fly.
A person might elude reality to evade the repercussions of his or her actions. Running away from real life forces individuals to deal with their dilemmas later in life. Escaping reality can be a harmless activity from time to time, but when done with frequency the pressures of the real world can crush him or her. Imagination is a powerful tool that the human mind can utilize in many ways, but with great power comes great responsibility.