You want to escape reality, you say?

 How to escape reality, from yours truly, the greatest escape artist!

You want to escape, you say?

Well, you came to the right place, my stranger-friend! Want to know how to escape reality for a bit without falling towards the edge of madness? I’m going to tell you some of my tips and tricks for doing so from my hundreds of years of experience escaping reality. 

Sometimes, life can be grueling, exhausting, and at times vicious, there’s no doubt about that. It can be very tiring that you would want to take a break for a bit. Be invisible, maybe for a short while have your existence deleted, and run wild and free with no one and nothing in mind. Leaving all your problems and thoughts behind. There are times that we wish for all this to be gone in a snap of a finger and come back just when we are ready enough to face it. However, this is no Marvel Cinematic Universe or a page from a comic book, nor are we shapeshifters who can change life whenever we want. Maybe be a cockroach just for the sake of it. We can’t really do that here, can we?

So how can we do that? The escaping?

Sit back and let the reality escape commence! (Read till the end)

Exhibit #1: Earphones

Introducing my earbuds! Or what I like to call, my “EAR BUDDIES” 

When I had my very first phone, Lenovo Vibe B, at the age of 14, it wasn’t the phone that I was excited about –I mean yeah sure, but the earphones(or headset, whatever) that came with it. 

Today, the world is as busy and as loud as it can possibly be, vehicles are honking, people shouting, and just your thoughts are annoying. Noise pollution is everywhere, and although it is not a tangible real place, this small device, with my favorite songs playing through it, serves as a means of transportation toward a serene place. My place. Once I closed my eyes, as the noise of reality drowns itself to the tune of The Beatles’ Across the Universe, I was someplace else, anywhere, but the reality that I so wanted to escape. 

For a minute, I am sitting in a cramped jeepney, in a traffic jam in the middle of the road, babies crying and the road raging side by side, add the constant notification in my head saying “You’re going to be late, you’re going to be late.” in the next, as I put each bud on my ears, I am floating in space overlooking the earth. Layers of atmospheres away from the ground. 

Exhibit #2: Social Media Hibernation 

As a college student in today’s society where people talk virtually and as a person who is criminally introverted. I can’t really get away with all the buzz even if I’m confined in a room; there’d always be the ‘pings’ from my emails and group chats. Hence, what’s a better way to get away than to have a Social Media Hibernation. I’ve been practicing this pre-pandemic until now, which is extremely helpful.

In my Social Hibernation Trick, I abuse the (1) archive tool, (2) turn-off notification button, and (3) turn-off active button of my messaging app a lot. That enables me to have a peaceful day. Aside from that, I have a Hibernation Day which is every Sunday. Not many acknowledge this but there’s a lot you can do in a day, all of which is the result of not being held back on your phone. And lastly, the oldest trick in the book, deleting unnecessary social media apps. There's a lot of good reason for this, and deep down, you would know why it’s necessary. All this, to flee away from the ruckus of socializing that is extremely stressful.

Exhibit #3: Having a ‘Me’ Spot

A booth on a fast food chain, seashore, rooftop, your bathroom, etc. Anywhere where your mind is at ease. 

Mine is the former fishing port in my city that overlooks the vast, vast, Laguna Lake. I go there mostly in the early morning, riding my bike before the sun rises, excited. As if meeting the sun for a date. The lake isn’t the most pleasant site to sight, with Dead fish washing up the port, floating crap, and dark green waves. The smell isn’t that very nice either. But the wind is loud, to the point that it is nearly deafening, as I watch the rising of the sun every morning, giving my weight to the bench, in awe of the sunrise, despite the scary vast liquid, and the shadeless sky. I am still happy that I have a place where my heart is calm. 

Alright, alright, I am going to be honest, I’m not exactly an escape artist. (yeah no shit)

I am but a humble jester, who is always scared of life and wants nothing but to get away from it.  

1. My Earphones serve as a device for me to not hear all the problems that we have in our house, the lack of money for this and that, the never-ending problems brought by the pandemic, just because closing the door is not enough.

2. I turn myself off of social media because I have no life to share, to show, and no friends to talk to on my messaging app. 

3. I cycle my way towards the empty and old fishing port to see the Sun, because it reminds me of new beginnings and false hope that maybe this day will be different, that it’ll be brighter and full of sunshine. 

In other words, I’m not an escape artist, I am what they call, Pathetic. Seeking slight glee and satisfaction, running away, ignoring everything, and always being scared to face life. There’s no escape, just cowardice. 

One can't really escape reality, the way to truly escape the present is to go forward.

Unlike Sisyphus who pushes back the boulder after it rolls down, I stop halfway through, not even reaching the top, because I always wonder if there is a top, is there a peak? Can I go there? Will I even reach it? Due to a lack of assurance, I ran the other way. A thing I’m actually good at.

…

If there’s one thing I realized perfecting this lifelong escaping thing, it is that Life is a continuous line. The path may change but it will always end in the same point B. 

There would be obstacles on the way that may seem impossible to get past, but the only way out is through, and so I’m going to face life with my chin up, chest raised, slicing the boulders out of my way with my lightsaber, one after the other. 

Thank you for reading!