Escapism

Why do we read books, watch movies, and binge-watch TV shows?

Sometimes, we just want to escape from our daily lives to experience the story of another. I LOVE escaping into well-written stories! Reading books and watching movies can be magical!

However, our need to escape brings up a compelling question. WHY?

Why are our own lives not fulfilling enough?

Our lives are lived through specific moments. We remember the day we got our first cars. We remember our first kisses. We remember MOMENTS.

Chip Heath and Dan Heath make a compelling case in their book The Power of Moments. We should focus on making specific moments more meaningful, both in our own lives and in the lives of our friends and family members.

If meaningful moments matter, we should endeavor to make more of them!

Maybe if we did this consistently enough, we would not feel the need to escape. We could ignore the greatest works of literature! We could avoid watching movies because we would be so engaged in our own lives that reading or watching stories would feel superfluous.

Despite being an optimist, I don’t believe such a future is possible.

Life is hard. There are times when we’re going to feel bored. Not every moment is a cause for celebration!

And that’s okay.

Instead of clamoring for a cacophony of colossal moments, we can accept the reality that humans like to escape. And we can appreciate the people who allow us the opportunity to do so!