My word: Run away from the usual

One of the movies I watched over and over as a child was Mary Poppins, starring my all-time favourite actress Julie Andrews.

A line from the film that has stayed with me through the years was spoken to a girl by Andrews who played the role of Mary Poppins.

“Sometimes a person we love, through no fault of his own, can’t see past the end of his nose.”

Through this line, I first learned the idea that some people’s judgement of issues can be clouded by their limited viewpoints. I also learned that some people’s viewpoints were limited, not by their lack of knowledge but because they choose not to see things beyond a certain point.

To me, these people were escapists, people who lived their lives practising escapism.

Escapism

It is one of the few words in the dictionary that signify good and bad at the same time. Escapism, is defined as “intentional detachment and distraction from the real world.”

Being distracted from the real world – our problems, our incompetencies, our annoyances, our inadequacies and poor choices – can be quite refreshing for a moment.

But then if you linger in this state for long, things start to go wrong. That is when escapism goes from good to bad.

The good in escapism comes when it provides relief from the norm, the mundane, the boring, the difficult and the impossible.

Sometimes we need to escape to give us a chance to catch our breath. In catching our breath, we are able to look ahead and decide to keep moving.

What’s your form of escape?