Escapism

I haven’t had much time to keep up with leisure activities, as my work hours are now designated to after the toddler goes to bed (and the weekends), and those hours are limited, else I will not be able to function the next morning. Saying that, we powered through in the last weeks, sacrificing some sleep here and there and finished watching American Gods (Fuller and Green, 2017- ) and Love (Apatow, Arfin & Rust, 2016-2018).

I’m not sure if I’ll be writing up a review for those shows yet, but I really appreciated the escapism they provided. For two hours or so every other night, I experienced everything from cringe, to laughter, to disbelief, to annoyance. Frankly, it didn’t matter if the show was good or bad, what was important was that it held my concentration and filled up my mind - for the two plus hours, I didn’t think about Coronavirus at all.

Head in space

I’ve always enjoyed escapism through books. Since I was a child, I read loads because it provided this getaway, into someplace that no one else can go with me. I was alone, yet I wasn’t. This helped me learn about life without being in life, and gave me space to recharge when reality got too hectic.

During this time of uncertainty, of isolation, I think that escapism is more important than ever, and art gives that to us. Despite allowing us to escape the reality that we’re all stuck in, albeit just for a few hours at the most, it actually brings us together. It gives us the space to process, to work-through how we’re going to cope with the situation individually, while knowing that we’re all experiencing all of this together.

As Chris Cornell opens in his song *Preaching The End of the World (1999):

Hello, I know there's someone out there who can understand
And who's feeling the same way as me

*This was from one of your responses to my question in my last newsletter (I know you)

I love following Maaike Hartjes’s work on Instagram, even though she is clearly facing a lot of anxiety herself. She works through it with her art and tries to provide some form of hope for us all.

Do you have a favourite artist that you follow?
Comment here: Escapism during isolation.

Escape the write way

Writing provides escapism too. When we journal and write down our truths, it makes them more palatable, easier to consume and easier to process. That’s why many writers find solace in practices like Free Writing or the Pomodoro Technique. You don’t have to look into these (unless you want to, of course) - the main takeaway is to give yourself permission to write freely, without direction.

Sit down, put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and just write. Don’t worry about what it is that you’re writing. Let it flow. If you think there’s nothing to write, don’t stop, doodle, type gibberish, keep going until you have something to say and still, keep going. What you write in these moments isn’t to be read or published. It is for a cathartic release, something to let you or your emotions escape.

If you prefer a more structured method of escapism in writing, then try writing to prompts. There are many places that are providing writing prompts through this period, but one that I have always followed is Visual Verse. They have been running monthly writing prompts using images for a while now, but for this period, they’re also sharing those archived images daily on Instagram to inspire some flash fiction.

My March piece for the silly goose above can be read here: Visual Verse, Blondie

And before I leave you, I hope that all of you have been keeping safe and have gone past or are nearing your fourteen days at home, knowing that you’re well. Keep well and stay safe. My family and I hit our fourteen days last Friday and this was my #stayhome journal for that day, published in Bitter Melon Poetry: I woke up this morning.

Now, go…

escape!

Photo by Mohit Mathers on Unsplash