Is it bad that one of the first things I think of when I see this word is Dory from Finding Nemo trying to sound it out on the boat? But on a more serious note, I would say that an obsession with non reality and fantasy is a big problem. Even if the form of escape is something positive, like art or music, it can quickly become something that takes priority over real people and real responsibilities. In the words of a guy in my class that I had a discussion with today "People are running from their problems." I asked him if he thought that if people really lived in reality and dealt with things from that viewpoint, if it would solve any problems. He responded that it absolutely would! I asked him why, and he responded that if people were actually facing their problems and dealing with them, there wouldn't be a need for drugs and other forms of escape to get away from the problem itself.
So I guess my question is, if people are so comfortable living in their fantasy worlds, what would induce them to come out of there, feel the cold water on their faces, face what they've been running from? What's the incentive? What would they want more than their own dream, even if it's not real? And also just as important, what has happened to society that living a fantasy is more desirable than living in the world in front of them, and actually enjoying what reality has to offer? My hypothesis is that people don't feel like reality, as it is today, is actually worth living in. But isn't one of the issues that the problems they see that they don't like aren't being solved by and large because people are running from them? It seems to me that it's a cycle.
But what is it that will pull people out of this, to start looking around and really seeing what's going on? We value our comfort in this country. We value the illusion that everything is good in the world if it's good in our personal lives. And if it's not even good there, we have our escape. It seems like a neat and tidy little system. But what about all the people that are unseen because of this viewpoint? What about the girls who are abused and are recruited into prostitution before they're even 18? What about the ones who abuse them? We have to take a good hard look at reality and let it sink in that we, the ones living in this world full of problems, are the ones who must take action if we want anything to change. With God's help and power, there is hope to see change and transformation. But we do have to get up and do something. Rise up, world changers! You are needed. We are needed.
This is the first time that I can think of where I don't fully believe this anymore. Crazy right? Lol . I agree that people try to escape into fantasies and dreams... but I think its because people stay in limbo that the crime is committed. I have slowly come to see and believe that inside of our dreams/fantasies is contained the craziness to believe the impossible. To introduce originality. That's why people escape- because in that world? Things can be made right. Unfortunately people rarely press through the dream/fantasy and bring it to the visible reality. They either scorn it, are yanked out of it, or stop believing it. What if we pushed people further into these dreams/fantasies? Shaping them with useful principles... making use of the inner genius? Finding the other side of the drugs, alcohol, and sex- finding what it represents to them.... Just my thoughts :)
ReplyDeleteIsn't there a difference between fantasy (escapism) and visionary thinking (dreams for the future)? And I wish that all peoples' fantasies were focused on making things right, but many simply stem from selfish desires, because in our flesh, people tend to be self-centered. When our imaginations are captured and transformed by the Creator Himself, there is hope for change.
ReplyDeleteI think the only difference is intent... But given that the Creator made mankind in His image, it stands to reason that at the core of EVERYbody is the instinct to create. To bring into the plane of the natural, elements of the supernatural. Things born of our insides that we desire to bring to the outside. I agree that our flesh corrupts this process- hence much of the perversion and the lack of solutions for the flaws left in the wake of escapism. I guess what I'm saying is that I believe that escapism/change are both secondary steps. The first IS the dream/fantasy. And depending upon training is the outcome. Permit me a Star Wars analogy : ) We all are born with the ability to use the Force- some paths lead to denial, some lead to the Sith, and some lead to being a Jedi and bringing change.
ReplyDeleteWhere do we get the strength to have that good intent, then? And where do we get the dream?
ReplyDeleteI think that both strength and dream come from belief... and then on a deeper level from God... Many non-believers have done great things for the earth because they found a solution in the dream beyond the escape.... and many believers have done nothing because they pursued "reality." But we know every good and perfect gift comes from God- including those of non-believers. Dual conclusion? A: Its a principle that God is enmeshed in, and would take farther for the believer who embraces it. B: We should look beyond escapisms and see what they point to, and inspire solutions rather than yank people into "reality."
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