The borders of reality and escapism

In assenting to the Matrix Theory propounded by the Warchowski Brothers, reality is but an animated canvas that has been pulled across our eyes. This eternal epic is constantly written by fate and chance; and these authors so sublimely manage to craft and project this masterpiece of the world to the world, in precise dimensions and quantities of other stimuli that appeal to human senses. It even manages to allow it's audience to grasp and feel time. How more real can it get?

Throughout the endurance of time, the validity of reality has hardly been questioned and thus it is established as a self-evident truth we accept on our own volition. By virtue, reality per se, is pure and unadulterated, until it passes through the biased eyes of each viewer and concomittant participant of this elaborate set-up. Attesting to Justin's proposition, each of us has been pre-configured to react independently- emotionally, physically and intuitively- yet not necessarily differently to a same situation. For example, 2 people who have scored well in exams may have dissimilar sentiments- one may be revelling in his feat while the other is indifferent because he believes he merely did enough to justify himself in every sense. Without further protracting, I shall broach the issue of escapism since innately, we've all been calibrated to accept reality uniquely. The vicissitudes of our perceptions usually leave us either blinded in, or to reality, which makes it all the more difficult to ascertain what exactly is a good or bad thing due to the lack of a definite yardstick.

As a matter of opinion, the vox populi usually connotes reality with negative events, and people have constantly sought avenues to 'escape' from it, at least in an emotional sense. Without evaluating their initial premise, is escapism still therefore justifiable? And in order for it to be, how much should one indulge in it? In a nutshell, I believe that escapism is an essential aspect of our lives and that it has to be meticulously administered to procure self improvement. What I mean by this, is that escapism soothes and helps tide us through the least pleasant of times as when our minds are momentarily freed from the captivity of negative thoughts, we function more adequately, or at least we don't feel bad. However, excessive indulgence in escapism blurs our judgement of reality and thus impedes us in effectively functioning. Therefore, as 'judgement' is the key word, I find it wiser to adopt a more conservative approach towards escapism so as to preserve my clarity of thought.

The snare of escapism trammels everyone in some way or another at a point in his life, and it is also capable of producing success as opposed to merely ameliorating bad situations. Pertinent to our varsity lives, I know you all can endlessly meditate on your textbooks and practice successive sums while forgetting that u actually exist. Also, the above-mentioned illustration is but a microcosm of the working community we are to become of. This corroborates my stance that everyone is intrinsically an involuntary escapist. You may wonder and ask: but it isn't it unfair to assume that one is only motivated to engage in absorbing activities just because he perceives his situation as screwed up big time(a hint of exaggeration for dramatic effect)? My answer would be that it isn't necessary for one to actively evaluate his current situation because sub-consiciously, he naturally contemplates what keeps his boat afloat. And why does one do that? This is so as the irreconcilable duality of good and bad is entrenched in the recesses of his mind, therefore with a semblance of the negative and to 'escape' from it, the natural and rational option(not that it actually is one) would be to choose the positive.

As we can see, the art of balancing reality agaisnt escapism is a pretty formidable and delicate task. Like Houdini, everyone must somehow learn to be an 'escape artist,' within reasonable and morally legitimate means of course. Personally, I repeat this monotonous cycle of reading, working out, watching movies and talking cock for hours on msn as a diversion from the drone of everyday life and the unpleasantries that accompany it, especially the ever lingering ennui. I am particularly fond of escapism through art- literature and movies- because it allows me to gain greater depth to life through being able to identify with analagous scenarios, notwithstanding my limited capacity to appreciate art in general. Also, the 'art' of reconciling the plot with its true significance and aptness of description/depiction(for movies) simply captivates and leaves me in awe of such imaginative brilliance. Yet, despite building a bridge to my soul, art, as a form of escapism cannot substitute the emotion the drama of everyday life provides.

By the time you read this, you would've snapped back into reality. So have I parted from the temporal satiety penning this had to offer. Have a havoc term, amigos! and yeah it's always an escape when I listen to 'amigos para siempre' because of the meaningful memories it resonates.
-Kenneth Wong