Escapisms

Hi! Hey! Hello!
Long time no see, I know. But trust me when I say that these days, it’s all about those little escapisms I so desperately cling to in order to stay sane. At least somewhat.
Because, let’s face it, the world is turning more and more into a gargantuan Shit Show. So while I am trying to stay informed, I am also trying not to let the current state of the world get too close to me. It’s mostly a futile attempt, though.

So yeah, escapism it is. Be it rabbit holes I come across somewhere, curating my ever-expanding and growing Tom Cruise collection, watching movies, or delving into a good book (currently reading “Conclave” by Robert Harris). Or having some silly, mindless fun with the Beary Best Friends and their shenanigans. (Shenanigans are always very much welcome here, mind.) Being creative in one way or another also helps.

Anything to try to not get too overwhelmed.

Which isn’t an easy task if you’re also an Overthinker of EPIC proportions and are dealing with anxiety as well. Not exactly a great combination. *le sigh*

My Twitter (nope, not calling it X, kthxbye) these days is somewhat split into political stuff and fandom, and if I may say so, the fandom is what keeps me afloat these days. Yes, it’s shits and giggles for the most part, it’s discussing the Tom Cruise Filmography or his …physique… , some music thrown in, all that. Just to have something to divert my mind from the flaming cesspit this world is. And honestly, the friends I have made in the TC fandom (another reason why I am sticking around on Twitter: pretty much my entire TC Bubble is on there) or other fandoms like music, sports or whatever, are so goshdarn VALUABLE these days, y’all have no idea. I appreciate them more than anything!

Sometimes, I also just keep scrolling the “Discover” page on insta in order to find some inspiration or just look at people posting reels or photos of their lovingly decorated scrapbooks, bullet journals or whatever which is on the one hand causing my screentime to be ridiculously high, but on the other hand so very soothing as well. Just looking at other people creating their art calms me down. Same for me when I write into my journal or work on my Tom Cruise Scrapbook: shutting out the world and immersing myself in creating something. Letting out my thoughts (just yesterday, I glued a lovely photo of “Conclave” into said journal, although it gave me almost no room to add additional thoughts on the page, as it covers it almost entirely …but that’s what you can turn the page for!), adding stickers, clippings, whatever to the pages and just LET IT OUT. It’s definitely therapeutic! I mean, I’ve been writing diaries / journal entries since my teenage years (and before that, I would usually chronicle vacations with my parents, go figure!), started blogging online in the early 2000s.

In my opinion, social media clearly is a blessing and a curse.
A curse, because of the onslaught of news about the state of the world.
But also a real blessing because they can help you finding like-minded people who share your interests, hobbies, whose dogs are adorable, who share their homes with a bunch of stuffed animals, who are avid readers, movie buffs, sports fans, music lovers …anything, really. Just the other day, one of my online friends mentioned the Franklin Expedition, and as it happened, I follow someone on insta whose biggest obsession is said expedition, so I connected them.

So yeah. Those little escapisms of whichever kind … I embrace them. I *NEED* them more than ever these days. Just to have something to counterbalance the endless negativity, darkness, that the world has become. It is also a way to protect my mental well being, despite all the doom scrolling I am guilty of as well.

But again, having something that seems so trivial like posting about my teddy bears and their adventures, exchanging thoughts / opinions about films or books, finding a new rabbit hole to fall into, is actually important to avoid the downward spiral.

If you would like to talk about your escapisms, feel free to comment. I would love to read about yours!

*****

pic: mine