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A Person In This Online Group Was Curious To Know What Others Do To Escape Reality, Here Are 30 Of The Best Answers
Being an adult means that there are a lot of things that require our attention, care, and supervision. And making sure that everything is done and provided on time can be really tiring and overwhelming sometimes.
What helps best, in this case, is to zone out from it all for a bit. Having this in mind, one Reddit user asked others to share how they escape their reality. The question that has been upvoted almost 41.5k times received 20.5k comments where people revealed what they like to do to escape their everyday life and “restart” themselves before going back to their endless circle of various affairs.
How do you like to run away from reality? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
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I dream about buying a bit of land somewhere ruralish, building a small home, having animals. Nothing fancy. Just away from people and away from the noise of life.
Walk my dog early in the morning. We pretend we are navigating an apocalyptic landscape in the search for treats.
Sleep. Too depressed and broke to even try anything else.
I pretend I am a robot stuck in a human world that needs to blend in by acting overly human. An example, I felt down so I put my phone and stuff away and got some food at a noodle place. Since I had no phone to bypass time I instead marvled at the chefs putting together a meal for me and made sure they got hyped up by me watching. After enjoying a meal that I watched with so much anticipation I let those guys know that damnnn that food made my day! It makes an occurence like just going to eat food a lot less boring dystopia and a lot more human!
Write fiction. Read fiction. Gaming.
Strip mine in Minecraft for hours and hours and hours and hours…. Cathartic
Repetitive medium labor.
Raking/leaf blower
Splitting logs
Yard word, a light jog.
Something about working until your muscles get that numbness to it.
The rest of the world aside from what you’re doing just melts away and you reach a point where it doesn’t matter.
And hey it’s good exercise.
I know that I might get a loooot of hate for this ,but the people that understand traumour and anxiety might understand or even just people that are respectful but anyway,I get into the headspace of a dog ,I don’t know why it helps but for some reason the more relaxed thought process and not needing to care about anything slows down my non stop racing brain allowing me to actually sleep ,I understand people are now going to hate ,but it’s what I do to feel happy so if your a decent person please don’t hate on me …
Pray.
To all the down voters: Don't be a55hats. Everyone has their own thing. You don't even know what this person means by this. How is this any different from meditation, or all of the day dreaming ones?
Play music. Yesterday I was feeling sad about Covid. I sat at the piano and played Handel's 'Sarabande' over and over for like two hours in a daze of feeling weird and missing my life.
Cook.
You get a reward at the end and improve your skills for the next go round. Since you have to eat daily, it is also a good money saver.
I'm the exact same way. I like to make really ingredient/process intensive meals. It's so gratifying. Even if it's something I won't eat, cooking for my parents during the pandemic has been so satisfying!
Late at night, I take my bike and ride to my old elementary school that's now a public park. I sit down on the same bench I've always sat at, and I start recording.
I've found that talking my problems out, or talking about anything, just helps me to escape. Some of those audio logs I've listened to countless times. I catch myself thinking "wow, I actually said that."
Maybe someday I'll post them online, or preserve them as a memento to the times I've lived through.
I can tell you right now, if I never started making those logs I wouldn't be half the person I am now.
I pretend I won the lottery and escape to my first 24 hours of being debt free. It works to put me asleep, when I need to disassociate from a bad feeling,etc.
Me, too. I imagine all the people I would give money to and how happy they would be...and the free vet clinic I'd set up and all the shelters for unwanted animals I would build that make them feel at home and not in a prison. Simple, I know, but a person can dream.
I find a cozy, somewhat isolated section of a trail or creek and smoke a cigar while listening to podcasts. Can't say it's the healthiest habit, but it gets me outdoors and makes me less anxious.
I am a flight simulator hobbyist, and I escape by delving into the simulator.
For over 10 years now, when life gets to me, I make an escape by perfecting my flight sim world, not much unlike a model train enthusiast creates dioramas in their basement.
Aircraft modelling, sound engineering, environment textures such as the sky, ground, water, and trees, buildings, airport details, there's always something to tweak and work on and improve to make actually using the simulator for simulating just a bit more fun and realistic!
But my favorite part of it all is AI traffic.
Myself and a team of other enthusiasts have worked for years now to "back-date" the AI traffic in flight sim with schedules and aircraft going from the late 90s and early 00s all the way back to the 30s in some instances. We can choose what year we want to fly, and with a week or two of work on installing schedules, we can fly in that year in our flight sim. Currently my project has been 1998, and this has been so incredibly rewarding!
I live by and love my flight sim. It has always been there for me when life is too much and continues to be there for me when I have free time. Nothing else like it on this planet 🙂
That sounds awesome. My dad had a model railway (NEVER a "train set!) and the biggest restriction on him was space. Must be nice to know that you're never going to run out of room.
Stargazing sets me straight.
You really need to try lucid dreaming, it takes time but is the best there are several books you can read them for instructions and you can do anything in your dreams on your own command. It's pretty cool tbh.
Every time i try this i just end up have autofellatio dreams. am i doing something wrong or right?
Listen to music, game.
I keep Pandora going 24/7 -have spent 7-8 years tailoring it to my tastes and it's always there in the background for me.
Run, and not in some fitness guru way where “it really brings me into a meditative headspace”
When I’m running I just can’t think about anything but running.
Skate.
Go free diving. You have to leave absolutely everything behind at the surface. Quiet your mind, calm your body, and meditate while you sink into the weightless and peaceful embrace of Mother Ocean. Plus you can get super close to all of your gilled friends.
Or rock climbing (real climbing outside), similar concept but not quite as immersive.
That doesn’t work for people like me who are terrified of the ocean… I went snorkeling once and refuse to ever look under the surface again. Everything’s alive and I can’t run away.
I didn’t notice it said gilled until u pointed it out XD
Load More Replies...Good boxing sparring sessions helps.
Yes! Physical activity is wonderful. Throw in some laughs and you're golden. I started Jiu Jitsu at the height of my depression. Couldn't imagine not going now :D
think about stuff i like.
Meditation.
If I'm escaping something like someone talking about something I don't want to hear, I just stop listening and start thinking about my to-do-list of the day.
Eat.
Star Trek TNG, Star Trek DS9, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek Enterprise, Stargate SG1, rinse and repeat.
Maybe I missed it, but does nobody read anymore? I love playing RPGs that have a lot of lore, so you end up reading a lot and it really helps immersion into a world you prefer to spend time in!
I don't count, because I'm old, but I have some millennial friends and all of them read at least as much as I do, but then they're millennials that have Xer friends, so maybe they're atypical.
Load More Replies...I think these are all great answers. I just don't get why anyone would down vote someone else's response to this question. I guess people are really threatened by what others do inside their own heads!
I've suffered from chronic insomnia and an underlying sadness and when I was little I used to play imaginary games before I went to sleep, just laying there, and sometimes I'd play in the same game for months and months every night. I try to do it again sometimes, but I always get distracted.
i don’t have insomnia but i used to do this when i was bored. i kind of thought i imagined it but i guess i’m not the only one :)
Load More Replies...Compliment people on random things I notice about them, usually while at the store or working with crowds. It's how I practice mindfulness, stay grounded in the moment by noticing something new or interesting. And who doesn't like compliments on a neckless, comfy outfit, fresh haircut. It puts people in a better mood and I feel better too.
I paint. I’m not good but, but also not terrible. I like it and it’s relaxing.
Reading! You can swap into other persons, in other times, in other spaces. And completely loose yourself and your sorrows. Books are good friends! Discovered that even as a child.
In my head, I pretend I am actually walking through wilderness (minus bears) and carrying on conversations with my dead loved ones. So, yeah, what it takes, y'knoiw? (If they answer back, of course...)
I go to the water and if I can't get to some water I play waterfall and waves videos on YouTube. The sound of water flowing always resets my mind and relaxes me.
I love just having a candle lit bath, pour some Epsom salts in then relax and escape.
I used to do that until I came home from work one day and found I hadn’t blown out the candles the night before, so candles stopped being a part of my ritual. Ironically, my apartment did end up catching on fire because there was a grill up on the flat-roofed building and a smoldering ember got trapped under the platform the grill was on, and then when the fire alarm went off, the moron masquerading as a building manager turned it off without check if there was actually a fire. If you live in the US and rent, I cannot recommend Renter’s Insurance highly enough!
Load More Replies...Sometimes when I'm riding in the car or on the bus, I close my eyes and pretend that we're driving on a road through the mountains, instead of on the highway or in a neighborhood :)
Watch restorations of old paintings on YouTube, or deep dive into the rabbit hole that is the internets.
If it isn't winter, I go golfing. All by myself at a time of day when hardly anybody else is on the course. Its so quiet. Just the wind in the trees, the birds. From the moment I tee off I am thinking about my shots, what club to use, how beautiful it is. I get into that headspace and for me it becomes like a meditation.
Me, I play my bass. Early in the morning, about 2 or 3 ( actually, about an hour from now) Ill power up and bust out a solo like William Murderface.
I'm lucky I live near water. I can go to the beach and breathe in the sea air. It's hard to not feel peaceful.
Reading long books (currently it’s book one of the Wheel of Time series, I’m not far in so no spoilers) and imagining myself in that world. It puts me to sleep and I’ve gotten lucid dreams from it. I find it such an amazing thing for those days when you’re so far down and when you try to read, the words spiral around you and are overwhelming so you have to make the best of what you can.
Sometimes when I am driving down the highway to work, I tell myself I'm driving down a highway in another country or state. Telling myself, wow the trees are nice in France today, or the rock cliff I pass are in the Rocky Mountains. When you come down to it, highways look the same in any place, unless your in a city.
I play Chopin on my piano. I play with headphones on because I'm not a very good pianist. But it helps me to relax.
Chopin is HARD, so kudos to you! Liszt and Rachmaninov both wrote pieces that only someone with a three-octave hand-span or nearly so can play!
Load More Replies...Who do you like? I read a lot of Sturgeon as a teen...I enjoyed his writing and his stories.
Load More Replies...Putting on a cd (or should I say album these days lol), one from when I was a young teen. I don't know why but it makes me happy
Were they good years for you? Because that would certainly be a component of your love for them...
Load More Replies...Maybe I missed it, but does nobody read anymore? I love playing RPGs that have a lot of lore, so you end up reading a lot and it really helps immersion into a world you prefer to spend time in!
I don't count, because I'm old, but I have some millennial friends and all of them read at least as much as I do, but then they're millennials that have Xer friends, so maybe they're atypical.
Load More Replies...I think these are all great answers. I just don't get why anyone would down vote someone else's response to this question. I guess people are really threatened by what others do inside their own heads!
I've suffered from chronic insomnia and an underlying sadness and when I was little I used to play imaginary games before I went to sleep, just laying there, and sometimes I'd play in the same game for months and months every night. I try to do it again sometimes, but I always get distracted.
i don’t have insomnia but i used to do this when i was bored. i kind of thought i imagined it but i guess i’m not the only one :)
Load More Replies...Compliment people on random things I notice about them, usually while at the store or working with crowds. It's how I practice mindfulness, stay grounded in the moment by noticing something new or interesting. And who doesn't like compliments on a neckless, comfy outfit, fresh haircut. It puts people in a better mood and I feel better too.
I paint. I’m not good but, but also not terrible. I like it and it’s relaxing.
Reading! You can swap into other persons, in other times, in other spaces. And completely loose yourself and your sorrows. Books are good friends! Discovered that even as a child.
In my head, I pretend I am actually walking through wilderness (minus bears) and carrying on conversations with my dead loved ones. So, yeah, what it takes, y'knoiw? (If they answer back, of course...)
I go to the water and if I can't get to some water I play waterfall and waves videos on YouTube. The sound of water flowing always resets my mind and relaxes me.
I love just having a candle lit bath, pour some Epsom salts in then relax and escape.
I used to do that until I came home from work one day and found I hadn’t blown out the candles the night before, so candles stopped being a part of my ritual. Ironically, my apartment did end up catching on fire because there was a grill up on the flat-roofed building and a smoldering ember got trapped under the platform the grill was on, and then when the fire alarm went off, the moron masquerading as a building manager turned it off without check if there was actually a fire. If you live in the US and rent, I cannot recommend Renter’s Insurance highly enough!
Load More Replies...Sometimes when I'm riding in the car or on the bus, I close my eyes and pretend that we're driving on a road through the mountains, instead of on the highway or in a neighborhood :)
Watch restorations of old paintings on YouTube, or deep dive into the rabbit hole that is the internets.
If it isn't winter, I go golfing. All by myself at a time of day when hardly anybody else is on the course. Its so quiet. Just the wind in the trees, the birds. From the moment I tee off I am thinking about my shots, what club to use, how beautiful it is. I get into that headspace and for me it becomes like a meditation.
Me, I play my bass. Early in the morning, about 2 or 3 ( actually, about an hour from now) Ill power up and bust out a solo like William Murderface.
I'm lucky I live near water. I can go to the beach and breathe in the sea air. It's hard to not feel peaceful.
Reading long books (currently it’s book one of the Wheel of Time series, I’m not far in so no spoilers) and imagining myself in that world. It puts me to sleep and I’ve gotten lucid dreams from it. I find it such an amazing thing for those days when you’re so far down and when you try to read, the words spiral around you and are overwhelming so you have to make the best of what you can.
Sometimes when I am driving down the highway to work, I tell myself I'm driving down a highway in another country or state. Telling myself, wow the trees are nice in France today, or the rock cliff I pass are in the Rocky Mountains. When you come down to it, highways look the same in any place, unless your in a city.
I play Chopin on my piano. I play with headphones on because I'm not a very good pianist. But it helps me to relax.
Chopin is HARD, so kudos to you! Liszt and Rachmaninov both wrote pieces that only someone with a three-octave hand-span or nearly so can play!
Load More Replies...Who do you like? I read a lot of Sturgeon as a teen...I enjoyed his writing and his stories.
Load More Replies...Putting on a cd (or should I say album these days lol), one from when I was a young teen. I don't know why but it makes me happy
Were they good years for you? Because that would certainly be a component of your love for them...
Load More Replies...