There were several moments this week where I found myself wanting to escape- not literally escape (or maybe so) but to mentally escape; to relieve myself of the then present situation engrained in this hardcore reality and float off into another. That’s what college work does to you and that’s also what happens when a Haruki Murakami novel is distracting you with the unusual.
I guess I can understand why entertainment is like the way it is; to provide an escape where not that much thinking is required and questioning is subdued to a minimum or is non-existent entirely and all you can do is just… let it be. It’s like walking about a labyrinth (as described in Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore); not only are you wandering into the labyrinth on the outside, but you’re also wandering into the labyrinth on the inside.
But sometimes, being in the labyrinth too long is a bad thing, as is all good things. Sometimes you need to wake up and return to reality, no matter how sorrowing it may be. But how do you go about with finding a balance between both, and how do you know that the escape you’re striving for is one worthy of getting lost in at all? It’s a rhetorical question, yes, but the rhetorical can be so incredibly daunting sometimes. Sometimes, you just need a solid answer.
Lola By The Bay 
You’re definitely a Myers-Briggs T as opposed to an F. I’m happy for you that you found a worthy escape in great fiction lately. I think being a book lover allows a natural ebb and flow of wading in between reality and healthy escapism. I’m looking forward to reading Kafka on the Shore, and I’m glad you mentioned it recently since that put it back on my radar!
I always appreciate your support, and I agree that with reading, it allows for a form of escapism without doing little to zero damage to yourself. I think that’s why I think reading is, if anything, the ULTIMATE form of escapism, because at least you get to control what you see while on the journey minus the visual effects and sound bites otherwise provided in movies.