Who Needs All That Reality?

“We don’t create a fantasy world to escape reality, we create it to stay.”             -Lynda Barry

Throughout my life I have had several different methods of escaping reality that did not necessarily include artificial means. Playing music, for example – something I began at a very early age – has always and consistently been one of my best ways of leaving this plane behind for a little while. Woodworking has also been a very self-absorbing Zen pursuit. Reading, movies, socializing – they all work to some extent.

But the best, the most reliable, the one that never fails me is writing. It quite literally becomes an alternate reality and I find myself living in the parallel world of the story. I see every setting clearly. I am inside the minds of each character. I hear what they hear, I see what they see, and I smell every fragrance or odor. I feel every emotion. My whole world is limited to the screen in front of me and I find it difficult to pull myself away.

I remain entirely empathetic to the art. I dwell within it.

Tom