You Kidnapped You

We want to do something with our lives. And we have limited time.

While it’s hard to stay away from the passion/purpose discourse, an important phenomenon requires attention. It’s called escape.

We are all escaping from something. Into something. People you think have found their purpose escaped from a string of deadening forces into something that made them feel half-alive. When this experience fades, they escape into something incrementally harder – convinced it’s growth. They haven’t found a purpose as much as learned to escape well.

Most often, it’s not that we don’t find our purpose. It’s that we are escaping from it. Because it’s hard. After a few exciting days – once things begin to suck as they usually do – we want to get the heck out. So, we escape into something else.

Modes of escape:

1. You escape when things get hard.
2. You escape when things get boring.
3. You escape when each time you find something new.

In relationships, work, and art this is the path of misery. It’s the road most traveled.

Instead of waking up every day wondering why you haven’t found the thing that makes your soul sing and shit, ask yourself what you are escaping from.

Most often, what you want is staring into your vacant face waiting for your attention. You don’t notice because you are occupied in your next escape. Through consumption, comparison.

The problem now is our escapes have become toxic. Anesthetize my soul for an hour: Tell me what movie you think I should like, mighty algorithms – the existential evidence my life –  the sentient semblance of my being. Meanwhile, let me just finish up coddling my feelings with social media and cheese.

We are plagued with numbing choices of escape. It’s as important to be wary of them instead of getting wound up in finding a singular passion/purpose. Good escapes are adventures. They test you. They strengthen you. They shake you up.

Choose your escape carefully. You want to escape into something meaningful and challenging. Into something true enough that it becomes something you look forward to for its own sake. This blog, in a lot of ways, is my escape.

If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.