Escape: not the Pina Colada song

[tinhuviel]

circumspectly asked: how to escape your life when you can't escape your surroundings

It's been my experience, having grown up in a very poor home, that trying to physically escape your environment is downright impossible. So the thing you have to do is stop looking outward for release and begin to construct an inner world. Hannibal Lecter might describe it as a Memory Palace, which is an actual psychological term. Make this your rock and your refuge to which you might escape at any moment, when a moment of need arises. By mnemonically creating a place in which you can reside, you can achieve a zen-like peace and happiness within when outer world is less than tolerable. This inner world may eventually be the key to your changing your circumstances in our outside environment. It takes time and commitment, but I hear it can be done. Have I done it? In a way, yes. This journal is my Memory Palace and it is the one place to which I run when Life gets out of hand.