How do you escape from everyday life?

dseag2 said:
I've found since I've retired that I'm much more attuned to what is happening in the world. That's not such a good thing since the news is usually so depressing. I am empathetic to what is happening in places like Ukraine and have donated to World Central Kitchen, but I can't take a steady diet of negative news. I listen to enough news so I know what may affect my life in the future.

How do you escape from everyday life?

I fast forward through the news. There is nothing I can do about all the recent shootings so I skip through them. No one does anything and there are always "thoughts and prayers". I could care less about Elon Musk's recent bid for Twitter so that one goes on fast forward as well.

I do watch some of the late-night talk shows because they present the news in a comedic manner. I always need one good drama (we are watching The Flight Attendant) to totally take me away from my everyday existence. Even crime dramas on ID and Oxygen, as heinous as they are, take me away from the everyday world.

The last would be visits to the gym almost every day. I find that exercise and music improves my mental health.

What do you all do to escape from your everyday lives?
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Lavinia said:
I read a great deal. I go to charity shops and buy several books at once, and devour them in just a few days. I don't watch much tv. There are many interesting documentaries but I prefer the written word.
I also find that getting out into the countryside is very therapeutic. I'm lucky enough to live on the edge of town so I can soon escape into greenery. The birds are busy building nests. I have sat quietly beside a hedge and watched a pair of blue tits building their nest. That sort of thing empties your mind and helps you get any problems into perspective.
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Getting out into the fresh air is really good for you. That's one point for golf. I have a friend who is an avid birdwatcher and she derives a lot of pleasure from that.

Conversely, I like going to bookstores and libraries, especially on a rainy day.

Exercise is not only diverting, it releases endorphins which make you feel good.
 
So you are really asking how in this Internet era when one must browse through various types of news and information to reach that which one seeks, how does one hide from the depressing news of the world?

By having the self control to not mouse click on such links. I've done so for the vast majority of headlines over any political news during the last few national election cycles. Likewise since the Internet rose, all the click bait celebrity headlines or advertisements, especially any with scantily clad females. A whole lot of midget minds must be clicking such sites but it sure ain't Dave.
 
It is time to change all our plants for Spring. We usually have a landscaper that comes to change them all out. We decided to save money this time around, went to Home Depot and planted our own in the front yard. Yes, being out in the fresh air is really therapeutic.

Our house is built around a courtyard with multiple potted flowers (with drains to keep them watered) so that is next. We have pics so we know what to look for. A little at a time. Our Carolina Jasmines are up to the top of the trellises since this pic was taken and they will soon be blooming. Since I retired it's little things like that that make me happy.

BTW our courtyard is one place that helps me escape everyday life!

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JimBob1952 said:
Getting out into the fresh air is really good for you. That's one point for golf. I have a friend who is an avid birdwatcher and she derives a lot of pleasure from that.

Conversely, I like going to bookstores and libraries, especially on a rainy day.

Exercise is not only diverting, it releases endorphins which make you feel good.
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Exercise doesn't release any endorphins for me. It releases hungerdorphins.
 
dseag2 said:
I've found since I've retired that I'm much more attuned to what is happening in the world. That's not such a good thing since the news is usually so depressing. I am empathetic to what is happening in places like Ukraine and have donated to World Central Kitchen, but I can't take a steady diet of negative news. I listen to enough news so I know what may affect my life in the future.
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That happened to me when I was just 17. The assassination of JFK was very depressing, it was made more so by the media scrum so for a while I simply avoided the news. Three years later there was the Aberfan disaster where 144 people lost their lives, when on 21st October 1966, a 150,000 tonnes of coal waste slid down a hillside, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and a number of neighbouring houses. From then on I haven't read, watched or listened to the news.

My wife and I love dancing, as in, Latin & Ballroom. It's not only a great escape it's also great for meeting and making friends. You do need to be a tactile though, that's the nature of dancing.
 
horseless carriage said:
That happened to me when I was just 17. The assassination of JFK was very depressing, it was made more so by the media scrum so for a while I simply avoided the news. Three years later there was the Aberfan disaster where 144 people lost their lives, when on 21st October 1966, a 150,000 tonnes of coal waste slid down a hillside, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and a number of neighbouring houses. From then on I haven't read, watched or listened to the news.

My wife and I love dancing, as in, Latin & Ballroom. It's not only a great escape it's also great for meeting and making friends. You do need to be a tactile though, that's the nature of dancing.
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I LOVED the dancing and wish I still could.
 
I am absolutely disgusted with the world today. Is everyone willing to sell out their values? I try to see the silver lining in every cloud...but a mushroom cloud?
I escape by picking up my guitar, sitting back, closing my eyes...and recalling my NDE, I sing, "I am on the road...to my home...in the New Jerusalem." Yeah!
 
Several years ago I turned off the morning shows, news and other talking heads. I have a household and a rental property to work on. Summer is mowing, trimming, and getting wood cut for our home, it uses wood to heat. Winter is shoveling snow around our neighborhood and at rental property. Down time is watching movies we check out at library. We also walk and pick up the trash that people toss on our back roads.
 
I go to work five mornings a week and bake croissants and cookies and bread. It's pretty mindless but labor intensive so I don't think about anything except getting the job done. After it's all baked and cooled, it gets packaged, priced, put out on the shelves. That's also pretty mindless.

Then I go home and relax with a cup of coffee on the patio and admire the garden. And I go to the garden centers in search of yet more flowers, go home and plant them, then sit on the patio again, this time with a glass of iced tea, and admire the garden some more.

When it's finally time to come back indoors, I tidy up, find something to eat, and watch something insignificant on TV.

At the end of every day, I've escaped one more time 😊 Guess I suffer from the Ostrich Syndrome, except it's not really suffering.
 
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