Recently I watched this breathtaking hiking montage in the Isle of Skye, Scotland:
That got me thinking. Do you ever wonder how many of us dreams of living in such a beautiful remote place, in the middle of a vast mountainous plain, away from the city, living slowly, maybe having a small garden, and a couple of sheep in a small farm, with a happy little family? And do you ever wonder how many of us imagine that that would actually be the answer to all of our problems?
I bet there’s a lot of us. Is it the case that the modern world brings us so much dissatisfaction that many of us wants to flee from its shiny lights and crazy-fast pace? To me it seems to be that way.
Many people’s hearts seems to be longing for “paradise”. In spite of living in one of the best times in human history, we still seek ways to escape the reality. Some people do it by regularly secluding themselves in remote places away from the city, some people do it by locking themselves in their room to watch movies/play video games for hours, others do it by taking in substances that enables them to create an imaginary world in their head, others do it by a simple smoking.
We are so desperate in finding ways to escape from reality that we invent whole fictional universes to immerse ourselves in. I think it’s a big part of the reason why fantasy fictions such as Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and all these other fictional universes are so appealing for a large audience. Because they provide an alternative world. A world where one can dream of living in, even if it’s just inside our heads.
We do all these things, just so that we can temporarily escape from the things that’s been burdening us.
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Escaping from the things that’s been burdening us, huh…
But can we really escape though? The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced the answer is “no.”
Even if we get to materialize our escape fantasy, live slowly in a remote place, in the middle of a vast mountainous plain, just like some people (or me, to be precise) imagine it, our responsibilities won’t cease to exists, and as long as we have responsibilities we will still find ourselves getting burdened by the weight of it. Then we will again find excuses to say that we need to escape from reality.
Even if, say, one of us decides to live on his own out in a remote place with no one around. Even then, he will still have the responsibility to take care of his own body. That includes putting food in his belly, warming himself, protecting himself from dangers, cleaning himself, and many other things that I don’t think I have to mention. For the first couple of weeks maybe it will feel exciting, but eventually he will see those activities as chores and will likely find excuses to escape from it.
You see, responsibility is just like death (in a way). It will chase us ‘till we’re in the grave. So, even if we get to make our escape fantasy a reality, it won’t change a thing, will it?
This might be naive of me, and I could very well be very wrong. But for now I believe that’s the case, at least as long as we’re alive.
The abrahamic religions has this teaching of the second life, or afterlife, or the hereafter as some usually call it.
We humans live in this world temporarily, and then when we die we will move on to the next life which is eternal. As probably many people are familiar with, this concept of afterlife is inseparable from the concept of heaven and hell. Those who did good will go to heaven, those who didn’t do so good will go to hell.
Now you’re probably baffled, thinking “Why is this guy suddenly talks about heaven and hell?”
Here’s the thing: I see salvation in the concept of heaven. I see heaven as the only possible true escape from all this. The only place where we can truly feel at rest. Where we will finally be able to drop all the things that’s been burdening us. Being truly liberated.
According to some traditions, heaven is filled with everything that the heart desires, and beyond. Greenery, gold, spouses, palaces, rivers, gardens, fruits, no aging, everything’s already taken care of, and every other things that the mind couldn’t even imagine. It seems to be THE place to rest.
Maybe… it’s the answer to escapism…
Some religious people like to say that the world is the place to work, and that heaven is the place to rest. It’s very powerful words. It can shifts one’s way of viewing the world on its head.
If you’re thinking this post is just a religious advocacy, I’m not trying to do that. It’s just that, to me, true escape only exists in heaven, it has to exists, otherwise there is no place of salvation.
Now I’m not saying that temporary escape activities are bad and that we better off not doing it. No, I even think it’s essential. I just feel like writing this post because I’m one of those people whose heart seems to always yearn for some place to go, a “paradise” of some sort if you like. A place to liberate us from the burdens we’ve been carrying.
But it seems, for now, I have come to the conclusion that such a place is not attainable in this world, it will only be attainable in the next. So until that day comes, let this heart yearns all it wants, for it will not be able to get what it wants while there’s nothing it can do about it except keep on doing its best as long as it’s alive.