Escapism Done Right

During the Covid lockdown, many people tried fun things to forget their worries. Some made dalgona coffee, baked sourdough bread, watched old shows like Malgudi Days or Mad Men, and reread stories by writers like Mirza Ghalib, Munshi Premchand, Jane Austen and William Shakespeare. They were trying to relax their minds when life felt scary. Today, the world again feels stressful because of wars and other problems, so people once again look for ways to escape and feel better. But not all kinds of “escape” are good for us.

A writer named Neil Postman warned about this in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death. He said that if we keep watching or scrolling through silly things all the time, our brain becomes used to quick, forgettable entertainment. We laugh for a moment but remember nothing later. Sometimes this kind of content can even make us more anxious or angry. Just like our body needs healthy food, our brain also needs healthy “mental food.” If we feed it only junk, our thinking becomes weaker.

Long ago, the writer Voltaire gave a simple idea in his book Candide: “We must cultivate our garden.” This means we should spend time doing useful and creative things—reading good books, learning new skills, making something with our hands, or thinking deeply about ideas. Scientists now know that our brains can keep learning and changing our whole life. When we use our minds well, our brain builds stronger connections, even while we sleep. So if we choose our “escapes” wisely, they don’t just distract us—they actually make us stronger and more resilient.