How to escape our minds without escaping our reality

I was reading some of Seneca’s works the other day. In particular, from his book, Moral Letters to Lucius, the letter that hit me the most was XXVIII. On Travel as a Cure for Discontent. One of the quotes from that dialogue hit my soul on such a deep level.

You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate — Seneca

His letter discussed how we can travel the world, but if we are not happy with ourselves, we carry that with us. We spend our lives thinking that travel (or an escape) will make us forget about the emptiness or discontent we hold in our heart. Unfortunately, if you aren’t happy with you who are, no matter where you go, you will never find happiness.

So, how can we enjoy things when we hold discontent in our heart? Can we escape the negativity in our minds without escaping our day to day routine in our reality?

When we think of escaping, the first thing we want is a distraction to stop our brain from overthinking or over-analyzing itself. For those who are hardwired with anxiety and depression, it’s something that is extremely difficult to control once the brain starts going down the rabbit hole of racing thoughts, but I believe the key to stopping that is being conscious and aware of ourselves on a daily basis.

Consciousness and awareness are the key to escaping the chatter of our minds without escaping our reality through travel or addiction.

Oddly enough, sometimes travel can be an addiction for those that feel discontent with the daily grind of their lives. Then again, travel is a form of “escape” and addiction is a false connection.

Addiction and escaping reality attempts to find ways to mask the voids that appear in our soul when we lack connection to ourselves or to others. It makes me think of this quote from the British Journalist, Johann Hari.

“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It is human connection.” - Johann Hari

This is very true in my experience dealing with my own addictions to escape my daily life, after coming to the realization that I spent most of my life trying to escape who I was because I hated myself, instead of finding the time to actually work on healing myself.

This is where my epiphany happened. I made an important change in my life.

I took Seneca’s advice long before I read his letters:

I changed my soul.

I realized that in my journey, self-love and connection were going to be part of the keys to my success.

Being aware, being conscious, connecting to those who are like-minded, learning to understand myself on a deeper level, and allowing myself to feel things I’ve kept repressed all my life would ultimately bring me the satisfaction to be content with where I am and escape the chatter of my mind that tries to sabotage itself.

Reading his letter on traveling and “changing your soul” made me realize the importance of everything I have been trying to help others with. It has also given me subtle reminders on how I need to keep focusing on my happiness, and bringing that into my consciousness on a daily basis to deal with changes and transitions in my life.

That way — wherever I travel to, whether it be a new job, a vacation, a new state park, a new friendship — I can bring the best version of myself to the table. To, which Seneca has said the following that can affirm that belief:

You must discover yourself in the wrong before you can reform yourself — Seneca

Discover your voids.

Remember the things that make you happy — can you do something small everyday that makes you happy without escaping your reality?

Discover what makes you unhappy — can you change it? If so, what can you do everyday to make your situation better?

Remember your strengths — focus on them when it feels like there is chaos around you.

Discover your flaws — do you want to improve upon those? If so, accept that they have been part of your upbringing and find ways to make conscious attempts to change them.

There’s that key word again: consciousness.

All of the steps I listed are all about being conscious in the moment where you are faced with turmoil or distress of any type. It’s natural to want to escape the feelings we don’t want to face, but if we turn and face them, we have the opportunity to come to a solid understanding with ourselves on a level deeper than we could have ever imagined.

Change is painful, but it’s inevitable, and the best way to deal with change is not to escape it, but to embrace it in all the highs, lows, and the mixed emotions in between.

We might not be happy with ourselves everyday, but if we can practice mindfulness and awareness, we’re on a better path.

We don’t have to escape reality through travel or escaping through addiction- we have the chance to escape the noise in our mind through mindfulness. So that way, no matter where we travel or go to in life, we can enjoy any scenery or change of pace that comes our way.

As Seneca mentioned:

The person you are matters more than the place to which you go; for that reason we should not make the mind a bondsman to any one place. Live in this belief: “I am not born for any one corner of the universe; this whole world is my country.” — Seneca

And here I stand, born of this Earth, knowing that wherever I wish to travel or venture to next in my life, if I bring a positive mindset and awareness to my life, I can embrace all that comes my way.

-Cecilia J. Sanders