From the window seat perch in my second story bedroom, the world outside took on the hue of altered perspective. I could spend hours, staring through the view and into my imagination, surveying the land below and the sky above as if they were framing my own private kingdom. I could sit there, still and quiet, and be transported to lands far away with no more inspiration than the extended arms of the massive pin oak's uppermost branches reaching out, beckoning to me from the backyard far below.
I love invisible days, with their hours of easy solitude filled full of nothing but my thoughts and their power to take me wherever I wanted to go, far away from wherever I was. I've discovered that escaping reality is a more challenging undertaking now that I'm an adult, laden as grown-uphood can be with myriad responsibilities and sundry obligations. There are other people to consider, complete with their own agendas and feelings, who may not understand the need for leaving them behind in the interest of spending time alone with yourself.
It has everything to do with wanting to leave in a forever sense; it's a simple desire to step outside of yourself, and away from your circumstance, however briefly. It's an attempt to find a vantage point for a fresh look beyond your current perspective, in order to find your center of gravity again.
So, yes, it can be more difficult to take myself away these days. But it's not impossible.
It takes a little more ingenuity and planning. It means being flexible enough to seize an unforeseen opportunity at a moment's notice. It means getting in your car and driving somewhere, anywhere, or nowhere at all for an entire afternoon. It means being creative enough to appreciate the possibilities behind a well closed door in your own home if other options aren't there.
I think maybe the fact that it takes such extra effort to run away these days makes the escape that much sweeter. I always end up right back where I started eventually.
Even if, especially if, only in my mind.
