Lesson/Content:
● STEM embedded Lesson includes experience on Lights, optics, & Sound; 2 escape game sessions.
Begin with a small discussion about escapism
Escapism occurs when you are trying to avoid something. It can come in different forms. Some people escape by seeking out alternate activities, such as sleeping and playing. Some drown themselves in work. Some immerse themselves in addiction, like emotional eating (bingeing), smoking, alcohol or even drugs. Some physically run away from their homes. Some may even go as far as to migrate to a new place where they can start “afresh.” In life, many people try to escape from various things. No matter what they are trying to avoid, these things ultimately boil down to their fears, their deepest sorrows, their pains, their past, and their disappointments.
In other areas of life, you see people escaping from other things. For example, socially shy people who stay away from public spots. People who stay put in passionless jobs because they are afraid of failure from pursuing what they love or because they are afraid to know that there is something far better for them elsewhere. People who avoid challenges because they are afraid of supposed “pain” and “suffering.” People who avoid their past because they are reminded of their deepest sorrows. People who avoid their issues because they think they have no strength to face them. There are even some who basically spend their whole lives trying to escape from their issues.
Dealing With Escapism
Ask yourself: Is there anything in your life that you feel most confronted by, anything that you are trying to escape from?
It is important to understand that escapism is a kind of defense mechanism. It occurs as a result of you trying to protect yourself from something. Specifically, your ego is trying to protect itself.
Except that it isn’t (protecting you from anything).
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that avoidance does not solve anything. The proverb ‘Ignorance is bliss’ is probably one of the most delusional proverbs of all time. If there is an issue you are facing, that issue doesn’t disappear by avoiding it. It’s still there; it will always be there until you face it. It’s like an ostrich burying its head in the sand — just because you turn your head away from everything and pretend that everything is okay, does not mean that it is okay.
Sure, it may seem easy to just avoid your issues. It may seem easy to just sleep everything away and wake up to a bright and sunny morning the next day, with everything faded into a semi-distant memory.
But these don’t solve anything. You may get a temporary sense of relief from not having to face what you are trying to avoid. But who are you really lying to? Seriously, who? You don’t get anything solved from hiding, avoiding, or escaping. You just end up backing off from them all the way until you are eventually walled into a corner one day, and you have no choice but to face them.
Solutions
Until you acknowledge and muster the courage to deal with what you are trying to escape from, your issues will not miraculously disappear. They will continue to be there, creating looping patterns in your life. You will keep finding yourself stuck in similar situations and contexts, thinking the same things, feeling the same emotions, and doing the same things — over, and over, and over again — until the day you finally decide to do something about them. Loops require conscious intervention in order to break out of them.
Facing your issues is not easy.. When you are trying to avoid something, it is usually a reflection of deeper inner issues that you have not resolved. These issues are delicate. These issues are very real. It takes true strength and courage to be able to face them head-on.
And in the process of working through your issues, you don’t always win. Sometimes you may make some headway, only to be subdued afterward. Sometimes, you get beaten back down almost immediately. This is especially so if it involves dealing with something you have been struggling with for a while.
As long as you keep going, as long as you keep confronting your issues; as long as you keep fighting, you *will* become stronger and stronger. You will grow bigger than your problems such that they are no longer problems.
When that happens, you will be living a life where you are truly liberated; a life where you are no longer running or hiding from something. A life of courage and bravery. A life of truth, authenticity, and honesty to everyone. A life of integrity and honesty with yourself.
Exercise: Fear in a Hat
Students often feel their particular fears are singular to their experience. Because of this, they’re afraid to share their fears. Nothing bonds a group together quite like the knowledge that their fears are shared. Everyone is in the same boat together.
- Hand out slips of paper with the following sentence starter: When I think about school and/or life after high school, I am afraid that…
- Each student must complete the sentence.
- Tell students that the exercise is completely anonymous, so they should avoid writing anything that would reveal their identity. Also, direct students to be sincere.
- Collect the slips of paper, fold each one in half, and put them in a hat.
- Pass the hat around the class and tell each student to take out one of the slips.
- Students read out the fear of their chosen piece of paper. They then respond by saying what they think the person who wrote the fear was feeling. What will they say to that person?
- Maintain a level of respect in this exercise. Don’t mock or laugh at the person or the fear.
- This exercise can lead to a discussion about what students expect or think will happen in the class.
- Let students know that they do not have to divulge their fear and that you’ll be shredding the pages after class.
Fear Reflection: Have students reflect on the exercise – what was it like to write down something you fear? What did it feel like to discuss the fears? Describe fear using the five senses. Reiterate to students that they don’t have to divulge their fear.