"Off to Neverland"

Other possible titles for this post; "A treatiste on escapism," "Na na na na, na na na na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye," "If 'W' can do it all the time, I should at least get a week," and "I'm going to Disneyworld"

Escapism is defined as; "an inclination to retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy" and as an American it seems as though we are always stereotyped as a culture of escapist and daydreamers. My generation is always "waiting for the world to change" instead of acting toward changing the world.
However, I don't consider myself an escapist, I define myself as a realist. I am somebody who is constantly trying to be cognisant of the world around me and someone who is always trying to make the world better. Even though this is my motis operandis, I feel it is necessary to take a break every now and then and often times I miss the subtle hints my wife, my family, my friends and the universe send to me to tell me to take a break. My brothers are often times telling me to lighten up and to take a break, I usually don't listen, but I'm getting better, I think.
Anyway I am escaping for a week to the "Magic Kingdom" with my wife on a second honeymoon, no cellphones, no puppies, no immediate or extended family, no work, no worries. I know that some of my readers hate the idea of Disney and their "giant, corprate commercialization of happiness," I however find their brand of escapism some of the best. Who as a kid never saw a Disney movie and ended up singing the song for the rest of the week if for nothing other than to torture your parents? Who doesn't yearn for a little "Neverland" every once in a while? Who doesn't want everything to be taken care of and to just run on autopilot for a little while? Even though many of you are thinking; isn't that what college was for, it wasn't for me and hey I'm out of college now. I think everyone knows the feeling I'm having right now.
With that being said I think that escapism is good for the soul and good for the spirit, we weren't intended to waste away in a corporate environment or to work at jobs that kill our spirit we were intended to experience things that are inherintly human. I try to learn from most of what I do...I think too much...my reading is of non-fiction books; essays, theories, opinion cases, my movie choices are often social commentaries, and my TV veiwing almost always has a social critisism underneath, but it is good to escape every once in a while. So as I try and learn to relax and take a break I will indeed solicit the help of a giant mouse, an "evolved" dog who walks on two feet and the collective imagination of a culture that truly believes that dreams do come true and that it is not impossible, illogical or ill-advised to "wish upon a star" every now and then.