“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

— Seneca, The Younger

I made this blog as a form of self-reflection and a way to write out my thoughts and share them with the world. I’m not a doctor, an expert , a life coach, a guru, none of that. The most valuable thing about my blog is that it’s authentic, it’s unfiltered, it’s from me and it is flawed but it gives any reader the chance to read the inner thoughts, ideas and struggles of a normal person just like them, working through the anxiety, depression, mystery and confusion of the inner-self. I am always finding ways to reconcile difficult truths, and stoicism is one of those ways. I also will be discussing things like films, gaming and sports to give the blog some realness. A person is not just his or her thoughts, they are also their likes and hobbies, so I believe discussing those things here along with my personal philosophy will make this more “human”, more relatable.

The name “Escape Imagination”, stems from the quote from the great Stoic, Seneca The Younger, where he states, “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality”. This moved my mind, gave me an epiphany, often when I am at my worst mentally it is always within my own head that I am suffering the most. Here I am, well fed, safe, under a roof I provide for myself, bills payed, employed, with tons of possibilities, yet my own mind and imagination are keeping me in a dark place, keeping me in a state of despair, if I were to step back and focus on the present, the now, I would realize that I am OK and the manufactured thoughts in my head cannot harm me if I do not let them. We often use imagination to escape reality, but sometimes imagination itself, is what we desperately need to escape.

The more I realize I suffer from the myriad possibilities rather than the present situation, the more free and happy I become. I always try to preempt terrible situations arising to shield myself from the sting if they actually do occur, but in turn I just end up suffering from it in imagination no matter if it actually happens or not. The best way to handle this , is to deal with what is in front of me. If the worst happens, I can learn how to deal with that stoically as it comes , that way if that terrible situation does not arise, I never feel it’s sting at all. This frees my mind up to deal with what really matters, which is reality in the present.

Perspective RULES ALL! Perspective can make a poor man happy and a rich man sad, perspective can make a blind man grateful and a person with perfect vision take things for granted. It is all in perspective. The fear and anxiety stemming from your pure imagination running wild, can be DEMOLISHED to bits and pieces with a switch in perspective. Now I don’t mean to lie to yourself about things, I just mean take things for what they are and understand that it is out of your control most of the time and that whatever you are suffering from a lot of the time is more what is in your head, than what is actually happening. The anticipation of the worst, the possibility itself is defeating you, while not even actually existing.

Thank you for reading this, I will post more and more, my goal is 3 posts a week, 1 post on my personal philosophy, and 2 posts about gaming, films, or sports. Let’s grow together, comments and discussions are encouraged, please subscribe if you would like to hear more from me. Thank you!

Written by: Marcos Lopez, 1/13/2020