The Cost of Escaping Reality

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Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: http://pauljernberg.com

I think the ill effects of our current usage of technology as a method of escape are already becoming wildly apparent. As it tempts us to escape the real world more and more, you may notice that the real life you’ve been given is one that competes with your distractions and becomes something that you might resent instead of love as you ought to.

There’s an old phrase that poses a dilemma about the nature of the good that goes like this: “Did men love Rome because she was great, or was she great because men loved her?”
 
And I would argue it’s the latter. A thing becomes great because it is well loved. A person can take an empty and infertile plot of land and then love the heck out of it and turn it into something great, something worthy of that love. And love in this sense, doesn’t mean like a strong affection, but to will the good of someone or something else and find that in so doing, the object of the lover becomes more lovable.

A good parent, does this with a child every day. They take an ignorant and helpless human being, and they care for it’s good. They sacrifice their time, their energy, their bodies, and their resources, to turn that human into the best version of their potential. Love makes someone or something unremarkable into something great.

This is true of all aspects of our lives – our education, our careers, our homes, our relationships. We can make them better by our willingness to embrace and love them. But we can also neglect them because of the sacrifices and the struggle that love requires, and instead choose to escape those responsibilities for our own selfish and fleeting amusement.
And that’s how the real world and the real things that compete for our attention fall into decline and dilapidation

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