When my mind overflows and all I need is something to turn off my thoughts of overthinking I reach for my books, tabletop games or let the music play. Let me forget the turmoils of this hectic world and my contradicting thoughts. All I want in those moments is to escape reality and free my mind.

I turn to stories where I can live through others. Explore new worlds that are not even close to mine. Escape into magic systems that I wish were true or walk the streets of fantasy realms. Works of fiction that can feel so real that sometimes it’s like wings can sprout from between my shoulder blades. Losing myself in the pages of a 600 page book, even if it’s just for a single night.

Or let me be a caravan leader trading spices and fulfilling orders whilst travelling along the famed silk roads of Century. Let me be for one night the brute of the city wielding his throwing axe. Raiding dungeons and alleyways with his company others call the Jaws of the Lion. Playing for heroes whilst discovering the sinister plans of whatever is unfolding in the city they call home.

Turn my playlist on with the volume up high and let me relive the day through the melodies. Singing along to songs that hold more emotions that I can feel all at once but my voice tries to capture en reproduce. Dancing to rhythms and letting my body move with the sound waves the music creates, pulsating through my room.

If I need to escape reality, this is what I’ll do.