S6E5 - How Did I Escape?

I believe we all handle trauma in our own way. Whatever works for us that helps us get through the tough times, and forget about all of our troubles and worries, even for a brief period of time. This episode was a lot of fun to make because, as I mentioned in the episode, I could describe some of the things I talk about in the book in a different way. I also got to share some of the funniest moments from TV and movies that travel through my brain the most.

I mean, honestly, this is also a funnier way to breach a much darker subject matter. I believe a good number of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s went through trauma in some form or another. After all, it's one of the things we Gen Xers are known for. It was a time when children were supposed to be seen and not heard. We were sent out of the house on the weekends and told to come back when the streetlight came on. Seriously, this was a time when the phrase "It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are?" was a well-known public service announcement on TV, particularly from the late 1960s through the 1980s. It was a reminder to parents to keep track of their kids.

I'm never going to boast that the trauma I went through as a kid was worse than others. Hell, I know I had it pretty easy compared to some people I know. But my childhood, for me, wasn't the best. Finding a release from the daily amount of crap I was going through kinda came naturally. The TV was one of many babysitters I had. When I wasn't with a real-life person who was my babysitter, my parents knew they could park me in front of the Old Boob Tube, and I'd be fine.

Looking back on these times in my life, as I did in the book, I realized that finding a way to mentally escape the madness of real life is important. However, I will add a word of caution in the mix because too much can have lasting effects. I am still able to easily get caught up in doom scrolling for hours or playing games on my phone and just check out mentally. I know full well that there are things I need and should be doing or working on. But I get sucked into those dopamine-driven highs I get from escaping the here and now. Hell, I'm kinda thinking I'm a serious addict and need to turn my smartphone in for a stupid phone and only connect with social media to games through my desktop. The jury is still out on that one. Until then, I gotta get back to my Snoopy Pop game and scrolling for cat reels on Instagram.

Until next time, Toodles!