Living in two worlds

After coming from church today, I wasn't feeling too good. I slept it off after lunch and still felt a little lousy afterwards. Nevertheless I faced what needed to be faced and  sat down and watched the first two episodes of Voltes V and, after dinner, GI Joe: The Pyramid of Darkness.

And then it hits me: I want to game.

Yeah, currently I'm building a medieval fantasy campaign using GURPS, but I'd like to play, not GM. And besides, there's no one to play with where I am,  so the matter is moot.

But I am nonetheless glad I'm into RPGs. It sounds escapist, but I like living in two worlds: this contemporary one, and the fantasy world where I can be whoever and whatever I choose to be, within context of course. It's like when the contemporary world gets too much on my nerves, I go to the fantasy world. After I get psychologically and emotionally recharged in the fantasy world, I can go back to the contemporary world and more powerfully deal with the issues, dilemmas and duties that await me.

I can't help seeing the parallelism of what I do to taking a vacation. A vacation may be set in the contemporary world, but it is no less a fantasy, living for a short while a life that is far more removed from your own.

In similar fashion, it is like coming into the presence of God, where all else pale in comparison to the awesome reality that is God. And then we find rest and recharge.

I do all three, depending on what the situation requires and/or allows. And no, I do not see it as escapism. I believe it is more like a tactical retreat to regroup and recoup resources. I think it is healthy to see this contemporary world as not being the only world. Living with one foot in one world and another in another is beneficial to live a fuller life.

Which reminds me, I need to go into the Presence now.

(postscript: you may have noticed that I avoided using the term "the real world." That was deliberate. I will talk about that in a later blog.)