Escapism with Beatrix Potter

If anyone could master the art of escapism, I’m pretty sure it’d be me. On almost a daily basis, I find myself envisioning how the Bosphorus looks in real life, or imagining a tiny cabin overlooking the Scottish peaks, or dreaming randomly of sand and the crashing of waves. I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to travel, and a pair of VR glasses which threatens an unhealthy obsession..

This weekend, I watched ‘Beatrix Potter’ (2006) not knowing what to expect, but walking away haunted by beauty. Renee Zellweger does an incredible job at playing Beatrix Potter, someone whose books we read countless times as kids, with no idea about the author herself or how relatable she actually is. Scenes of her painting took me back to my first ‘proper’ watercolour set, and I couldn’t help but smile watching her book being published; the copies we read as kids were the same size, and I’d often pore over her iconic watercolour paintings with awe. Suffice to say, I felt an affinity with her character and damn it, we’d be best friends.

But now, let’s talk about the scenery – that a land can exist on Earth so idyllic and pure! Every scene overlooking the Lake District made me fall in love, over and over again. Green, tranquil and faultless, I’d have been happy staring at the Lake District for 90 minutes. When I’m stuck in a creative rut, my mind usually travels elsewhere – yet, here was an artist with the courage to actually pack up and go. To live somewhere where art is everywhere you look, at any time of the day.. Now isn’t that the dream?

So many of us are chained back by uncertainties, that we often sit in that terrible box called ‘comfort’. There is a world out there, open to us, yet we get comfortable in our miserable lifestyles, eating, sleeping and working mechanically, and we call that ‘living’. As impractical as it may seem, you are only a prisoner of yourself. If today you are unhappy, know that a positive mind is the most incredible asset one can have. That thing you think you need, there are other means if you want to be free. But perhaps you are afraid? Because at first, flying is a terrifying feat..