Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
You've probably had times people tell you to give up your fannish hobbies, your meekness, etc. Grow up, they'll say. Get a life,you'll be told. This is immature, you'll be informed in a snooty manner.
Forget that.
The problem for many people is NOT that their fannish hobbies and geeky interests are immature, or time-wasting, or whatever. The problem is people do NOT take them far enough.
I meet way too many people who confuse escapism with freedom.
This is a deadly confusion for one's career and one's life.
Escapism is when we run away, when we numb the pain, or when we avoid things. Escapism is not always constructive. At best it rests, recharges, and inspires us. At worse it lets us ignore things until the pain goes away. However, escapism is not actively engaging issues, solving problems, and improving things.
Freedom is when we have the ability – the skill, resources, and opportunity – to make a decision and follow through on what we want. Freedom is the ability to choose and not have circumstances or others dictate your choice for you. Freedom is the ability to take and face the consequences of choice.
These two are NOT the same.
We face a lot of challenges in our life and there's many things we find easy.
Never assume that these things are stable values.