The Absurd Escape: Why We Avoid Facing Our Own Souls

Carl Jung once said, “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls.” And isn’t it true? We often go to great lengths—busyness, distractions, drama, and even self-destruction—just to avoid sitting in stillness and meeting the raw truth that lives inside us.

We fill our schedules with endless tasks, scroll mindlessly on our phones, binge-watch shows, overeat, gossip, chase temporary pleasures, or even immerse ourselves in helping others to avoid doing the one thing that truly matters: turning inward. Because facing our own soul means confronting our wounds, our fears, our shadows. It means stripping away the illusions we’ve carefully built and seeing ourselves as we are—not as the world sees us, but as we truly are beneath the masks.

Why do we run from this inner encounter? Because it’s uncomfortable. It requires honesty, courage, and vulnerability. When we stop and go within, we might find unresolved grief, guilt, anger, or emptiness waiting for acknowledgement. We might meet the parts of ourselves we’ve rejected for years. And so, absurd as it may be, we choose noise over silence and chaos over clarity.

Yet, ironically, what we fear is also our key to freedom. Facing the soul doesn’t break us—it heals us. When we dare to look within, we begin to integrate what we’ve ignored. We become more whole, more aligned, and more at peace. Avoidance keeps us fragmented, while self-reflection brings unity.

The truth is, healing doesn’t happen in avoidance; it happens in awareness. We can’t fix what we won’t face. By confronting our inner world, we stop being victims of unconscious patterns. We become empowered, conscious creators of our lives.

So the next time you feel the urge to escape into busyness or numbness, pause and ask: What am I really avoiding? What part of me is asking to be seen, to be heard, to be loved?

Because only when we face our soul can we truly awaken.