Wanna Get Away?

Southwest Airlines advertises its cheap flights by showing people in uncomfortable situations who want to escape. The message is that you can get out of any embarrassing situation by flying out of state.

There's the guy at a club who tries to impress a girl by break-dancing. He ends up knocking over the DJ Station, the music stops, and the entire club stares at him.

There's the basketball player who steps on the court for the first time, rips off his sweatpants, and finds that he forgot his shorts and he's just in his underwear.

There's the guy who misunderstands the instructions and throws his videogame controller at his friend's television, breaking the flat screen.

These ads resonate with Americans (the "Wanna Get Away" ad campaign is entering its tenth year) because people normally deal with uncomfortable situations by removing themselves from them. People believe that spatial distance will bring freedom from uncomfortable thoughts and emotions.

But everyone knows that troublesome thoughts don't stop at the border.

So what's the solution?

One really "gets away" from the thoughts and feelings by just paying attention to them. Sit down, close your eyes, and focus on the thoughts and feelings. If there is fear, feel it. If there is embarrassment, feel it. If there is worry, feel it. Emotions and thoughts are energy and the only way to dissipate the energy is to give it full attention and let it run its course. After a while, you will realize that emotions are just sensations. They may be uncomfortable but they're nothing that will force you to pack up and fly cross-country.