Escapism: Using any method to interpret reality instead of directly facing said reality.

Interesting. I’ve never heard anyone attempt to define escapism like that. Where are you getting this definition?

Or from the other side, what word would you use to mean,

habitual diversion of the mind to purely imaginative activity or entertainment as an escape from reality or routine

Hopefully you agree that “purely imaginative activity or entertainment” is distinct from “any method to interpret reality”.

If you’re looking at a picture of a tree and using your imagination to marry it to the real thing, that is escapism.

What if I told you that looking at a real tree is an act of using your imagination to marry it to reality? Consider that humans looked at the moon and stars every day for centuries before we understood what they were in reality. Some people still do to this today.

Regardless of whether you’re considering something in front of you or a concept in abstract, if you’re attempting to grapple with the nature of reality, you are most certainly not engaging in escapism.