Have you heard of Plato's Allegory of the Cave? He doesn't directly give us a way to escape it but in another dialogue about the nature of love and beauty he gives us an answer that is linked to art therapy. I'll post it in the philosophy forum soon, with a description of the cave allegory.

Also, a German by the name of Friedrich Schiller, a friend of Goethe, wrote a book called the Aesthetic Education of Man. In it is he says that "Man is never so authentically himself as when at play" And our chief means of play is through the creation of art. To Schiller, art was the most important education a man could receive because it makes the deepest impressions on the soul. In other words, show me what moves you and Ill show you something about yourself.

Aristotle believes we are all pieces of art, and the point of life is to prune and perfect ourselves.

Ficino and company, during the renaissance asks "Would I rather be a man or an angel? I'd rather be a man because a man can always improve himself." This is echoing Aristotle's notion of man as a creation of art, always to be continually worked upon.