
Yeah, this pretty much sums up what’s going on in my brain. I can be in one place physically, but mentally on a mountain.
Okay, the title might be a smidge misleading since I can’t say as I would want to be married to Walter Mitty. More like we are simpatico, or twins, or could be really good friends.
I, like Walter, am a dreamer. I have been forever accused of daydreaming my life away, much to my mother’s disgust, dismay, and all around annoyance. Trust me, the years of home schooling were not either one of our friends. (So glad that’s over with.) I daydream so much I have my Pinterest and Tumblr accounts with the word daydream in them. I am a very active daydreamer.
Give me a tedious project and I will be fantasizing the time away. Mulching the yard is really good for this form of what I like to call ‘writing in my mind’. I plot, organize and ‘write’ little things in my head as I’m working. I have plotted out whole scenarios of my characters, then promptly forget them when I go to write them down. Mind writing isn’t quite conducive to actually writing. Not that that will ever stop me. I must daydream.
I blame just being a writer. Give me a picture, a song, a phrase, a weather pattern, a movie, a dance routine, a smell, (I could keep going) and I can write something about it. It might not be good, but I can write away.
I can’t say as I’ve ever been accused of zoning out like Walter Mitty, but I can fantasize right there with him. And just like Walter, I haven’t done a ton of exciting things. I lead a very ordinary life, in my opinion. Granted, my interests would fill out an Eharmony page much better than his…. And I’ve actually done almost every dating website out there. Not that they have actually worked in my favor. But that’s neither here nor there.
I should also mention that I’m thinking mostly in terms of Ben Stiller as the new Walter Mitty, though I happen to be an absolute fan of Danny Kaye as the original. Both stories are entirely different and both quite wonderful. If you haven’t seen either film, you must. Both of them. Right now. Go. I’ll wait.
For some reason, Ben Stiller riding the skateboard down the mountain in Iceland has become a new inner inspiration to write. (I just saw the film a couple days ago, so the inspiration is really, really new).But I think the two of us could be great friends.
Have you ever watched a film, read a book, or seen something fictional that you feel the character could be your best friend? Your soulmate? Tell me who they were and why. I’d love to know.
Signing off
Kate