Secret Lives!

Over fifty years ago (God, was it that long ago!) I read a short story titled “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. it was part of our eighth-grade reading, and it promoted some lively discussion. In it, we have a regular everyday Schmo who’s married and lives an unassuming life. Then there’s his dream life. In that alternate universe, he’s a man of action. He flies in war missions. He has a life of adventure. And it ends with him looking down the rifle barrels of a firing squad.

It’s the last few paragraphs that makes you wonder, which life is real? Which is the hoped for life?

Is it the bored guy living the boring life wishing to be a high-flying adventurer?

Or is it the high-flying adventurer wishing he led a life like everyone else?

A writing prompt like this one would most likely be used in my VA writing group. What we have is a group of vets who enjoy writing. In terms of experience and expertise, we’re all over the place. Some of us are published, most aren’t. Some of us write poetry. Others write fantasy. Interestingly, in my group, I’m one of the few that talks about war and what happens.

What the prompt will show you is unrealized dreams. It deals with our frustrations with this world. And it also puts our regrets front and center.

In short, it deals with the two most tragic words in the English Language (or any translation of them). Those words?

“What if?”

Pay attention to those words. They will show what your fears, hopes, and regrets are.

And they can serve as guideposts in charting a better life.