I have an alter persona.
Not just one.
Lots of them depending on the time, place and what I’m currently working on.
I may be walking down the street, looking like any other middle-aged woman to passersby.
But in my mind, I could be anybody–a lithe young woman with hair blowing in the breeze and a sense of purpose.
Sometimes I’m on my way to a conquest!
Then there are other alter persona days
Perhaps I’m a worried elderly woman, shuffling along, uncertain of what I’ll find when I turn the corner.
I could be a dancing ten year-old with tight braids and a skip in my step because my friend is waiting.
Or maybe I’m a haunted doctor, head down against the frigid wind blowing across an Afghani plain as I hike to an outpost of Doctors Without Borders.
I could be anybody–in my mind.
When I wasn’t being a “normal” person, I lived in a story land-filled with alter personas.
I constantly plotted other places to be or adventures far beyond my current location.
Was it my imagination or just boredom with routine life? (Though my life has seldom been boring).
Was it the result of watching too many movies as a kid?
Maybe I’ve read too many books that made me perceive life as story and a need to keep the narrative moving?
The Walter Mitty Effect
I’ve not seen the recent version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but I know the Danny Kaye-starring movie and love the idea that at a moment’s notice Walter could switch into an alter persona.
I don’t go so far as Water does to try to convince others I’m something I’m not.
Though, there was the time I sobbed and carried on–the picture of a woman terrified she’d been misunderstood– so the bank manager would okay our mortgage.
I can also be deadly on the phone with officious people after I’ve been on hold for a long time.
But I always feel badly afterwards.
Sometimes I even feel the need to confess sin.
But really, if you can make the story interesting, why tell it straight? (See Big Fish)
Laundry as a hobby?
I used to tell people doing laundry was my hobby.
“A hobby is anything you spend a lot of time doing,” and that was certainly my life.
But who could think anyone would love doing laundry, particularly in a family boasting boys?
My long-suffering husband, however, took me at my word.
“You always said you loved doing laundry,” the engineer explained with puzzlement in his face and voice.
“I was being ironic!”
“Why didn’t you say so?”
I didn’t mutter, “tone of voice,” but I thought it.
How I really met your father
For years, I used romantic moments in movies to point out to the children how I met their father.
Since I’d raised them myself, I thought they’d caught the absurdity of those statements and recognize the irony.
But then one day I overheard my adult son trying to explain to his wife how his parents met.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “It had something to do with playing volleyball (true), but then apparently there was this ice rink where my dad raised her over his head (Winter Olympics, ice skating gold medals).
I never figured that out because they lived in Los Angeles–but then she’d say something like, “but we’ll always have Paris,” (Casablanca) and break into song (pick your musical).
So, I guess I’m not really sure, though they couldn’t have met during the Civil War (Gone With the Wind).”
This son is the only non- scientist in the family besides me.
My daughter-in-law raised her eyebrows and looked in my direction.
“I was trying to give him a sense of the romance, the emotional feeling, the metaphor, not the actual event.”
“Oh.”
Can you tell the truth in your alter persona?
Scriptures warn us our “yes” needs to be “yes,” and our “no” needs to be “no.”
Obviously, lying is a violation of the Ten Commandments.
But life can be so mundane, I always wanted to make it more interesting–ironic, clever, witty.
Most of the time, my friends and family understood.
But one day I was telling a story to our pastor, who smiled as I talked and when I finished, nodded his head.
“Don’t you think so?” I laughed.
His answer was slow. “I actually don’t know you well enough to know if you’re teasing or telling the truth.”
Aghast, I stammered out, “telling a story.”
“Okay.” He laughed.
But I’ve always tried to be careful and keep my alter persona at bay–particularly with people I don’t know well–ever since.
It’s all in the tone you see.
Or the imagination.
Tweetables
Does Walter Mitty‘s extravagant alter personas make sense to you? Click to Tweet
But really, if you can make the story interesting, why tell it straight? (See Big Fish) Click to Tweet
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser says
Wonderful post! This is a keeper.
I didn’t really have a ‘Walter Mitty’ life. I got to live a lot of the things I thought I wanted to be.There was good and bad, and now…well, it’s still happening.
I have the dog sanctuary. I’m rebuilding an airplane that’s a part of the history of Israel.
And I enjoy doing the laundry. Truly.
Michelle Ule says
Thanks, Andrew– I suspect many of us live far more interesting lives than we realize!
roscuro says
Michelle, our family calls it ‘creative memory’. Most of us have the skill. It is not really exaggeration or even embellishment, but rather an overstating, or perhaps the better word would be over-colouring of events. I have heard one close relative tell stories that I saw happen, so I knew what she was saying was true, but she used such descriptive phrases and such dramatic tones that it was far more interesting than the actual event was. I have tried to tone down my own ability in that direction, as I do not want to be accused of lying or even exaggerating.
That being said, the events in my life so far need no over-colouring. It is funny, when I was young I had all those secret personas like Walter Mitty, but I despaired of ever realizing them – it was when I was living by myself on a slender income, in a disreputable neighbourhood of a big city and walking everywhere to save bus fare, that I suddenly realized I was living a dream of mine – which was to be a poor student/music teacher in a dangerous city, who had the courage to walk alone. It was slightly deflating to realize that I felt like exactly the same person as when I was the young girl who had the dream. Sometimes the difference between a mundane and extraordinary life is in one’s perspective.
Michelle Ule says
I should be in your family, roscuro! As indicated, why not make the story interesting, as long as you don’t drag it into the lying realm. 🙂 Most of the time my family appreciates the stories–because they’ve awakened to the importance of tone.
KimH says
Funny, I just watched Big Fish for the first time. I loved it. I love the line where the father tells the daughter in law regarding his son, “He will tell you the facts without any of the flavor”.
Being an only child I have lived quite the life in my imagination, I just lack the skill to tell it or write it.
Jamie Clarke Chavez (@EditorJamieC) says
I really love Big Fish. 🙂
Great post!