It’s an odd world we live in. Or worlds rather. We all have parts of us in many different paths. Family in one world, friends in another. Work world is another world. Then there are all the other worlds we live in, be it the shopping for food world, where you see the checkout person a few times a week maybe, the stockboy who always nods to you as you pass by… that bit of recognition as you ask the fishmonger behind the counter what is good today.
But that’s not all. We all have dream worlds, where in our slumber we go off and do magical or mundane things. I rarely remember my dreams, and if I do, I tend to be annoyed the rest of the day so I am better off not remembering them or better yet trying lucid or directed dreaming (that sounds like so much work though).
There are countless worlds. Driving world is a world where I sit in my car and pass through a million other worlds of fellow travelers, where I become part of their world without ever knowing about it. Then there is substack world, the online world, the communities we inhabit.
What I’m getting at is that all of these different worlds are in us and out of us and so many of them we have so little control over.
We live our lives in and among others so it is natural to be many things to many people and animals. I’m sitting here right now and I’m a big world to Arlo, who is bored and wants me to play ball. But I’m sure he has other worlds he lives in, too.
We have fantasy worlds too, where we play out our daylight dreams, sometimes elaborate fanciful dreams where live, living yet other lives.
I have a fantasy world I’m sharing with you. More than one, actually. This one here, where twice a week I reach out to you with my take on all things ponderous, the things that really piss me off, the things that make me happy. I share a bit of all my worlds and try to make them funny, poignant, or at least interesting. And I share one of my largest fantasy worlds, the “novel in progress that needs a better name”. Some of you are here for that, some of you could care less. But it’s still what is in my head and comes out on this damnable keyboard.
More than that, it lives in concert with my workaday/everyday/awake world. The characters are real to me as you or Arlo in one sense, they live in my head and come out when I think about them, which is all the time. Sometimes I’ll be watching something on television and I’ll think “Milo would get a kick out of that” or if I see a raccoon I’ll wonder if they know Mabel. And if I’m watching a cooking show on YouTube I think “Antoine probably knows how to do that”.
Of course, they only know what I know, as they live inside my head. But at times, I have to wonder if they don’t know more than I do. I hope they do.
Sounds crazy, right? I know it does and yet, I think most writers will tell you they wonder about that too.
Just something to ponder over the weekend. Just don’t forget to mow the damned lawn…
I’ll be on the road this weekend, where I’ll likely encounter numerous other worlds, ones unknown to me and me unknown to them. I find tremendous comfort in that.
There will be a newsletter Monday regardless but it might be more of a travelogue. I’ll take Milo and Mabel, Antoine, Julie, and the countless others along on the ride with me. And hopefully in a week or so, I’ll have more of their adventures ready for the keyboard.
But for now, that pobrecito needs some playtime!
Thanks for indulging me,
~ Tim
Enjoyed this and the another glimpse into your life. Travelogue coming? xo ~ Mary