Sometimes I feel like Jimmy Stuart in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” gazing at the National Geographics and dreaming of adventures in far away countries. Instead of living those dreams, he stays in his town, filling the role thrust on him. I vicariously live my life of danger and adventure through my character, Jade del Cameron, the heroine of Treasure of the Golden Cheetah. With her running point, I can safely climb Kilimanjaro, charge a lion, and do battle against evil without breaking a sweat. Via Jade, I shoot rifle and bow, throw a mean lariat, fly a plane, and kiss a handsome man. (Well, I do get to do that last part in real life.)
Jade is often described as “larger than life” and that’s probably true. But it makes me wonder, just what does “larger than life” mean? Frankly, life is pretty big. Sometimes that can be intimidating. We might find a safe spot and hide in it, camouflaging ourselves for anonymity. We stay with what’s comfortable and call risk takers crazy daredevils. So perhaps being larger than life simply means that a person grows to take in as much of life as possible.
To continue reading what Larger Than Life means to Suzanne click here.
One Comment
Suzanne Arruda: Thank you for your post and your request for feedback.
Here's my opinion. Perhaps when we get down to it, there aren't any characters or real people who are larger than life. They're larger than what we expect in life.
They're larger than what we anticipate, are comfortable with, can readily process, and conveniently deal with. Through their words and deeds, through their very existence, they challenge our assumptions, both individual and social. Intentionally or not, they expand our thinking, which can result in expanding our actions…. Read More
And thank goodness such people exist! Both fiction and reality would be so much duller without them.
—Mary Anne Landers
http://www.facebook.com/maryannelanders