When a writer’s mind wanders… so does his body

I had an errand to run at a nearby grocery store, a short walk from my office. During lunch, I headed down into the mall below my office building to make my way to the store. Almost from the moment I left my office, my mind was working its way around some plot points in a story, trying to see it from all sides and figure out the best way to move forward with it. I must have been particularly focused on the subject because instead of ending up at the grocery store, I found myself standing in front of my parked car.

I stood there for a moment, puzzled. I could not recall why I had come out to my car.

That’s when I remembered that I had been intending to go to the grocery store. My mind occupied, my body must have used its muscle memory to take me on the same walk I take when I leave the office every evening. But man, I have no memory of the walk once I left the building. I was just there in front of my car.

And, alas, I made no real progress on the story plot either.