This is the lesson that transforms the film from a travelogue into a spiritual text. Walter has spent his life documenting negatives, capturing moments for others, but never inhabiting his own. Sean teaches him that the highest form of presence is not recording the moment, but being the moment.
The 2013 film does something brave: it refuses to be a direct adaptation. Instead, it asks: What happens if Walter Mitty stops daydreaming and actually goes on the adventure? the.secret.life.of.walter.mitty