One might ask, “Why would you ever stop to even ask yourself that question?”. Once again I was moved by the words of another writer. Ariana Huffington was on CBS this morning remembering her good friend, Nora Ephton, who passed away yesterday. (Screenwriter for “When Haryy Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle) Nora was one of those extremely gifted writers that wrote when she didn’t even know she was writing. She not only lived a writer’s life, but she lived writing itself. As a wanna be blogger, I admire her courage for stepping out and being the first blogger for the Huffington Post when everyone advised her not to do it, and told both her and Ariana that it was never going to work. ‘Nuff said.
At the end of the interview Charlie Rose read Nora’s answer to the question “Why do I read?”. I never heard a more in depth and insightful answer to such a simple question. I wish I had the answer he read so that I could share some of the things she said. As Charlie was reading it, I was trying to grasp the words and store them somewhere, but the answer was too long to keep in my head. Let’s suffice to say, I never heard anyone describe “why they read” in such a way.
Since I couldn’t remember what Nora said, I thought, “Well, Linda, what about you? Reading is all you do when you’re not writing. Why do YOU read?” Now I was stymied by my own mind. I want to sit and tell you “why I read”, but I’m to intimidated by Nora’s amazing answer, that right now I refuse to even let my mind contemplate my own answer. I know I will sound so trite in comparison to her insight. I immediately want to say “I read because I need to learn things”. Can you get any more trite than that? I think that’s an answer a second grader would give. What am I going to do? This is really bothering me that I can’t come up with an answer to such a simple question beyond what a child might say.
Ah…it’s not that I can’t give my own answer…it’s “standing in front of one of the greats” and being totally awed by their talent, gift, ability, uniqueness, and the way they, in their profession, are a “cut above the rest”. It’s like trying to sing after hearing a Rockstar. It’s like trying to draw after coming home from an art show. Just the realization of what it took for someone to achieve their greatness is sometimes enough to freeze you in a state of awe for awhile.
Awhile. Then, the more you think about them, and what they have accomplished and how they did it, you begin to thaw. It is in this thawing period that inspiration kicks in. Now you ask, “Why NOT me?”
So – “Why do I read?” I’m still frozen. I need to go to hot yoga and thaw out. The yoga studio is where my mind melts and thought is allowed to flow freely.
And so, as another day goes by, I pick up my mat and coconut water and head to my “studio”, where I will discover that I, too, will think thoughts no one has ever thought before, RIP Nora Ephron, and…I have written.
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