Tayari's Blog: Today's Word: SYMBIOTIC
Posted by TayariJones on May 4, 2007 06:53 PM
Filed under
The Writing Life
Ladylee has a post up on her site today that is all about me. I am flattered to pieces, but I would be dishonest if I did not tell you that she gives me way too much credit. Yes, I have been in touch with her since we first met when she joined this blog community. And maybe I have given her a little bit of advice. But she has no idea how inspirational she is to me! That's the beautiful thing about a writing community. Everyone is enriched.
Ladylee has a Ph.d. in biochemistry and that makes her a little bit different from me. (Here is a recent example: "us chemists think stories of setting ourselves on fire and having explosions are the funniest thing in the world after the fact, especially if we don't get hurt....") But one of the things we have in common is that we love writing and reading and writing about what we read and reading about what we write. This is not about publishing contracts, prizes, or anything else connected with the marketing side. This is about art.
One of the things that I find so inspiring about Dr. Ladylee is that she has a secure life and career doing her biochemical thing, but she is still following her dream, her drive, her (dare I say) calling. This is every bit as praise-worthy as the college student working full time to pay tuition. She's working overtime at her job and putting that money aside in a fund just for writing classes, writing workshops, etc. She looks out for your younger siblings, takes care of her cat (Oscar Tyrone), belongs to a book club, and keeps her outrageous blog. (And when I couldn't start my car, I sent her an SOS and she gave me a jump!) She has written a guest post for us here at this blog and she has promised us another, reporting on her experience taking a writing workshop in Atlanta. I can't wait to read what she has to say.
Why? Because this is real life, the real life of a writer. You have to make time for it, when you don't have time. You do it even though you don't know what's going to happen next.
The story of someone like Ladylee who is finding her way teaches me and humbles me much more than the speeches big-time writers give while accepting some big award. You know the ones when they talk about the hard-knock lives they once led. Those stories make for good sound-bytes because they are told in the context of the happy ending. The stories that keep me going are the stories of working writers while they are making a dollar out of fifteen cents. These are the stories that make she sit down, shut up, and get to work.
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There are 1 comments on "Today's Word: SYMBIOTIC". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Ladylee ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
Goodness. I come over here on a sleepy Monday morn and I see THIS post.
**crickets**
Awwwwww, Miss Celie, you're much too kind... Got me all weepy over here!
I give you too much credit? Shoot man, whatever you tell me, I run a 100 miles with it and milk it for everything it is worth... I don't take that lightly! Thanks for entertaining my juvenile questions. You make everything so wonderfully clear. And I get all giddy just learning something new, you know...
And get to writing, Miss. I desperately wait around on bended knee for whatever you write- a book, a short story, a poem, a piece of haiku, a grocery list- whatever! LOL...
And the look on your face when you toured my lab, when I mentioned that I'd set myself on fire-CLASSIC. LOL. (Remind me to tell you a few of those war stories some day!)
May 7, 2007 10:18 AM