WHY I LIKE TO WRITE

And here I am these days, people asking me why I write so much. I find the question sympathetic because it seems to touch a particular nerve that has to do with my early education. Namely my five years at the Hebrew Normal School (ENH) from 1959 to 1964 when I was between 15 and 19 years old.
What remains with me from that school are principles that have evolved with me over the years. Two of them are the most remarkable. Respect and humility.

So I learned and performed the fifth of the Ten Commandments, namely: Respect your father and your mother, even though I did not know that there was a reward, namely, the lengthening of your days. And I went further, respecting everyone.
Another passage found in the treatise of the Principles, recommends us that if we say or write something that is not ours, we must give credit to its author.
That is why in all my writings I respect this order. A lesson in humility that prevents me from being conceited.

And now, exactly 56 years later, I think of my school and remain proud of it and what it has brought to my life. It made me a teacher and I still say that I am that teacher who never taught. And yet I spent a large part of my life in sales, and every day I was mistaken for a teacher, because I explained my product so well.
I can't believe how privileged the French language is. It is certainly complicated for many, but it is so rich and beautiful that I savor it to the fullest.

Yes, I read a lot and that only enriches me with new words, new expressions, different turns of phrase and more. I preferred 'and again' to etc... Is it to be different? Maybe it is

During this period of Coronavirus, I wrote a lot on a thousand and one subjects. Very vain to say one thousand and one when in fact there were almost twenty five. But the expression is so. Shall I quote them here?
If I do, it will add to the vanity, which has been one of these subjects.
We will return to it.

Why do I write?
My immediate answer is: to share with others what I think is good for them to enjoy. My reward will be the appreciation of the other person if he or she has found in my words a moment of respite, a break, a truce.
I must admit that when someone calls me and say that they have appreciated my words, it gives me pleasure and pride.

But then again, I risk falling into the trap I am trying to avoid, that of vanity. Should I consider that every writer experiences this situation? If so, then in my case, I don't have to worry about it, since I am not a writer.
Maybe one day I will be, and I'll still be vain!

Let's say that I write to please myself, to reread myself and to find the sensations that I had while thinking and writing my thoughts, because it is only that. The reflection of a thought, of an image. It becomes a recollection, a reflection, a taking into account.

I have written several scenarios, films in my head, which are there without ever finding an end to them. I claim that some subjects are good and if they were read by a specialist, maybe he will know what to do with them. Here are some titles: Mona Lisa was stolen, The Heiress, The Mexican Necklace, The Motor Bug, The Landing Gear Jam and few more…
There are even some poems, which nobody has read.

And who knows if there will be more!