Why I Blog

I would hereby like to establish the purpose of my blogging, both here at Shamay and in other places.

I have always loved writing and being creative in different ways. Playing with words fascinates me, perhaps ever since I watched “Much Ado About Nothing” as a film version in 1993, when I was 13.

In 1999 I started the college degree of “Dramaturgia”, consistent of writing and adapting texts (for the stage), critique and research. All within theater – something I had not so fully clear when I first signed up (I thought it could be appliccable to any field, and in a way it actually it, just not presented as such).

During these studies at RESAD in Madrid (Spain) we were asked to write scenes, sometimes one scene per week. This pressure nearly killed my creativity. But the first thing I reacted on was the strict requirement by the teachers: scenes need to have a conflict! Nobody will sit at the theater watching a play in which “nothing happens”, they stated. There must always be a conflict of some sort!

And inside me I rebelled – why should we have that kind of conflicts between people, fights, arguments, hidden things unsaid, dark motives…? The world in itself is full of challenges, and all of us are in a personal challenge of trying to be the best of ourselves on a daily basis (some do it consciously, other’s not quite so much). Isn’t that a “conflict” in an of itself? And can we not strive for higher standards of communication, such as those I am so fortunate of experiencing within my family?

Reading uplifting material such as the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series (of which I own many), or shorter stories of normal people who have experienced something special, fills me with joy. I want to spread more of that joy in the world. If you want to see problems, just turn on the news. Anyone who has read “The Secret,” “Think and Grow Rich,” or else just any other self-development book, sales books, even network marketing books, knows that in order to have success in life you MUST fill yourself with a positive attitude. And the only way to stay positive is to keep pouring in positive stuff in your inner “cup”, counteracting the bad stuff that inevitably comes to you: even if you never watch the news, people will be talking about them in the supermarket, you’ll stumble upon them on social media, or in the elevator with your neighbors. The world is bombarding us with negativity and by tuning in to sorrow, fear, and anger we will only produce more of the same. If you can do something constructive to solve a problem, do it, but focus on the positive of solving the issue, not on the stumbling rock itself. You must be the change you want to see in the world, Gandhi said.

I want to contribute to those positive feelings. Where I have true stories, I want to share them. One day I will also write fiction, but that will be clearly labeled as such – otherwise, it will be true. In any case, what I write will always be uplifting. Perhaps it will make you think, it might make you cry, but it will end up on a positive note. That is my promise.