MHS Pourri: Why I Decided to write again

Since grammar school, I always had a love for reading.  Back in those days, the reading that we did was basically confined to the Bible, with the same stories repeated over and over again from kindergarten through 8^th grade.  I have vivid memories of asking my teachers questions about the meaning of certain passages; I would even ask the priests when we were forced to attend masses.  The most common answer I was given to my questions was “There are certain things you will never understand, and we just have to accept them as truth.” 

In earlier grades, I accepted that answer, but as I grew older, I questioned things more and more.  I found it suspicious that when it was convenient to them, that was the common answer.  I realize now that in reality, they had the same questions, but were just too scared to explore them.  I almost had to trick the nuns at my school into answering the questions, by asking them in a lawyer-like fashion. One of the famous questions I had stemmed from the book of Genesis, in which there is a passage that says “sons of God saw the daughters of men….” (Genesis 6:2).  I asked, “Who were these ‘sons of God’?”, since men and sons were clearly used in two different contexts.   The nuns would tell me that ‘sons of God’ are the angels. 

“Ahh”, I said.  “And the next line says that the sons of God saw the daughters of men were beautiful, took wives for themselves of all whom they chose…sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children..etc. These children were giants, etc. So are you telling me that the angels had sex with human females?”  Again, the answer was, “There are some things that can’t be taken literally or some things just can’t be understood or God’s knowledge is vast and beyond our comprehension”. 

Hmmmm.  So at that point in my life, probably around the age of six, I decided that most people are full of BS, and that almost no-one could be believed.

It seemed to me that the only answer was: read, read, read, write, comprehend, and make your own conclusions.  In this spirit, I started writing early, in high school, mostly about the pains I suffered in my early childhood, and early teens. 

When I was 22, I worked as a waiter in a small food chain, probably one of the best jobs I ever had in my lifetime.  One day they asked me to watch the parking lot, because I was probably the fittest and strongest of all the waiters.  I sat in a booth, listened to the radio, watching, and I heard an advertisement for a song-writing contest.  I entered one of my songs, and four weeks later, I was told that I won the contest and received $500.00 (the equivalent to a full month working at the restaurant). Little did I know, I had released the rights to the song, which was bought by an alternative music band, which in turn, made it to the top 10 songs for the year.  They made millions, I made $500.00.  I felt cheated, and knew then that life was full of money-hungry people, who are not concerned about other’s well-being.  For those who are wondering, I can’t say the name of the band or song, as to this day I am under a gag order, but I can talk about it. 

That experience left a bad taste in my mouth, and I stopped writing for years.  Then a few years ago, I found my now moldy book of writings, and it brought a smile to my face, as well as a renewed joy. I am older and wiser now, and have gone through more pain in my life than anyone can ever imagine or dream, so I decided that this was my time.  That song that was robbed from me was a lesson, one that now translates into the present. 

Then a few years ago, I found my now moldy book of writings, and I smile about the joy it brings me. I am older and wiser now, and more pain has gone through my life than anyone can ever imagine or dream, and so I decided, this was my time. The robbed song that I wrote was a lesson for me now. The lesson I learned taught me that I wasn't meant to be a writer then, I was meant to tell a story now, about life, about sex, about business relationships, about personal relationships, about love, and about honor





PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS BLOG ON WWW.GOODREADS.COM

AUTHOR NAME  Jake Furie Lapin -- My Blogs

Jake's Goodreads Blog Link

BOOK "THE SPICE OF LIFE"