FIVE HUNDRED

"Au lieu de rester enferme six mois a ecrire tout seul dans ta cave, tu tapes un texte pendant vingt minutes, tu appuies sur play et tu as des reactions immediates..."

"Instead of locking yourself for 6 months in a cave to write, you type a text during 20 minutes, you press the play button and you have immediate reactions..."
(Nicolas Voisin, blogger in LeMonde)



Sometimes I get ideas two by two. Sometimes days go by without any ideas at all. I always write instinctively. Its a spontaneous urge. Perhaps I hesitate. I think I will either bore the reader with the subject matter or consider the subject banal. But I always give in to impulse: someone, somewhere, will like this post more than the others.

Sometimes I write in one jolt, because the subject is "hot" (lipke tennismatch results), because I came out of the film mesmerized or because the experience was inspiring.
Sometimes I begin a post and work on it throughout the day, or even over a few days. Perhaps because its a "little more forced" or just because I don't have the opportunity to "sit and write."

I am standing at the Starbucks counter as I write this one, overwhelmed by the occasion: I never thought I would get....this far. Perhaps the caffein jolt will boost my verve and take me on a different tangent.

I write to share. I have 150 readers (the close relatives, the kind friends and the random internet surfers) logging on my blog daily. These readers are not a homogeneous group of people because none of them log on daily. Yet the numbers are a constant at 150, making me wonder, where I am read. I wish each reader left a one sentence remark, so I could guess.

Some have recommended I slow the rythm down, space the postings. My sister and first editor would get too busy to edit or I would miss a day of inspiration and my months became lunar in number (ranging in the high 20s). However, I do believe it is my commitment to write daily. A regular reader of mine once sent me an SMS of concern when I refrained from posting for 3 days. I had experienced grief and this reader had sensed my pulse: my writing had dried up.

The most rewarding feeling comes from the comments. I sense a debate flowing or I appreciate the input of the reader. Many times, that input surpasses in quality my own modest contribution. I also enjoy discussing the blog, laughing about it, referring to it. Frequently, my brother will send me a: "music matters" in reference to one post, or "I crossed the bridge" in reference to another.

My own feelings are reinforced by my writing: "swimming at night" takes me to the sound of my son's swim team dashing through the water as the calls to prayer resonate gracefully. Driving through Oud Metha reminds me of how I elected it my "secret spot" in Dubai. I also remember my daughter crossing a field of flowers like in a Monet painting or the first time I listened to Every Tear Drop by Cold Play and my obsession with Jonathan Franzen.

I could have a "keyword" feature on my blog because many times, in my daily encounters, I will tell a friend: "I wrote about it on my blog! Check it out!"

What has become extraordinary is that I can now say, without blinking, that I am a blogger. I have celebrated 500 entries and I have a random number of readers, surpassing 100.

And always, I remind myself, don't just write your blog, live it!