Dr. Irit flint Becker is a pediatric dentist by profession, as well as a group facilitator in art therapy and a life coach, specializing and trained in Logotherapy. She is embarking on a fascinating journey with the publication of a new book that touches upon the colorful story of her life.
We, at Contento Now, had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Becker in our digital TV studio and asked if she would be willing to share with us some of the most mysterious, tantalizing, and intriguing moments:
The book in Hebrew tells of an encounter with a certain man that developed into a relationship, a very bad one. I can be brutally honest — as is expressed in the book as well — and say, that it made me realize why people wish to end their lives; they just want to bring an end to the suffering and are not interested in anything else.
After I shared that with him (Dr. Irit Flint Becker’s real lover, on whom Uri’s character is based), I was able to write it. In the past I could not talk about it at all, and certainly not write. The suffering is so horrible; it is so painful, that the only thing you wish is to rid yourself of it, just end it. You are not interested in anything: not your children, not your grandchildren, not your job, not who you are. You see nothing but the pain; it becomes the pivot around which your life spins, you wish to smash it and end it all.
With tears in her eyes, she shared the story of her toxic relationship with us, her feelings of being an impostor, under the guise of a strong, beautiful, smart, and successful woman. She also told us about the first encounter with her lover which had felt to her like coming home.
The book touches upon Dr. Becker’s personal and sincere story through the eyes of Yael, a 67-year-old grandmother. Via Facebook’s algorithm she is introduced to Uri, a Canadian man who spends the winter months in Israel. She faces a dilemma: whether to fulfill physical fantasies she had never dared with him, with desire and youthful joy in the seventh decade of her life, despite the danger of a potential emotional crash that awaits her, or, to play it safe and give up, knowing she might regret it for the rest of her life.
Suddenly You Touched a Chord is an endless roller coaster of real and imaginary events, and ones combining the two dimensions. The delicate yet powerful writing is laced with carefully written poems, thus the protagonist Yael is gradually exposed as a complex character, moving between extremes of intense feelings and existential philosophical contemplations.
Netanel Semrik, publisher and CEO of Contento Now for over three decades, asked Dr. Becker to choose one excerpt she would like to read, so as to offer those who have not been exposed to the novel a small taste of it:
“I can even picture the following scenario: you think, “Right, we have a wonderful love, I feel like I’m back in my youth, but I have a good, comfortable life, I don’t need thunder strikes and lightning bolts; perhaps, just a little spice.”
Am I wrong? I asked you.
Wow, yes. You’re very wrong. You’re not really the spice, Yael. You’re describing a story from some women’s magazine. You know ours is a completely different story.
And what story is it? I insisted.
Ours is a story of constant love and passion, a story of a miraculous contact and touch, of fantasies nurtured during our youth, acted upon in our seventies. We turned back the clock.”
According to the author, the novel has one main message: We all deserve love, no matter our age, weight, or physical condition. One needs to take a proactive attitude in looking for it.
We asked Netanel Semrik, the interviewer and publisher, about the interview experience with Dr. Becker and he replied: “This is an inspiring, optimistic woman with a huge heart who can empower other women like her, those who have managed to reach tremendous peaks, mentally as well as physically.”
The novel entails the tail of Yael, a sixty-seven years old grandmother who dabbles in writing poetry, is devoted to her grandchildren. She is convinced that her days of passion and romance are over. With the help of Facebook she makes contact with a man from Canada by the name of Uri and finds in him a kindred spirit with whom she can communicate and share her most intimate feelings. When they meet face to face in Israel she is forced to decide whether she wishes to realize her secret fantasies with him, those she had never dared practice before. She wonders whether, at this stage of her life, she will be able to experience the delights of the body as in her youth whilst ignoring the danger of an emotional crash.
“And then you touched a chord” is a journey within consciousness moving from one subject matter to the next, relating the story of a great love which cannot be fully realized. Longings for a distant loved one are blended with memories of childhood, adolescence and old loves which had occurred in the past. Prose is mingled with poetry slowly revealing the complicated nature of the main character that moves from intense feelings to profound thoughts concerning the changing situations of her life. The book recounts situations which in fact occurred, some which are based on imagination and dreams, and others which could have actually happened.
Dr. Irit Flint Becker – mother, grandmother and friend – was born in Warsaw and immigrated to Israel with her family at the age of five. She is a pediatric dentist, a group therapist in the arts, a personal trainer, and a graduate of Logotherapy studies. During her life she lived and worked in various places each of which had its geographic and cultural impact.
I no longer sit on the windowsill. The feeling of instability renders it unsafe. I now sit at the table with a cup of coffee, a cigarette and my old diary which contains the pages I added over the years and my memories from the days of my childhood and youth. I opened the lock and began to tell the story of a girl who turned into a teenager, a soldier in the Israeli army, a university student, a mature woman. I progress according to the road signs, occasionally stopping, inspecting, lovingly following the girl-woman throughout the years, adding new pages to the diary, adding life to the years. Some of the stories refer to the present, others to the past, just like the road signs which show the way through the tangle of the paths, through the chaos of the times.
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