My name is Philippe-Audrey Larrue-St-Jacques. I grew up in a happy, loving, loyal family that loves to laugh and has always valued curiosity, effort and empathy in addition to placing emancipation, respect and culture at the center of his life. Today, as best as I can, I try to be faithful to the environment that shaped me.
I don’t believe we are trapped in Orwellian control, but I’m not sure I believe in free will either. I think that, despite ourselves, our choices are determined by education, the era and the environment in which we evolve. Unless we are in a process of detachment which isolates, imprisons in principles and often ends in bizarre videos… However, I believe that we are lucky to live in a society which encourages personal emancipation and I sincerely think that this is less a sign of decadence than of evolution and gaining confidence in our means.
That it is the basis of all human experience. Our understanding and our relationship with the world depend on it. It is all the more precious because it is an exceptional way to rise as an individual. Furthermore, I also remember the fact that it does not need to be brutal or severe to be rigorous and effective. My parents always valued decency, respect and rectitude while showing empathy, kindness and care, and I do not feel like I received a faulty education. On the contrary !
Albert Camus became my absolute role model (except for the adulterous part). I totally agree that “the struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart…”. I am also fascinated by the works of Hannah Arendt (which I would like to understand more spontaneously, I admit…) because they offer, along with those of Camus, exceptional reflections on freedom. Otherwise, I sincerely miss Serge Bouchard. I am so grateful for the trust and respect he placed in our intelligence. Each time he shared his knowledge and thoughts, he gave us the gift of making us more intelligent and cultured.
To change life. Firstly, it was an enterprise of seduction that pushed me to abandon the theater to try my luck in humor. Secondly, recently, I had the chance to meet someone who made me want to define myself in ways other than professional success. So I changed my schedule, followed psychotherapy, changed my diet and pruned my tree of priorities. In fact, I changed everything to simply try (albeit laboriously) to refocus my life around who I love rather than who I wish I was.
The fate of adolescents. I have the impression that we are taking away the most beautiful privileges of youth: optimism and naivety. After being neglected during the pandemic, they spend their days in horribly dilapidated schools and see a government averse to (necessary) changes that would tangibly improve their lives and prove that they are valued. In addition to making them feel guilty about the deterioration of French and making their access to capital impossible, they are condemned to resolve the climate crisis. Good luck not succumbing to pessimism, individualism or, worse, nihilism.
Wherever there are books. Whenever I don’t feel well, I look for a library and spend hours, even days, there. The calm, the silence, the solemnity, even the smell of carpets unchanged since 1973… I love everything about libraries. In addition, we are surrounded by answers to all our questions.
Comfort. The other does not exist. In other words, you adapt everything according to your needs and sometimes you even expect us to adapt to your desires. Besides living in comfort, it must be incredibly liberating to escape the guilt of bothering, frustrating and pissing off everyone! I often envy selfish people.
Conciseness. Surprisingly, this is my most concise answer. That said, should you really expect a miracle with a name like mine?
I dream (and nightmare) every day about centris.ca and duproprio.com.
