For more than 30 years I had a dream job. Working in Canadian intelligence, having access to very sensitive information that could make a difference in my country’s political, military or economic strategy, and being asked to write about it on a daily basis. What is not to like about that?
Since my retirement from CSIS in 2015 all that has changed. I no longer craft 1-2 page briefs for senior officials and experience the rush that used to come with that. I won’t lie: I miss that. But being ‘retired’ (NB my kids tell me constantly that I seem not to have grasped what ‘retired’ means!) does not mean inactive. Far from that!
Yes, some will use their post-work years to engage in activities they did not have time for while they were at the office/factory/coalface. Activities like golfing or fishing, travel, hobbies, spending time with the grandkids and such. I have all that – well not golfing or fishing since neither appeals to me – and more.
I write – every day.
Sometimes my writing takes the form of tweets on Twitter or slightly longer posts on LinkedIn or Facebook. That is indeed a form of writing but it is not what I want to focus on here.
Since 2015 I have written six books on terrorism, countless op-ed pieces for Canadian media and hundreds of blogs (on my Website www.borealisthreatandrisk.com), all on some aspect of terrorism and/or intelligence. That takes a lot of time, especially the books!
I have also maintained a habit I gained while working in intelligence. In order to be able to do what I was called upon to do I needed to read – a lot. I had to be up on the latest intelligence available as well as follow breaking news in open source. If I was asked to comment on something I had to know everything possible about it.
To this day I still read – a lot. Every day. The only difference is that all my sources are open: accessing intelligence at home seems to be something only US presidents can do! Besides, if I did try to read secret stuff in my pyjamas I would likely be charged under the Canadian Criminal Code!
I have identified somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200 websites I trust to get their facts right. These are mostly news sites around the world, although I throw in some thinktanks as well. All this consumption eats up 2-3 hours daily, more if I am called upon by Canadian media to offer some intelligent comments on a developing situation.
Luckily for me I like reading. I always have. I believe that to be a good writer, especially on national security issues, you have to be an even better reader.
Take my word – my written word – for that!
This article was contributed by Double Dagger author Phil Gurski.
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