Thursday, June 22, 2006

in the moment

i read this today:

"Of the two of us, Sonia had the gift for photography, but she'd just stand there, arms on the guardrail, and gaze at the landscape like it didn't matter what her memory lost."

i read this and felt something; so often, i feel as though i am working hard to preserve memories and then relaxing in the satisfaction that i have archived them for later. i wonder what it would be like to truly just soak in an experience without feeling the need for journalling or photography or documentation. to know that i can gain more from something by just experiencing it than i can by saving it for later.

when we travel, i never take photos anymore. this is due in part to taher's love of photography; i can rest easy knowing that he is in charge of photos and will take gorgeous ones, and i don't have to think about it. but ever since i came upon that quote in toni morrison's "tar baby", i have another motive to refrain from photographs. although refraining from journalling is much more difficult for me.

here is the quote. i have published it on this blog at least twice, but i love it and so here goes:

at some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough.
you don't need to photograph it, paint it or even remember it.
it is enough.
no record of it needs to be kept and
you don't need someone to share it with or tell it to.
when that happens- that letting go - you let go because you can.
the world will always be there- while you sleep it will be there -
when you wake it will be there as well.
so you can sleep and and there is reason to wake.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

i remember reading this quote on your blog for the first time, and really liking it. feeling it. but now, today, i don't feel the same way. now i feel the need to preserve things in my memory, on paper, because things change, people move ..
however, i guess i am not talking about 'the world's beauty' anymore .. :p

1:02 AM  
Blogger Baraka said...

Salaam,

That's a lovely quote. I'm a photographer myself but sometimes I like to let it go & just soak it all in instead.

Warmly,
B

11:53 AM  

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