on being a teacher
after class today, a one of my foundation year kids came up to me and said, "you know every day i get up and think im SO not sure i want to do this, and then your friday class comes about and im like...this is what i want to do. so, thanks." it's moments like these, i tell ya. its moments like these.
so many me's. so little time.
the teacher who has to motivate and inspire.
the designer who's taxing and maxing her creativity.
the bride who is in denial and needs to order her wedding outfit.
the fiancee who is alone in karachi and does not like it too much.
the madcap who wants to blog at 3 am.
the sister who has to always be there even right after a fight.
the daughter who should be home more now.
the friend dying to chill with friends who just let her be.
the cousin in hiding until the next plan is ready and made.
the bum who needs one sunday to sleep late.
a moment of cat-ness
no matter how pressing a deadline, how severe a mental block or how hectic your schedule, an adorable cat warm on a bed in the winter sun is worth stopping your world for.
Blocks.
mental blockage. blocked.
BLOCK.in the box. think
out of the box. out of the box is the
new box.
is it
always about a box? structure it. limits. briefs. harness.
MORE blocks. blocking on msn? block out the world. the space within. inner peace. outgrow your box. break that box. dont box me. am i part of a category?
since when did we become so obsessive about these little compartments? let me make my own box.
Strike! Strike! Strike!
Day Three of Non-Productiveness.
ze mental bloc ees driving me ze insane.
i feel like ze working
but eet ees too much of ze pain.
*tap*tap*tap* what to do? where to go from here?
[jammie sighs.]
should being creative have a timeline? should it work in allotted slots or be forever rendered useless? and what happens to useless creativity then? is it sent to the land of unneeded designs? need on time. or not need at all. so if a good idea comes late, its a bad idea?
is it frustration with the current status quo of design in life that all these demons are rising again? and is that why i cant work? is the designer in me on strike until situations improve?
My Blog Story
everyone has a blog story. something inspirational they read online. someone they met who just makes them more magic...a big event...a small incident...anything...something...that led to the eventual formation of what is now known as their blog. what a funny word. blog. blog. hahah. blog. sometimes the simplicity of words masking the complexity and wholeness of emotions and existence overwhelms me.
TheWishJarTales
Wish List # 4, 6736
these days it seems like im making more wish lists than i can handle making come true. when did life get so fast? wasnt it just new years?
I REFUSE.
such a relief to be able to say no to something for the sheer luxury of finding time for yourself.
Accomplishments.
i love days when i manage to cross out every single thing to do on my list.
I(Heart)Karachi
as hearts rose and fell on valentine's day in karachi, i wonder if i also believe in the notion that something as all-encompassing as love needs an allotted day of celebration in life.
Re-Vamping
on saturday, i attended, along with my other designer friends a day long seminar called STORYBORED, pakistan's journey in advertising. although not directly aimed at "designers", the few of us who were sitting together still managed to take back from the conference a lot more than i feel the dull faced client execs spotting the hall did.
something imran syed of adcom said reverberated in my head long after we left.
"we need to be seduced so bad". although in typical pakistani style, this was met with under-the-breath snickers and nudges to each other (eww), it clunked a bell in my head. thats what it is. the missing link is that we no longer feel seduced by what we do. the lure, the magic, the pull, the chemistry is all gone...pfffft! we have settled for being boring mundane people, existing rather than passionately involved in life. we have given up the thrill and chase of every day challenges to be safe, secure and ultimately, vegetables. we dont strive for passion and perfection in our work- we are happy with 'good'. we dont flame up the romance in our lives...we are happy with 'comfortable'. when we have created a numbing limbo around us where we arent tickled at the thought of change being a powerful exciting living concept then why are we surprised that life doesnt take us anywhere?
contrary to public opinion, inspiration isnt the name of some legendary bird that only visits a few lucky people each year. inspiration lies within is. when i am no longer content with who i am, i will discover another way to be me. that is inspiration. when i am sick and bored of the drudgery, i will find another way to do the task. that is inspiration. when i feel stuck in a rut and bored with life, i will take a match and go out there to set fires. little tid bits of inspirational behaviour will not necessarily change the world, but it will shift the wind in another direction. and as it musses up my hair in the wrong direction, i will smile.
Time Travel to Happy Places.
sitting for lunch at biryani centre today, with 3 people i associate with a life long ago, i got to thinking how simple time travel has become. find the right people, in the right setting and suddenly the past ten years cease to exist. for that moment, you are that same 18 year old, the butt of jokes, analysis and laughter and yet this time round you actually have perspective. and as walked towards our cars, i realized we make our own happy places- by stealing moments in hectic, full, work-packed days to reconnect with the important people who make up our life, today and ten years ago.
It's Official People. Im a Cutie Pie.
You Are A Romantic Realist |
You are more romantic than 50% of the population.
You tend to be grounded when it comes to romance.
Sure, you can fall hard... but only for someone you've gotten to know.
And once you're in love, you can be a total romantic goofball...
But you'd never admit it to your friends! |
Fabulous Girlfriends.
this blog entry is dedicated to my fabulous friends without whom surviving the past year of heartbreak and rediscovering myself would not have been possible. heres to the women whose sense of humour, sense of design and sense and sensibility in matters of my heart and soul proved to be a picker upper as i scraped the bottom of the barrel after another one of lifes unexpected swerves. the best part has been the laughter, the spontaneous combustion of giggly laughter interspersed with philosophical and deep analyses on life, love and men. heres to the designers in us, which enabled all of us to continue keeping a mad happy outlook on life, through writing, reading, illustrating and the ability to share what is in our hearts and minds. heres to women in general who believe in the power of communication- the fact that putting it out there will make it better because whether we get what we want or not at point x, at point y we will love what we got. and that is a kind of faith only a fabulous woman is capable of.
one espresso afternoon
our last "time-out" at espresso ended with an assignment from mariam. we must blog what we took back from our conversation that day.
that night, sitting at my lap top, i was blank. the words were all in my head. churning. seething. jostling. and yet no tangible thought resulted. and my usual worry set in. am i fresh out of new ideas? can i no longer think originally?
shahzad nawaz, my fourth year advertising design teacher, once told us that ideas are floating about in the air, not belonging to anyone. you pick one and its yours. and as i grew into better more passionate designer, i realized the depth of that statement. that rarely are their ideas which are completely new. maybe never. but the way you pick it out of the millions and what you turn it into is what makes it yours and priceless. and so i sat again, this time with crayons and decided to plot down the life of an idea. of the way it transmits, like an epidemic from person to person, changing and yet ephemerally, remaining the same. and i draw immense inspiration and comfort from the thought that no matter how many fellow designers pick at the same idea from our pool of great ideas hanging in the air, i will always be different, original, unique...because no one else has lived my life.
spectacular karachi evenings.
january flew
and yesterday even as i say i know what im doing for the rest of the day, i get a call from aida saying her father passed away and i quickly wrap up my class to rush to her, all
plans of lunch with mariam and coffee with asad forgotten. And i realize to myself that five year
plan or no
plan at all, the one thing i definitely
plan on is being there for the people who need me.
