A Random 10 Books

A couple of my very dear friends have asked me to share my favourite 10 books. This is an impossible task for me. It's not unlike being asked to choose my favourite flower, or my favourite colour. But here goes, in order that I don't appear uncaring. Here, a RANDOM 10, with a quote from each:

1. As a boy, I remember and cherish my first reading eyes opening on The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the famous drawing on the second or third page. This book, through it’s simple complex charm has accompanied my soul ever since and is like a home for my soul.
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

2. Later, I stumbled upon this black hole of a book, a transporter room to a great mind expansion: Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. This book took the little I thought that I knew about the world and threw it through a blender. I haven’t put it back together since. But then again, did I actually read this book?
“Meaning lies as much
in the mind of the reader
as in the Haiku.”

3. Many great books find me. I believe that the most profoundly moving books that have crossed my path were the ones I stumbled upon, reached for on a shelf without knowing why, only to be royally rewarded: These include:
Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
“How foolish it is to wear oneself out in vain longing for warmth! Solitude is independence.” 

4. Siddartha by Hermann Hess
“So she thoroughly taught him that one cannot take pleasure without giving pleasure, and that every gesture, every caress, every touch, every glance, every last bit of the body has its secret, which brings happiness to the person who knows how to wake it. She taught him that after a celebration of love the lovers should not part without admiring each other, without being conquered or having conquered, so that neither is bleak or glutted or has the bad feeling of being used or misused.” 

5. And then Henry Miller came into my life with a slap and a bang and this sentence. All his books are on my list. But I’ll choose my first.
Sexus (The Rosy Crucifixion #1)
“To move forward clinging to the past is like dragging a ball and chain. The prisoner is not the one who has committed a crime, but the one who clings to his crime and lives it over and over. We are all guilty of crime, the great crime of not living life to the full. But we are all potentially free. We can stop thinking of what we have failed to do and do whatever lies within our power. What these powers that are in us may be no one has truly dared to imagine. That they are infinite we will realize the day we admit to ourselves that imagination is everything. Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything God-like about God it is that. He dared to imagine everything.” 

6. Did Hitchens play with your being yet? Anything Hitchens.

7. 100 Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez. Is this book about the Arabs? Is this book about the Arabs? I repeat.
“Before reaching the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth.” 

8. Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships by David Levy. 
Because let's face it. It will happen.

9. The Magus by John Fowles
“You wish to be liked. I wish simply to be. One day you will know what that means, perhaps. And you will smile. Not against me. But with me.” 

10. The Gift - Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master
By Daniel Ladinsky

The Stairway of Existence
We
Are not
In pursuit of formalities
Or fake religious
Laws,

For through the stairway of existence
We have come to God’s
Door.

We are
People who need to love, because
Love is the soul’s life,

Love is simply creation’s greatest joy.

Through
The stairway of existence,
O, through the stairway of existence, Hafiz

Have
You now come,
Have we all now come to
The Beloved’s
Door.

 

رسالة الي مبدعة عربية شابة (او مبدع) - الأمر دائما يتعلق بك

ترغب في أن تبدع؟ لديك رغبة في التعبير عن نفسك؟ لديك حاجة لتبرز وتكون شخصا متميزا، لتكون نفسك وتظهر مواهبك الفريدة إلى العالم؟ 

كاتب، رسام، مخرج، موسيقي، وغيرها الكثير ...هذه هي المسارات التي نرغب في سلكها، وبعد أن جربت بعض هذه المسارات، اسمحوا لي أن أقدم لكم بعض النصائح.

 القاعدة رقم 1: 

توقف عن الكلام وابدأ بالفعل.
توقف عن النقد والانتقاد.
توقف عن التفكير في وجود مؤامرات.
لا تدع مخالب القيل والقال تسحبك نحو الشك والتراخي. 

تذكر يا صديقي فعليك أن تتذكر: أنت الأساس وأكثر ما أستطيع فعله هو تسليط ضوء بسيط جدا على طول طريقك. لا شيء يهم إلا ما تقوم به، ما تنهيه وما تقدمه. 

إذا كنت مترددا لأنك تشعر أن ما تقدمه دون المستوى، إذا فلا تشعر بالتردد واظهر عملك للاخرين. عملك لن يصل إلى الإتقان ما لم تقم به مرارا وتكرارا، ومع كل مرة، مع كل تكرار، ستتعرف إلى أخطائك وتصبح أفضل في المرة التالية.

.اذا احتفظت بعملك لنفسك، فلا وجود له. 

أرأيت؟  الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 2 

لا تحاول أن تكون عصريا أو على الموضة. 

لا تدع السهولة التي أتاحتها التكنولوجيا الجديدة تخدعك، فالأمر كان وسيظل دائما متعلقا بتعبيرك عن نفسك، هذه الأدوات فقط تسهل ذلك والفن عموما هو عبارة عن سرد للحكايا وهو في نهاية المطاف متعلق بما يدور بداخلك. 
أما بالنسبة للموضات والاتجاهات الجديدة، مهلا يا صديقي، فأنت من يصنعها ... 

الأمردائما يتعلق بك، وسوف يكون دائما عنك، حتى عندما يكون شخص آخر هو من كتب قصة، وأنت تحولها إلى فيلم على سبيل المثال، أو مقطوعة موسيقية ترقص على أنغامها، مع ذلك يبقى الأمر متعلقا بك وبتقديمك ورؤيتك الخاصة لها. 

الآن وقبل أن تظن أنه لا جدوى من الاعتقاد أن الأمر دائما يتعلق بك  اسمح لي أن أشرح الفكرة: الأمر يتعلق بتقديمك للفكرة،  برؤيتك، طريقتك الشخصية في عرضها، وتناولك للأمور .. 

أرأيت؟  الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 3. 

 اللعب مهم. 
حاول إعادة النظر في تعريفك لمعنى "لعب"

إذا كنت تعتقد أن كل رسام يعرف أين سوف يتدفق الطلاء، أو أن كل مخرج يعرف بالضبط كيف ستبدو كل لقطة في الفيلم النهائي عند بداية عمله، فأنت مخطئ حتما، الإبداع سيبقى دائما لغزا واكتشافا. 

أرأيت؟  الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 


القاعدة رقم 4 

 تشكك. وارهب راحة المعرفة. 

اسمح لي أن أكرر هذا: تشكك. وارهب راحة المعرفة.

لا تكن نسخة عن أساتذتك، إذا كنت درست حرفتك في مدرسة متخصصة فهذا جيد وإن لم تفعل فهذا لا يهم لأن المعرفة متوفرة الآن على شبكة الانترنت. التفاعل أهم، فالنمو الحقيقي يأتي من التفاعل مع المبدعين والمدرسين ذوي الاهتمام المشترك. 

أما بالنسبة لأساتذتك ومعلميك، هذا أفضل حكم على مدى تميزهم: إذا كانوا  يعلمونك الحرفية، التقنية، وتاريخ الإبداع فهم حتما رائعون،  ولكن بمجرد أن يتدخلوا للتأثير في أغنيتك، فيلمك، قصتك أو لوحتك ويملوا عليك ما يجب "قوله" ابتعد عنهم، نعم  ابتعد عنهم بأسرع ما يمكن. 

ولا تسمح أبدا لشعور أنك تعرف كل شيء يزحف إلى عقلك، إنه سرطان سيمنعك من الإبداع، شكّك في كل شيء. التشكيك يجعلك تطرح أسئلة، والتساؤل يفتح الأبواب. ملاحظة: هناك فرق بين الشك والريبة. 

أرأيت؟  الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 5 

تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية،

نعم، ما قرأته صحيح. 

99.99٪ من المعلومات التي ستساعدك في إبداعك، متوفرة على شبكة الإنترنت باللغة الإنجليزية، وبالمجان.

أرأيت؟ الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 6 

لا تنتظر الإلهام، فالالهام في انتظارك.

اعمل بجدية أكثر من أي شخص تعرفه. 

تجرأ على الحلم، تخيل، واشعر بالخوف من الراحة الإبداعية. إذا كنت تشعر بالرضا عن عملك، فتخلص منه. أحب نفسك أثناء قيامك بخلق إبداعك ولكن لا تقع أبدا في حب مع ما قمت بإبداعه. 

لا تجعل لنفسك تصنيفا، لا تصنف نفسك. في اللحظة التي تدعو فيها نفسك فنانا، فأنت ميت كفنان أو في أفضل الأحوال تكون قد أصبحت قزما مبدعا، تعيش تحت لعنة أن ترقى إلى مستوى هذا التوقع. 

أرأيت؟ الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 7 

لا تمجد أبطال الإبداع.
اكتف بالإعجاب بهم وانظر إليهم فقط كأشخاص وصلوا إلى أبعد منك وسوف تصل إلى حيث وصلوا يوما ما.

أرأيت؟ الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 8 

ما هو منتهى أحلامك؟ اعمل على تحقيقه.

 الآن.
تريد أن تعيش قصة حب في الصين؟ اذهب إلى السفارة الصينية .... 

تريد تسلق الجبال؟ الجبل في انتظارك ... 

تريد أن تكون أفضل ممثل، إذا تحرك ومثّل، وابذل كل ما يلزم مهما كلفك الأمر.

أرأيت؟ الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 9 

اطبع ما يلي وضعه على الحائط: 

"الإلهام موجود، لكن يجب أن يجدك وأنت تعمل" بابلو بيكاسو 

أرأيت؟ الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 

القاعدة رقم 10 

تقبل أن وجهة نظرك سوف تستمر في التغيير كلما نضجت أكثر. 

لأننا لسنا رجالا آليين، بل نحن مجرد مستكشفين والمناطق التي نستكشفها متغيرة باستمرار.

 أرأيت؟ الأمر دائما يتعلق بك. 


وأخيرا:
دائما انظر وشاهد بنفسك، اقرأ وتعقل بنفسك، واصنع أحكامك ومبادئك الخاصة بك.

Translation kindly offered by Aziza Mourasillo

Dear Young Arab Creative - It’s always about you.

So you want to create? You have an itch to express yourself? You have a need to stand out and be someone unique, to be yourself and show your unique colours to the World?
Writer, dancer, painter, director, musician, and many others… these are the paths that we desire. Having been down some of these paths, let me offer you some advice. 

RULE No. 1:

Stop talking and start doing. 
Stop critiquing and criticizing.
Stop thinking of conspiracies.
Don’t let the tentacles of gossip drag you down into suspicion and inaction.
Remember, and oh boy oh boy, you need to remember: You are the source and the most I can do is throw a very small light along your way. Nothing matters but what you output, what you finish and what you deliver.

If you are hesitant because you feel your work is shit, then don't be, just get it out there. Your work will not reach a mastery unless you do more and more ,and with each work, with each exposure, you’ll learn your faults and become better the next time around.

If you keep your work to yourself, it doesn't exist.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 2

Don’t try to be cool or fashionable.
Don’t ever get mesmerized by the facility and easiness that new technology gives you. It has always been and will always be about you expressing yourself. These tools only make it easier. Remember:  all art is really about storytelling and is ultimately about what's inside you.

As for fashions and trends, hey, you create them…

It's about you and will always be about you. Even when it's someone else's written story that you're for example, turning into a film, or that piece of music that you are dancing to, it’s always about you and your interpretation.

Now before you think it's vain for this to be always about you let me explain: It's about your interpretation, your vision, your personal view, your take on things etc.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule 3. 

Always play.
Go back and revisit your definition of what being in a ‘state of play’ means.
If you think every painter knows where the paint will flow, or where every film director knows exactly how every shot will look in the final film, when they start a project, you are mistaken. Creativity will always be a mystery and a discovery.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 4

Cultivate doubt. Fear the comfort of knowing.
Let me repeat this: Cultivate doubt. Fear the comfort of knowing
You are not your teachers. If you studied your craft in a school, good for you. If you did not, it doesn’t matter because all knowledge is now on the internet. Interaction is most important. Real growth comes from interaction with like-minded creators and teachers.

As for your teachers, here is the best judge of how good they are: if they are teaching you the craft, the technique, the history of creativity, then they are great. But the minute they influence your song, your film, story or painting to tell you what to 'say', leave them. Yes, leave them in a hurry.
And don’t EVER let the feeling that you know it all creep into your mind. It's a cancer that'’ll stop you from creating.
Doubt everything. Doubting makes you question. Questioning opens doors.
But note: there is a difference between doubt and suspicion.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 5 

Learn English. Yes, you read that right.
99.99 % of information to help you in your creativity is on the internet and is in English. And it's absolutely free,

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 6

Don’t wait for the muse. She is waiting for you.
Work harder than anyone you know.
Dare to dream. Imagine.
Be afraid and fear the feeling of creative comfort. If you feel good about your work, destroy it. Love yourself when you are creating and never fall in love with what you create.

Don't be labeled. Don't label yourself.  The minute you call yourself an artist, you are dead as an artist or at the very best you become a creative midget, cursed to live up to that expectation.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 7 

Don’t worship creative heroes.
Admire and see them as people who are further down the river from you. You will get there one day. Perhaps you'll go further.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 8

What’s your wildest dream? Pursue it. 

Now. 
Wanna love in china? Get over to the Chinese embassy….
Want to climb mountain? The mountain is waiting for you…
Want to be the best actor, then act, act, act.
Do what it takes, whatever it takes.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 9

Print this and put it on your wall:

“Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working”
Pablo Picasso

So you see, it’s always about you.

Rule No. 10

Accept that your viewpoint will continue to change as you mature.
Because we are not robots. Rather, we are explorers, and the terrain that we are discovering is ever changing.

So you see, it’s always about you.

Finally: 
ALWAYS See for yourself. Read for yourself. Make your own judgements.

 

 

Silvena's Father

And so, it’s another fine morning and you're driving your car, and on the radio they're interviewing Silvena Rowe and you remember her as the celebrity chef with the most beautiful cookbooks ever, the cookbooks you love so much that you give them away as presents to loved ones. 

And in the interview she’s asked a question about her father and what he means to her, - and up until then you had felt that your morning is just fine, you know, as in ‘routine’, - but she bursts out crying and sobbing at his mention. 

And for three or four minutes she can't for the life of her keep it together, and the interviewer isn't helping, prodding her, and asking more about her father’s memory. 

And she finally manages to squeeze in a few words between the sniffles. And it hits you in the head like a bulldozer that this world famous chef, the lady who has it all, who was only a minute ago explaining how it was difficult for a woman to lead a kitchen and that she must be a bitch, and that she becomes a bitch, all for the sake of getting the job done, is now in pieces, emotionally, on live radio, unable to utter one complete word, much as she tried.

And finally she manages to tell his story: how he was so much larger than life, a Bulgarian Turk who was a 'bon vivant', and that how when he died, she told her sister “You know what? his soul is now free, so I’m going to claim for it for me, if you don't mind. I’m going to be him”.

And you’re struck by all of this, and you remember her amazing dreamy cookbooks that seem to belong to another world, but most of all you are struck by this wonderful strangeness, that magical strangeness, and then she says that most of all she remembered his smell, a beautiful  smell so unique that she named one of her cookbooks after it: “Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume”.

And you drive on, and the day is just starting, and you think, what a day to be alive.

Why we create 2

Richard Feynman:
There aren’t too many mysteries left, you know; one of these days some superbrain is going to come up with a brilliant revelation of original cause; DNA, or whatever it is, is going to explain heredity; and XYZ will remove the last veil from the chemical wonder of sexual attraction. And then what will we be let with? Man and his mystery — the mindless, useless, glorious pursuit of artistic truth. And all, hopefully, without a shred of motivation.

Why we must create.

1. To connect with humanity, those alive now and those to follow on this planet.
2. To connect with another human through a channel perhaps as intimate as love making.
3. To satisfy the naturally ingrained need to create, and thereby feel alive.
4. To reflect on our state of being.
5. To discover the mysterious unknown.

What drives us? Where do we get our juice?

in

We at Picture Pond feel a need to produce entertainment works that somehow add value to our audience. Call it social responsibility if you may, but we see it more as a way of simply being good citizens in the community or communities of the Middle East.

In our previous incarnation, at Fatafeat TV, this was only too evident to the team behind the channel and to our great audience. With a slogan like الحياة حلوة, we had our mojo.