Fatima Ijaz > Quotes

“Choosing to stay and work on something shows maturity and there are things of beauty that only consistency reveals. Timing is all, as well. I’m fascinated by Kureshi’s lines; change is what keeps us from stagnating, and perhaps these ‘storms’ show us more colors in each other that we can appreciate in a stronger way.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“For the past couple of days, I have started a new work routine. I’m calling it a ‘mood board’—I work with images, words, meditation, music and figure out what could be a story? A poem? Or just plain imagination and sorting out my mind and heart.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“The struggle for creative artists throughout times has often been a very real one. Balancing life and art is delicate business. Creating art out of your own life is also very difficult and it is something I have been thinking more and more about.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“Though I have also seen that the more truly you begin to express yourself, the more the ‘noise,’ the crowd dissipates, but not before it hurts you in some indefinable way.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“I must say your last letter was medicinal, it was just the dose of conversation I needed. I really appreciate your ability to say just how it is on your mind. It was the red pill of Matrix. Haha I’m listening to an old Bollywood song, and you know how an ordinary song can sometimes assume such an accuracy?
Kaali kaali khalee raaton se honei lagee hei dostee
Khoya khoya inn rahon mei ab mera kuch bhee nahin”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“A rotten lemon… I know the black arts deal with dolls and needles—but it could be any object on which you have been willed or imagined. Like a thing that represents you. Sometimes there are two similar objects and one is placed near you and the other is with the person practicing the black arts. Dolls have featured so long in these domains; there is a short story by Carlos Fuentes that features a doll representing a dead little girl.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“The night has walked towards me and entered me. I f I could see the color of my soul perhaps it would be this same stab of misty darkness.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“I wonder where these conversations will take us...”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“It has the feeling of ascent mostly, like we are climbing a mountain.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“A rotten lemon… I know the black arts deal with dolls and needles—but it could be any object on which you have been willed or imagined. Like a thing that represents you. Sometimes there are two
similar objects and one is placed near you and the other is with the person practicing the black arts. Dolls have featured so long in these domains; there is a short story by Carlos Fuentes that features a doll representing a dead little girl.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“The artist I mentioned I saw in the dream—something about him has disturbed me for years. I always tried my best to bring to his attention anything, I found he could be inspired by. But his reactions were never appreciative, rather bitter and dismissive. As artists, I feel we can connect to each other at another level, but he had a strained relationship with himself as an artist. He didn’t get the commercial success he was hoping for, I assumed that’s what made him generally uneasy. So it was kind of a problem that I couldn’t solve for some time. The dream made me realize his sorrow which was genuine, but an inability as well. I mean, what if you go to art school and learn some techniques, but aren’t able to pour your soul into the work? There’s a ‘disconnect,’ as you say, you’re just not connected.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“The initial phase of interest/‘love’ (?) as compared to the aftermath is an interesting position to view this whole picture. It is like a sea we dive into and what we discover is a whole other story. Though I admire that initial leap, there’s something heroic about it—a risk-taking, taking a chance on life. And then there’s the question of the nature of love and how deep does it go. The movie, Atlantics, reminded me that love is easy to read on someone’s expression, in someone’s eyes—she doesn’t have
to make a case for it; it is apparent. As Anne Sexton puts it:
“As it has been said:
Love and a cough
cannot be concealed.
Even a small cough.
Even a small love.”
— Anne Sexton”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“I’ve started thinking about how I feel about returning. There is a lot I discovered about myself in these last two years and I want to carry that knowledge and help people accept me for who I am now. My parents and Lahore—are two tricky areas for me.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship

“As I pick out the color of the font to write this letter, I too want to live in a spiritual equilibrium as you say.”
― Fatima Ijaz, Story Circle: Letters on Creativity & Friendship