Friday, September 16, 2005

The Persistence of Memory: Undone

This is one of the many posts in a "series" that I am going to make. If it ends or starts abruptly, look for the thread. It rolls on like a Qissa Chahaar Dervesh. This is the last post of the series, which itself is part of larger Quest & Lust.

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Will you now look at Silvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory differently? I do not know what Dali thought when he painted The Persistence. But I feel that this phrase means something deep and relevant to me, and to us all who are a world apart from what they are reminiscing about, but still there, in their minds, persisting in a state in which they are no longer. Stuck in the past.

It was this persistence of what-I-no-longer-am that I did not feel while I performed my Umrah. I am above 21 and quite below the next cycle of life that begins at 28. When I let my past walk up to me and held the future back, gelling them into one present, I knew that I was ready for turning 28.

To be able to enter the next phase of my life – which, by virtue of still not being lived is more valuable than my past life with which I have no chance but the opportunity to learn lessons – with this mindset has to be the happiest, and the most beautiful moment of my life so far. Even if I do not reach that age, I will have the satisfaction of knowing that no memory persists, and I have no desire for creating a future I have no control over. I am ready to take my life as it is, in the present, in every moment. And I have the freedom to make the best of it, so that my future is consequentially beautiful.


-Finis-

3 comments:

  1. I love Dali...

    "And I have the freedom to make the best of it, so that my future is consequentially beautiful."

    Best of luck to you!

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  2. Hey Ramla.. nice blog. but i am not too sure if Salvador Dali was an optimist like you who is trying to live life to its fullest and embracing what lies ahead.

    infact they say that lovers of dali look only at the morose side of lives. but i love the persistence of memory too. an eerie beauty..

    take care
    waleed

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  3. Hibah,

    Thank you!

    WK,

    Yes. Dali painted the picture of The Persistence of Memory, I gave it my own meaning; i.e. being stuck in time, as these hopeless figures are. They just languish!

    It is best to move on in time and leave memory behind.

    TheProphetess

    ReplyDelete