EM JAY says...

Anglo-Moroccan Muslimah who loves languages, books, tea and Islam. This here is a collection of all (read some of) my random musings and interesting finds.

[emjaysays]

It’s been a while...

a long, long while. 

I’ve taken to writing in a physical journal, with pages and a pen, in the past year or so. Sometimes it’s in my dedicated Moleskine; other times it’s on sheets of lined A4 because I can’t get to my journal quick enough. I’m overcome by the urge to write out what’s in my head or heart or both.

Tumblr is still a place I feel like I can write in but it’s been so long and its format has changed quite a bit. I’m considering remaking, starting from scratch. 

[heartbreakhur]

[word-stuck]

Hi! I'm currently writing a book, and your blog is so inspiring. I found not only your choice of words, but also the accompanying pictures, very poetic. I was looking to title the first chapter of my book with one of these very specific words. I was wondering if there was a word, in any given language, to refer to the act of remembering, playing memories for relief. Thanks! You're doing a beautiful and inspiring work with this blog!

Natsukashii 懐かしい (なつかしい) describes a warm, sudden feeling of sentimentality in which small things bring back some old, good memories while one remembers the fondness and goodness of that time.

This is used to express a longing for the past — it connotes both happiness for the fondness of that memory and goodness of that time, as well as sadness that it is no longer.

Sometimes, it can also be referred as being suddenly, euphorically nostalgic, triggered by experiencing something for the first time in years, or a nostalgia for a life or event that one has not experience.

Originally derived from verb 懐く ‎(natsuku, “to get used to and keep close; to become fond of”), the adjective originally described wanting to keep something close, wanting to express fondness for something. Over time, this term was used more to describe reminiscences, leading to the modern meaning.

(Kinfolk Flowers shot by Parker Fitzgerald; in collaboration with Amy Merrick)

[raboartcollection]

[septemberwildflowers]

When you’re an artist, nobody ever tells you or hits you with the magic wand of legitimacy. You have to hit your own head with your own handmade wand. And you feel stupid doing it. There’s no “correct path” to becoming a real artist. You might think you’ll gain legitimacy by going to university, getting published, getting signed to a record label…[but] it’s all in your head. You’re an artist when you say you are. And you’re a good artist when you make somebody else experience or feel something deep or unexpected.

Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking (via septemberwildflowers)

[emjaysays]

Canada peeps!

I’ve been here just under 5 days and it’s sooooo strange to be on this side of the Pond. Feels like I’m walking around a movie set from my childhood.

P.S. Y'all Canadians are proper nice and the place is pretty clean and I love how you have free Wifi and charger sockets everywhere (almost).

[wnq-music]

There’s a limit to your love Like a waterfall in slow motion Like a map with no ocean

James Blake, “Limit to Your Love”, James Blake    (via wnq-music)

[ammit420]

in order to lead a happy life im gonna have to disappoint my parents a bit

[thelovejournals]

Do you love me enough that I may be weak with you?

Alain de Botton, Essays in Love (via wnq-writers)

[gayisthewaybish]

Part of a relationship is saying the wrong thing at the worst time. Fighting over a small thing that won’t matter in a week. Watching them turn cold for a few hours because of family issues. Offending each other with comebacks that can sometimes be too much. And making each other cry… But if the relationship is true, they won’t leave when things get hard. People focus too much on finding someone who would never fight with them, but those people lose the part of the relationship where they work together to make things work. Don’t just focus on finding someone who won’t fight with you; the small fights and arguments will only make you stronger. Seek someone who will always fight for you at the end of the day because they can’t stand the thought of you leaving.

[wordsnquotes]

Do not love half lovers Do not entertain half friends Do not indulge in works of the half talented Do not live half a life and do not die a half death If you choose silence, then be silent When you speak, do so until you are finished Do not silence yourself to say something And do not speak to be silent If you accept, then express it bluntly Do not mask it If you refuse then be clear about it for an ambiguous refusal is but a weak acceptance Do not accept half a solution Do not believe half truths Do not dream half a dream Do not fantasize about half hopes Half a drink will not quench your thirst Half a meal will not satiate your hunger Half the way will get you no where Half an idea will bear you no results Your other half is not the one you love It is you in another time yet in the same space It is you when you are not Half a life is a life you didn’t live, A word you have not said A smile you postponed A love you have not had A friendship you did not know To reach and not arrive Work and not work Attend only to be absent What makes you a stranger to them closest to you and they strangers to you The half is a mere moment of inability but you are able for you are not half a being You are a whole that exists to live a life not half a life.

Khalil Gibran (via wordsnquotes)

[emjaysays]

Ramadan Mubarak!

Ramadan Kareem!!!May Allah bless you, stranger, and grant you all khair inwardly and outwardly. Ditto for my followers!!! 💙

[emjaysays]

Cos it isn’t painful enough that you wonder about when things will change, so your mum wants to throw it in your face too.

[wnq-writers]

If you want to forget something or someone, never hate it, or never hate him/her. Everything and everyone that you hate is engraved upon your heart; if you want to let go of something, if you want to forget, you cannot hate.

Sophie (via wnq-writers)

[laurenjanespark]

[wnq-writers]

I think the problem is that we depend on our lovers to love us the way we should love ourselves

Av.  (via wnq-writers)

[purplebuddhaproject]