word for thought

Sometimes, when we’re lying together, I look at her and I feel dizzy with the realization that here is another distinct person from me, who has memories, origins, thoughts, feelings that are different from my own. That tension between familiarity and mystery meshes something strong between us. Even if one builds a life together based on trust, attentiveness and mutual support, I think that it’s important that a partner continues to surprise.

Barack Obama on marraige and Michelle

at this point i feel that i'm quite a ways away from marriage, but i was moved by his words none the less. i love the idea of still finding mysteries in your partner many years later. so romantic.

via.

word for thought

Presumably one gets involved with this rather peculiar, rather esoteric form of expression because one has had some kind of powerful experience with it- and presumably this powerful experience then makes you want to go on and think about it and learn about it and write about it. But you must have at some point been ravished, been seduced, been taken in.

- rosalind krauss, cofounder of the journal october, art theorist and critic, on the impetus to dedicate ones life to thinking about and learning about and writing about art.

word for thought: 2011

so, hello 2011. its nice to meet you and i thank you for allowing me to join in the adventure. i tend to always wait until half way through january before desiding on goals for the new year. (it sometimes takes me that long to wrap my head around things.) this year, instead of a resolution, i've chosen a word. a word that will inspire me, guide me through some challenges, and frame the choices i'll be making.

in short, choosing a word is setting an intention. so my intention this year: purpose. i will take purposeful actions in moving my life forward. instead of floating along on this path, i will take bold steps to move ahead, seek out adventure, and be open to prosperity. i will be more mindful of the way i live my life and take time to enjoy it. i will be mindful and purposeful about the way i think and communicate with myself.

thanks for reading my intention for 2011, friends. (as new age and hokey as it may sound.) do you have any of your own?

i dont know what the image above has to do with anything, but i like it. via.

ghandi says

via.

word for thought

“I’m often asked the same question: What in your work comes from your own culture? As if I have a recipe and I can actually isolate the Arab ingredient, the woman ingredient, the Palestinian ingredient. People often expect tidy definitions of otherness, as if identity is something fixed and easily definable.”

- artist Mona Hatoum, in beyond east and west: seven transnational artists.

*as i mentioned yesterday, i'll be introducing some regular features this week. on tuesdays i'll simply be posting a quote, a passage, or idea that i've come across recently and found interesting or inspiring. a little wisdom for your tuesday, perhaps. i imagine it will most often have to do with art, inspiration, or mindful living, because those are topics that interest me, but maybe i'll surprise myself.

thanks for reading.

L

image: marble carpet by mona hatoum.