Author Archives: Razan Masri

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About Razan Masri

I love exploring, researching, finding and sharing. I love to learn and to teach, I love to live and to laugh, I wish to speak to the world as an Arab Woman using the most beautiful language through photographs and writing.

About a mountainous town in Lebanon… Ehden | عن قرية جبلية في لبنان، اهدن

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I spent a beautiful day at this gorgeous breezy northern village in Lebanon, Ehden. It truly is beautiful, breathtaking, has so much to explore although it is also very tiny. Woke up to a beautiful mountain view, and the scent of food making, preparations for their traditional dish “Kibbeh Mashwieh / Lebanese Kibbeh / Grilled Kibbeh”.

We started our day by heading towards a church that is situated at the tip of the mountain “Saydat Al Hoson Church” on a sunday morning, enjoyed the sound of the prayers, and the beautiful view. As we drove back out, we passed by this beautiful massive antique building that today is a police station, and I couldn’t resist but ask for them to park the car, as I took the chance to walk around and enjoy the true treasures in the village. The windows are an absolute admiration, the stone houses are gorgeous, the colors of the doors are inspiring.

We then headed towards another relatives house as we had some ka’ak with dates/ajwa and tea, overlooked Ehden from the roof, overlooking the famous ancient Ketel Church Mar Jerjes. Then we decided to walk back home again to enjoy the very last bits of the village, as we arrived to the ready home-made Kibbeh Mishweh for a late lunch.

Places to see in Ehden: Midan, Ketel Church Mar Jerjes, Kobra stairs, Ssydet el Hoson church, Saraya, Sama Ehden Autostrad, Bowayda, Nabeh’ Jouit

Visting Ehden

How to be generous to yourself today

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Today, I don’t want to ask, I only want to listen. Today, I don’t want to question, I only want to be available to see answers. Today, I don’t want to be too busy, I want to be very present. Today, I don’t want to expect, I want to give without wanting anything in return. Today, I don’t want to sit still, I want to move where ever my soul is yearning. Today, I don’t want to react, but I want to act in the most positive way I find possible. Today, I want to feel life, count my blessings, I want to give, learn more about love & love unconditionally, I want to learn & teach, I want to walk with grace, I want to live my dreams, feel grateful & be generous, I want to be generous back to this life that gives & never asks for return, so I want to learn from it’s generosity as I learn to give. Whatever it is… bring it on 
  

A day on the road… in Lebanon | بين شوارع لبنان

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There is nothing more beautiful than exploring, traveling and road tripping.

So here I am in the lands of Lebanon, we first arrived to Beirut airport and from there, we started driving up towards Tripoli. Between the old architecture, blue sea and skies, we drove. We entered Tripoli that smelled like authenticity, old tall buildings scattered one next to the other, it looks very much like Barcelona. What is so beautiful about the Middle-eastern old architecture is the art that is incorporated with it.

The heat in Tripoli was incredible, it was too humid and too hot, we had home-made Lahmeh Bajeen and Cordon bleu for lunch, and continued our road trip more to the north towards a mountain village called Ehden. Breezy and cool, the weather transformation is magical, an hour drive away and the weather is the complete opposite. Luckily, we arrived at sunset, got mesmerized by the view, had halloumi cheese for dinner, and started the walk around the tiny little town that never sleeps during the summer.

Al Aqsa-Jerusalem is under attack 

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Today & Yesterday AlAqsa is under attack, and it should be headline news & the leaders should be doing something to stop it & the world should stop & pray for it to be protected & the Israelis need to find some sort of faith in them & stop their constant terror & violence. Al Aqsa is a holly mosque that has been situated in #oldjerusalem since 705CE it is a temple for muslims to go worship God in & must never be terrorized or attacked. Let us spread awareness today & let us all pray for Al Aqsa Jerusalem & for the Palestinians to be protected from the attack by Israel – May God & the Angels be there to protect you #alaqsaunderattack   

Never give up on yourself. 

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“Never give up on yourself.” #Rumi – even if you had to take the longest road, even if you had to take the steepest valley, even if the pain is unbearable, even if life becomes suffocating, even if the way is blocked… Do not give up on yourself but instead… Ask for expansion, ask for breaking your own self barriers, ask for graceful love, ask for patience, ask for strength, ask for the angels to surround you, ask for God to protect you & ask yourself to set your soul free. Close your eyes if you have to, try to keep your wisdom third eye open, close your ears if you have to, but try to keep listening internally… Try and try again and try again but never ever give up on the most beautiful & solid thing you have got… Yourself.

I want my own fairytale 

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I am not like you, and I don’t want to be… We are not like them, and I don’t want us to be… They never ask, and I don’t want them to… I don’t care about right and wrong because there is no right or wrong, there is my story and there is our story and I want them different.. I want it to be my story, different and personal. I don’t think or want to think there can be better, because I have the best thing I can ever wish for right now, here in my life. I am blessed on a blessed friday, I am grateful to have myself, and to have you as light as you are in my life. So let it all be part of life’s ongoing miracle.

“Your job is to live your life in a way that makes sense to you, not to “them”. Rumi 

  

Do not let people shatter your true voice

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When you know people are only noise… And you find a way to separate yourself from noise… Then be very careful when listening to your instincts & trust in them. Noise will only distract you unless you have certainty & clarity within you. So start within always, figure out what you feel, how you see things & then once very still & stable open the doors for the noise to interfere.

“Start a huge, foolish project, like Noah…it makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.” #Rumi.  

 

Naturr versus Soul

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#Nature… am not sure what to call you after I have truly met you. After I have fully connected to you. After I have fully built trust with you. Am not sure how to express my words to describe what I was capable to yet discover in you. Or how to express my ways of hearing you. Or how to express the images I see in you. I can only explain one thing clearly… That the humans Soul is very similar to you “to Nature”. Soul is just like you; only once truly discovered is highly valued & understood. That the soul also has a thousand colors, that soul also is a miracle, that the soul also is magnificent. That the soul also can be explored & found in a way that it can never be explained in words. So put me in the middle of nature & let my soul get lost in it until it is found again… found in a very new way.

“Do you know what you are? You are a manuscript oƒ a divine letter. You are a mirror reflecting a noble face. This universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you are already that.” #Rumi

  

Politics 

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Walking downtown Beirut on a protest day is like walking a ghosttown … When do we know the difference between obeying what the media shapes for us from believes to follow & when should we look at our own way out and walk towards it? It is so hard now a days to tell what is really going on!! But it is obvious to see that the Middle East needs love & pure attention. 

“Why should I stay at the bottom of a well when a strong rope is in my hand?” Rumi 

Stay where you are and move like a sheep or a robot or do something different… One thing different can change a fraction & too many fractions can change this world to a better place.  

       

Do not just do nothing & complain at the very same time. 

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What happens when you save the earth make memory of the past & work your way for your future? 

“You sit here for days saying, This is strange business. You’re the strange business. You have the energy of the sun in you, but you keep knotting it up at the base of your spine. You’re some weird kind of gold that wants to stay melted in the furnace, so you won’t have to become coins.” Rumi