To the Intelligent

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Razan Masri

The meanest earning that goes on in the world,

is it ever practiced without the guidance of a master?

It begins with knowledge and is followed by action

That it may yield fruit after a while or after death.

Apprentice yourself, O possessor of intelligence,

To a generous and righteous craftsman.

Seek the pearl in the oyster-shell, my brother,

And seek craftsmanship from the skilled.

If you meet sincere spiritual counselors,

Deal fairly with them, and be eager to learn:

Don’t put on any airs.

If a tanner wears a threadbare coat,

That doesn’t diminish the master’s mastery;

If the blacksmith with massive biceps

Wears a patched apron while flexing the bellows,

His reputation doesn’t plummet in people’s eyes,

So strip the raiment of pride from your body:

In learning, put on the garment of humility.

Rumi – Mathnawi

DailyPrompt on Layers

Opposites can Attract

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Razan Masri

A photograph of a Church built-in 1889 next to a Mosque built-in 1824 in Tripoli, Lebanon.

We have been segregated and divided from one another, when we were actually made for each other. We have been made opposites when we are nothing but truly very similar. We have the perception of Opposition built into each one of us and we have interpreted our spiritual beliefs into differences. Once we know we have different religions we automatically check the different box and mark ourselves different from one another. And why is that? because we pray in a different temples, we pray in a different form, or because we might dress differently, and because we might eat and drink differently? But did we forget to look at our similarities, that seem to be much bigger than our opposites? Our similarity in believing in a bigger meaning to our existence, our similarity in believing in the existence of the Divine God (whichever you wish to Call It), our similarity in the stories recited to us, our similarity in our values, our similarity in the use of our temples, our similarity in practicing a ritual to connect us to spirituality, our similarity in giving to our community, our similarity in our pure existence. Our temples have been built one next to the another since centuries ago, people lived together in harmony, people still live in harmony, we still share the same food on the table, we celebrate and congratulate one another, we seek peace and love upon our lives and upon each other. It does not matter if there is a minority out there who believe we are opposites, who dislike our opposites, as long as we no longer do see it as a fraction, but instead we see our opposites as our attraction; the beauty in our diversity, the beauty of our natural differences, being attracted to love one another for our differences, the true beauty of accepting and loving our differences, to look into our differences as a possible continuation of our own misinterpretation. We live with opposites, our lives are incomplete without opposites, puzzles only fit when opposite. Opposites are beautiful.

In response to the Opposites Photo Challenge by wordpress.- Read more about Tripoli, Lebanon.

What Prayers Look Like During Ramadan

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Razan Masri

I found this beautiful photograph on Instagram yesterday that I could not take my eyes off. Beautiful. It sure is, as much as prayers in Ramadan is. Serene. Full of color. From the prayer mat to what people are covered up with; to perform their prayers. Their spirits rise above to meet in unity, diverting their hearts and thoughts towards a meditative state of mutual connection towards the Divine. A prayer performed to remember what we are grateful for, to remember there is something much bigger than all of us, all of this and all of that, to remember that we are not alone but gifted, given, surrounded by miracles. Prayers; no matter how they are performed, no matter by whom they are performed, where or when, resemble the same beautiful purpose to express ones presence, gratitude, a beautiful way to express mutual humility and to remember always to take part in the unity of humanity.

Ramadan is a holly month that unites Muslims all around the world to submit their souls in the name of spirituality. They fast, practice their prayers, contribute as much as they can to charity and to their communities, it is a month to unite the people together to remember that we are all here, alive, today, through a common source. To practice not only what is good, but what can be better, to spread love, and peace, to ask for forgiveness and new chances, to start over again, to help people start over again. It is a month of unity, and it is a month of remembrance, a month for-giving.

To a world of today that is thirsty for our unity and love.

Photograph by Yassine Ismail, Morroco, found on EmergEast Instagram account.

Also tagged onto the Pleasure Daily post by wordpress.

About the Maasai Tribe

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Razan Masri

A day to remember,

Days to remember,

Meeting beautiful faces and beautiful people,

Who only like to meet new faces and different people,

Who only invite you to sing and dance with them and cherish the very moment,

Tribes, from all over, any tribe, a tribe,

Just some people who believe strongly in their own values and do not impose them on the other,

A tribe, that holds on close tight into their circle and feel happy to share their wisdom with the other,

Tribes, that surrender in circles, to form beautiful colors of ethnicity and earth figures,

Tribes, that build upon each other and on top of one another, in continuation forming a strong system that connects them together in union,

Tribes, they last long but they stay isolated from everything else in the name of their circle,

That circle, that bonds them and never leaves them alone no matter what,

That circle, that is like light bulbs and no light can turn on without turning the next one on and the next one on and the next one on,

And if one bulb doesn’t turn on, then the whole system mourn together in loss.

My Creative Space

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Razan Masri

I am taking a Creative Workshop by Elizabeth Gilbert, and the below is a piece of writing in response to the following questions:

What was the last thing you really wondered about? When was the last time you experienced creative flow? What was the last passage of book, piece of music, or work or art that really inspired you? What drew you in? What are you doing when you feel most beautiful? What are your super powers? What would you do for a living if you were not afraid of anything?

I wonder about so many things; how we live, how we perceive things, where life takes us, what makes us believe in one way or another. How can things be reformed, reintroduced. I wonder about the way we perceive things, the way we go on, how we find knots and then we make them bigger by attaching them to more knots, by not realising that we are creating a huge big complicated knot. How some people can see those people who see those knots and wonder how it is that they choose to just use the knots to make them bigger, instead of simply unknot them?

I wonder about the reasons why some of us perceive things negatively when we know others perceive them positively, wouldn’t we all want to live in a one happy bubble?

I receive creative flow while researching and finding beautiful things, work, art, stories of people that make me spark, and all I want to do is dig in more, learn more, ask more, I want to dive in more, I just want to leave everything and run towards deepening, and understanding, then sharing and communicating, I love to find the passion in things that look beautiful. I find flow in connecting, in finding answers to questions, when finding dots and connecting them together, when finding stories, quotes, sayings, definitions of ideas, solutions, realities, that have been created because of those connected dots. I find flow, in finding, in feeling, and in bringing them to light.

I feel most beautiful, when I speak, not thinking about what am saying, but I am certain it makes complete sense, when I know it is motivating, when I know my words are un-knotting the knots that were created and knotted together, complicating every single open passage in front of us. I feel most beautiful, when I can see through the eyes of the listeners a light, a light of clarity, a light of door ways, passage, air, flow, light, life again.

Photos below are selection of my instagram favorites by: Kamo Hmaid, Sarakanov, Sunday Suppers, One Young Boy, What for Breakfast, Alix Cherry, Local Milk, A Minute Away From Snowing, A Guy Named Patrick, Lace Events, Nicole Franzen, Local Milk, Table on Ten, Table on Ten, The Trotter Girl, Cara_Melized, Local Milk, Revistannow, Teyxavier, Sezgi Olgac, Reza Photography

Art Found in Kuwait

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Razan Masri

Delicious Packaging; find those exquisette homemade doughnuts at InspiredEdibles (Coffee with Cocoa Nibs & Pretzels, Vanilla Custard with Freeze dried Strawberry powder, Cereal & Rasberries) Photograph by Nour AlMejadi – Find them both on Instagram

My Art, My Piece of Life – Tuesday Doodle

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Razan Masri

We don’t plan things to be the way they always end up to be. Life is just like an art piece. You never know until you try, and the image you have had in mind could happen to turn out identical or completely different. When its art it’s never restricted, its unpredictable, you need to stay open to receive and you need to be able to mend and blend, redo and replace, you can change the colors of the image, it can take you half a day to put things together or a lifetime. It does not matter. What matters at the end is the result. Some will turn out to satisfy you for mere a second and some will last an impression forever. How will you know? You never will, until you get there, you try, you give yourself the chance to explore, to express, to perceive, to be, to happen. Life is a piece of art, your piece of art, and everyday is a new white canvas that can be separated from the canvas of yesterday or can be a continuation, some canvases will be left somewhere unremembered and some will be framed forever.

Whatever it is. It is yours. Your art piece. Your work of art. Your only work of art. Are you enjoying it while you’re puting it together or are you agonizing your way through. Are you happy with the pieces at the end of your day or are your tears drying up? Look at each piece with love and fill it with laughter, with joy. Be the sailor of your own boat, put a ribbon on your hair and shirt, paint a heart everywhere you go, glitter your eyes with what you love to see, be a friend to those in need of a listening ear, color your diary with your thoughts and feelings, be grateful and count your blessings, sing to your world, and dance on your tip toes, don’t let anything stop you, from trying a new piece of art everyday.

Creative Writing on a Tuesday Morning Inspired by My Collection of Instagram’s favorite Pieces collected from 2015, Dar_Nur, Tilly2Milly, Kidvikk, HummingBirdHigh, Kitato, _Mamannyc_, Tilly2Milly, MawiOfficial, Wenlise_Fold, Candelanovembre, Kitat.

Peace on Earth or Earth to Piecess

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Razan Masri

To Earth Day

I will be Cycling 4 Palestine today sending prayers to call for Peace on Earth.

This photograph is from a collection exhibition called “Peace on Earth or Earth to Pieces” by Gerd Ludwig – How are you celebrating today?

Why you should visit Saraya Aqaba next?

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Razan Masri

That is if you are in Jordan or around Jordan.

Saraya Aqaba is ready to be cruised. I was lucky enough to get an invitation, and go drop it a visit last weekend, was welcomed by a very friendly staff, who took me and a group of other bloggers and social media influencers around.

First We Indulged in its foremost design. Interior and exterior. It is like a new wonderland. Only the Arabian themed wonderland. So full of our own oriental culture, authentic yet very modern. It lavished us with infinite luxury and poetic rhythm.

Saraya-Aqaba-Jordan-Travel-Red-Sea-easgle-hills

Second we familiarized ourselves more on Aqaba. Got to know the Red Sea from the Saraya scenic view. Found the lagoon at the heart of the project with the mountains on one side and occupied Palestine on the other.

Third If you are an architect or an artists, the architecture will take you to a new experience. I personally felt I entered the land of Aladdin, with the details being focused on the arch doors and windows, with the dome-shaped roofs. The villas looks like tiny squared houses cocooned one on top of the other.

Forth Enjoyed the different patterns, rugs, and flooring. From under construction, to fully constructed, to beach sand, from seeing myself in a glamorous gown, to casual jeans, and bare feet bikini. All throughout with my polka dots Nike.

Fifth Go with friends, family, partner(s); go with a group of people you enjoy your time exploring with. I went with like-minded people, who care about sharing what they experience to the world. Bloggers, tweeps, food critics, fashion followers, and social butterflies. (Find them on twitter from right to left: @Mahoozz @Eakhaldi @ZaynaHamarneh @Bigullak @LHaddadin @HamzehQasem @HadeelNourddin and myself @RazanMasri also find @kawthershabani @sal3885 @Emaneh45 @SarayaAqabaJo)

Sixth Finally we met the space. Met the future. Once a dream now is coming into reality. We headed towards the Sale Center and asked for a tour, checked out the furnished space from town houses, to villas and of course rested a while by the beach.

Seventh I never want to miss the colors of the sunset. And especially when by the beach. The reflection, the changing colors, the serene sound and feel, we used the time for some meditation, reflection, romance, just getting hypnotized by the spell of the Red Sea.

sunset-Saraya-Aqaba-Jordan-Travel-Red-Sea-easgle-hills

An inspiring short story on Wisdom

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Razan Masri

One upon a time, there was an anthropologist who discovered a lost tribe living far from civilization. The people of this tribe were friendly and kind and seemed very wise. In spite of the fact that the man’s inner confusion and unhappiness was disturbing to their harmony, they accepted and made him feel welcome.

He befriended one of the inhabitants of a small village. One day this friend took him to the top of a high cliff overlooking a fast-moving and tumultuous river with a small island in the middle of it. There was a calm, mysterious beauty about the island, but it seemed impossible to reach. Dangerous currents and whirlpools swirled around the island, and there was no bridge from either shore. The water looked too dangerous even for boats. The man gazed for a long time at the island and was curiously moved; he felt that it was his destiny to visit this island.

After a time, another man climbed down the cliff over a barely visible path and stood quietly on the edge of the shore. Eventually a rainbow appeared and seemed to make a beautiful bridge from the shore to the island. The anthropologist was amazed when the man on the shore put his foot on the rainbow and crossed over to the island!

“How did he do that?” he asked his friend. “It is very simple. You just need to know your color. Put your feet exactly on that color, and you will be able to cross over.” The anthropologist was very excited because he thought he had found the answer to fulfilling his destiny and visiting the island. He said to his friend, “You are a very wise man and surely you can tell me: what is my color?” His friend said that that was not possible. “The color is inside you, and only you can discover it. However, I can help you to find the way.”

The anthropologist was impatient and kept asking “How? What must I do?” His friend explained that he must study, read, and meditate and that he would bring him to other wise people who could guide him, but he said, “Only you can find your color.”

And so the anthropologist worked with the wise people of the village, studied and meditated, and after many, many months, he felt he was ready to try to reach the island. With his friend, they climbed down the cliff path to the edge of the shore, looked across to the special, magical island, and waited patiently. Soon a rainbow appeared and made a bridge to the island. He put his foot on the color that he recognized as his and, yes, he crossed the river on that rainbow to the island of his destiny. He spent many days exploring the island, finding it full of marvelous colors, the colors of all the wise people who have visited before him. He finally understood that he had to leave his color here on the island, that very special and personal color it took him so long to find. But when he left, he knew that he would take away with him a little bit of the color of each wise person who had come before him.

Now he is truly finding harmony for himself and learning what wisdom is.

Adapted from a story by Patrick Condamin

Razan Masri

Art is in Everything.

Category Archives: Art & Culture

To the Intelligent

Opposites can Attract

What Prayers Look Like During Ramadan

About the Maasai Tribe

My Creative Space

Art Found in Kuwait

My Art, My Piece of Life – Tuesday Doodle

Peace on Earth or Earth to Piecess

Why you should visit Saraya Aqaba next?

An inspiring short story on Wisdom

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