Each year that passes like a tidal wave brings in and leaves with us astonishing riches – wisdom more precious than we’ve ever had before, memories made with those who left an imprint on our lives, places that touched us and transformed our imagination, and experiences that shaped everything in our being. What will we do differently with these riches in the year to come? What uncharted roads will we want to trek with this new awareness? What are we longing for that we haven’t yet experienced? Life teaches us that wisdom is grown in the fertile soil of love and loss, in light and in darkness, in mystery and the seductive journey of taking the less traveled road. To experience life wholeheartedly in every single form it manifests its mystery, we must continue to cultivate our ability for deeper inner wisdom, our curiosity for the purpose of each one of us here and right now, and our commitment to help one another evolve to a greater consciousness. Each generation has its challenges and opportunities to delve deeper into issues that matter. We the people of today, must remain bold to seek solutions to challenges too heavy to carry forward and unfair to be left for our children to wrestle with. We must continue to ask hard yet thoughtful questions and to envision solutions that each one of us can add and contribute to. We must serve the truth, the one and only truth of the heart. Each one of us knows what matters, even when we disagree. That is the truth we collectively must embrace and mend with care.
For the next year, and the year after, we must try a little more to resource our inner and collective wisdom and to be kinder with each other. Only we, humans, are capable of kindness especially in times such as ours. And that might be what will keep us consciously evolving. May 2017 be filled with peace, kindness and prosperity for all!
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Join us in saying "NO" to labor trafficking by helping Fainess, a brave survivor, to help other women escape abuse, heal and access justice. Nearly 21 million people are victims of forced labor across the world. Fainess urgently needs help for critical dental treatment. With six missing teeth and multiple deep cavities, she lives with chronic pain and a shattered self-esteem. Fainess is a survivor of labor trafficking with no family, no dental insurance or support system in the US fighting every day to make ends meet. Many of her medical problems have developed while in captivity enslaved by a diplomat family. Despite her challenges, Fainess remains undeterred. She serves as a volunteer to advocate for justice and empower survivors of labor and human trafficking. Funds will pay for dental treatment that includes cavity repair for eight broken teeth, a tooth-supported denture for the upper jaw and a partial denture for the lower jaw. I’ve met Fainess in 2013 while I was running Empowered Women International. She was a student member with our organization. We remained friends, and over the years I’ve witnessed with reverence her extraordinary perseverance to defy the odds, become a role model for others and make a difference in the world. Read the full story below and join us in making a generous contribution. Please share this with your friends by email and social media. Thank you. READ FULL STORY AND DONATE! Together we can continue to stand for one another, and for the change we want to see in the world. Thank you so much for your generosity, kindness and support. Our journey continues. Onward and Upward! Much love and gratitude, Marga & Jesse Fripp Imperfect Clay
by Marga C. Fripp Why fight and resist This very grain of essence, This bit of who you are? Pure shimmering light, Unrivaled being capable of dreaming like no other. Unique stardust shaped over countless millennia, Turned clay once in touch with the earth. Humble and soft in your beginnings Brave and tenacious as you encountered the fire, Your cracks and wrinkles your open pores and curves, your beauty and your mess, everything was etched within your blueprint. What would it take to accept yourself just as you are? Imperfect clay-shaped identity. Love and compassion pride, anger and fear – became your tools after you were shaped in existence. No other creation has the gifts and the frailty you inhabit. You became the master modeling humanity without rest, sculpting at it from dawn to dusk. Choose wisely how you carve and fire the clay. Within it lies the secret of mankind. Beauty born wild
by Marga C. Fripp Beauty born wild, Change re-imagined. Unresolved conflict, Breath of energy. Carmine red inspiration, Fire burning inside. Senses revived. Shades of burnt amber and emerald green, Harmonized in silence, Scorched by sun. Molded in a new rhythm, Embraced by time, Sealed in hope, Embodied as a lasting memory. Reality upside down, Felt sense of awareness. Interrupted love story, Heart pulsing in my throat. Angel banished from heaven, Shift in the crust of the earth. Conflict corrupted, Beauty born wild. Inspired by the conflicts that accompany us on the journey to the heart and through the world. The longing to return home, to that place we belong to and love is unbearable. It burns like a wild forest fire turning everything to ashes before new growth is possible. Let go! I hear my thoughts whisper. Letting go is a journey, a process of transformation. It opens us up to experience and embody the vastness within. It connects us with our deeper, more creative self. One must hold on and let go in the same time to achieve mastery and balance. Within ourselves there is a hunger for holding on to that which makes us the unique human beings we are. Often we think that we are our thoughts, experiences and identity. In some ways this may be true, but we are so much more than just that. In July of last year, I left the US and my beloved work with Empowered Women International (EWI). EWI was my brainchild, my own vision for a better world and my home away from home for 14 years. We moved to Switzerland, a dreamlike place for our family, but far from the people and the community I loved. All my preparations to transition into a new life have been major pillars of support in this process. Yet, once I walked away, something intrinsic vanished. An unexpected void swallowed a part of my being. That part of my life that I once loved got trapped in an ethereal place. Sisters, who are my trusted wings on this journey, they too have been captured in this abyss. Letting go became personal and not without losses or pain. Ignoring and starving these raw and haunting emotions is what I would have done in the past. But not anymore. It’s easier to run away from discomfort or fear, than to sit with it in silence and to listen. I wasn't going to run away this time. I had to learn to be present with all my feelings, and give each one of them sacred time, space and attention. When I made the decision to leave, I wanted to dedicate myself to meet the "inner Marga." I always sensed that somewhere deep inside, there was a woman who I loved, yet I didn't know her. She came out to play with me from time to time, and I just adored her. I so enjoyed the way she was. How she spoke to me in a soulful way. How her eyes gazed into mine with deep curiosity. How her hands moved effortless making beauty with her graceful touch. She mesmerized me. How could I have more time with her? My existence was abundant with life-changing work, powerful friendships and a family to raise. I haven't had a sabbatical or a long break since I started my career as a journalist in my twenties. One thing after the other, my life flowed like a river springing over rocks and making its way. And I thrived. Always on the go, always on the next opportunity. I loved every moment of it, but something in me knew that time has come to pause. I was determined to search for and meet this inner being without the built-in identity that I came to know so well. Attachment often gets in the way of discovery. But I was primed to practice letting go. Letting go didn’t mean that I have to give up my treasured relationships or my life’s passion. It didn’t mean that I have to forget my past and everything I loved about it. It meant that I had to embrace the present moment in its multiplicity of feelings and dimensions. It meant that I had to be open to the gift unfolding in the here and now. The door that I closed when I left, over time disappeared freeing me to a new world. In this expansive universe, I found endless resources in my creativity, resilience and imagination. I found strength in my faith and wisdom, in nature, in gratitude, in friendships and in abundant love. My eyes regained their twinkle. My mind became less occupied by heavy thoughts that ran in the background for so long. I made room for new learning, which replaced old voices of fear. I started to take French lessons as a new language and to learn to bike. I began painting and writing, making poetry, taking pottery classes, doing yoga and dancing. I started a graduate degree, which returned me to my love for the arts as medicine for the soul and our hurting world. The longing to return home became an inner journey, a homecoming to the heart. With this peace within, I knew I had to return to see my sisters and my good friends in the US. My visit in May before I started graduate school was a time of nourishment and reunion. I felt as if I was born again. In a fresh mountain lake, swimming with the swans, flying with the eagles and dreaming with the mind of a maker. My sisters offered me their hearts, wisdom and gracious blessings. Our love for one another was healing and boundless. I knew I could let go and be home in the same time. And so, I stepped back to witness my emotions soaring like a thousand veils into the unknown. Letting go was the only way to love, to be loved and to be free.
Today marks my last day of an incredible, enchanted and mystical sabbatical.
I have wandered as deep as the path took me to where a new uncharted world was awaiting. I’ve always known that there was more within, but I could hardly name what it was. Now that I found the threshold of that world, I am ready to delve deeper, marvel at the mystery we hold in the abysmal of the heart, bathe in its starry waters and drink from its fresh spring of wonders. I am ready to commune with this beloved universe, until I become one with it and I can share its treasures with all on this everlasting inner journey. There is where my heart lives. Tomorrow will be my first day as a student in the graduate program of European Graduate School in Switzerland. I will be pursuing a 3 year Masters in Expressive Arts Conflict Transformation and Peace Building at the European Graduate School. Yet another layer of discovery, curiosity and wonderment. The journey continues ... Threading Dreams by Marga C. Fripp Gently, softly, let yourself walk the lesser known path, the one that always surprises and delights. Blaze a new way for the one who threads dreams with her hands and makes beauty with her ancient eyes. She has seen beauty before as she stood by her tribe, generation after generation, in silence, unnoticed, forgotten but resolute, hands strong holding the loom weaving one thread after another, just like her mother and grandmother did. And now is her time. The moment she’s been waiting for as long as she can remember. She is ready to be seen, to announce her gift to this world, her place and her humble presence, just as it is. She is enough. The one behind the loom, ready to shine through the silky threads of her heart. The world is awaiting her arrival. I hold tenderly in my hands her genuine work, a mirror of her heart, glimpses of her story, a thread of my own tapestry. Dedicated to women artisans and to my sister, Mary Louise Marino on her launching of the Indigo Lion Artisan Boutique a place to discover meaningful global handmade gifts for home and lifestyle. https://indigolionartisanboutique.com Let it come a little closer by Marga C. Fripp Let it come a little closer. His walk gently swaying, Breathing through the nostrils the fresh morning air on the farm. The Village by Jesse C. Fripp At the end of the white sand road, eternity waits ahead Through the quiet forest, passage of the dead In the still distance, walls ring around The silent village steeple, bells without sound Some of you might know that recently I lost a soul sister in Romania, Adela Dinu. She lived a life filled with profound love for humanity, absolute service and joy for the simple things. The world will never be the same without her. The seeds of goodness, kindness and generosity she planted within our hearts are sprouting stronger than ever before. Because she loved all of us fully and unconditionally, we love back everything she left within us. We grow in our love and light learning from all before us, who left an unparalleled legacy of beauty in how they touched this Earth and all our lives. Each of us, in our own distinctive way, is here on a quest to live out loud – to learn to be a student while being a master, to find beauty in everything, to love fully and unconditionally, to live in gratitude each day, to comfort an anguished soul, to rebel against injustice, to know how to listen, to kindle the inner fire, to create a lasting masterpiece, and through this process to re-invent ourselves infinitely. The Pilgrim's Way by Marga C. Fripp Oh soul, you came a long way to knock at the door of the divine. You showed faith, perseverance and devotion. You stripped the veil off your ego, and let your true presence be revealed. I choose to remain happy by Marga C. Fripp Life is about discovery, taking risk and the choices we make every day to remain happy. I could be sad that I left behind all that I worked carefully to imagine, to design and to create. I could be sad that so many youthful years have been meticulously invested in figuring things out and carving in stone, cutting new ways through rocky terrain and accepting the many failures of my creation. I could be sad that I only learned a new language later in life rather than as a young child. I could be sad that I had so little to work with and so much to struggle over. It’s been about three weeks in our new home, living the Swiss way… Lots of things to take in at once, from French as a new language, to where to find most grocery items we’re acquainted with, to understanding and learning the rules and regulations in our village and the canton of Geneva. We’re taking it all in, and adjusting one experience at a time. Being once an immigrant helped tremendously in not taking anything too personal, or getting frustrated. |
Marga C. FrippSocial entrepreneur on a journey to the heart to find beauty, transform lives, and sow seeds of light, courage and hope. Inspiring Artists
Catherine Macorol Chithra Jeyeram Eric Nelson Ernesto Rivera Jameela Alter Jane Davenport Karlisima Rodas Mame N'Diaye Mariam Mohamed Mary Louise Marino Nadia Janjua Rana Jaafar Yaseen Sharmila Karamchandani Sushmita Mazumdar Velma Crawford Follon on Social Media
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