No words do you justice, but I still want to send you a message if I may.
My heart aches for you and your people. The scenes of the explosion at your port in downtown Beirut are painful to watch, and hard to forget. I cannot begin to understand how you must all feel, nor can I imagine what it must be like to suffer so much for so many years.
You handled it so well, we took it for granted, and assumed your smiles and laughter meant all was well. Little did we acknowledge what you were smiling through, until August 4, 2020 reminded us with a blast of all that you’ve been dealing with.
You’ve been compared to a Phoenix that rises from the ashes, you’ve been told to get back up “قومي” – but my dear Beirut, you never fell. You stood against the storms, and you flew above them every time.
You are an enigma. You reside in a higher plane.
Let’s use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to describe it.
People need the physiological, to seek the safety, to build the love and belonging, to achieve the esteem, and aim for self-actualization. Your tormentors thought of taking your base away from you, so you can fall to the ground, you surprised them by floating above instead. Your safety needs have been threatened for so long, yet it had no effect on the upper echelons of love, esteem, and self-actualization that you’ve mastered. So they’re now targeting the physiological, they want to starve you and strip you of the basic survival tools, thinking it will finally bring you down. But you’ve already settled in that higher plane.
Most people spend their entire lives climbing Maslow’s pyramid, while you rest upon its clouds, and smile beautifully at those below. And it is that very beauty that makes you so irresistible to the world.
Why you? Because you are the ones who will teach us all the meaning of life, the secret of living. The world is changing everyday, new problems arise and bigger challenges face us. We learn from our struggles, and you’re ahead of us all. Today you seem like underdogs, tomorrow you will lead.
You are not your government, you are not your racketeers, you are not your pillagers- this is you:
When the Earth shakes beneath you, you make sure it’s to a rhythm and start to dance.
When fire rains down on you, you cook a feast and light your streets.
When life tests you harder, you love it ever more.
There is no bringing you down. There is no stopping you. Your light will never fade, and their darkness will never prevail.
Your Phoenician ancestors gave you the name Lebanon – “lbn” meaning “white“. Can you even conceive of a darkened white?
Your Cedar tree can live over 1,000 years, how strong must the land beneath it be?
You’ve experienced unrest since before I was born, since my mother was a child, I haven’t met you in peace-time. But I came to you still, because where else could you see such love for life even as your own is threatened everyday? Where else can you see timeless beauty that never fades no matter the forces against it?
Stay as beautiful as you are, and the world will forever come to you. We will be there to help rebuild your cities, to support your small businesses, to be inspired by your character.
Don’t forget the world needs your beauty, the world needs its Lebanon.
The lessons Lebanon teaches us of resilience, strength, compassion, love, beauty, joy, positivity and freedom inspire me to tears.
May your tears water the roots of your happiness. May you continue to float in love and grace. May you always win, dear Beirut.
“You have your Lebanon with her problems, and I have my Lebanon with her beauty. You have your Lebanon with all her prejudices and struggles, and I have my Lebanon with all her dreams and securities. Your Lebanon is a political knot, a national dilemma, a place of conflict and deception. My Lebanon is a place of beauty and dreams of enchanting valleys and splendid mountains. Your Lebanon is inhabited by functionaries, officers, politicians, committees, and factions. My Lebanon is for peasants, shepherds, young boys and girls, parents and poets. Your Lebanon is empty and fleeting, whereas my Lebanon will endure forever.”
Khalil Gibran
P.S. Please donate to organizations you trust to help Lebanon recover from the latest blow. I used Impact Lebanon's. The Red Cross is another option, please choose wisely.
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