Lebanon: stories of love, resilience and connection

Some places change you, while others reveal who you really are. For me, that place was Lebanon.

I thought Beirut would be beautiful and steeped in history and I was curious about what adventures the landscape would offer. However, I found something much deeper, a country that embraced me and showed me what it means to love, live and connect deeply with others and with myself.

For me, Lebanon was not a destination, but a revelation.

A warm welcome

I have never forgotten the first smile I received at the airport, the dinner with friends, the late-night conversations and the overflowing laughter and love. I was deeply touched by the generosity of the Lebanese people. I found Lebanon's real treasure which is the ability to turn every gathering into a celebration.

They find humor in storytelling and find laughter even in the hardest truths. What amazed me the most was the way people communicated with me. Even the random people I met on the streets or shopkeepers on the corner would say « Habibi » (my love) or « Hayati » (my life). At the start, it was hard to respond. I met them only a few moments ago. But within the following days, I started to realize. In Lebanon love doesn’t lie in the hidden, it's in the words, the actions and the way people readily offer you to their homes all with no hesitation.

This primary and profound lesson was that love is most powerful when expressed. I started to openly say the words as well.

There was no pretense, no polite distance. Conversations were real. Eyes met eyes, hands were held, time slowed down and I realized how often, in my daily life, I had forgotten what it means to truly connect.

Through the eyes of friends

What made Lebanon even more special was experiencing it through the people I already knew. My Lebanese friends, many of them former colleagues who became like family, each showed me their Lebanon.

One of my beautiful memories of the many companions was walking through some of the hidden cafés of « Gemmayzeh ». We spent hours talking about life and dreaming together in what felt like a suspended moment in time. One of the many souls I connected with over the magical nights of Beirut introduced me to the heart of the city's nightlife, the music echoing through the streets and resonating in my heart long after the night was over. Others opened their homes and offered endless plates of food and contagious laughter, the kind of warmth that stays with you.

All the friends I made the last time I was here gave me a different piece of the puzzle. Together, they formed an image of Lebanon that exceeded anything I could have imagined.

Beirut: A City of Contrasts

Beirut is a living a paradox. It’s modern as well as ancient, joyful and also wounded and chaotic yet soulful to the core.

Upon waking in the mornings, the smell of fresh « manakish with zaatar » would drift from the bakeries. The streets that had been quiet in the morning would begin to throb with life. Cars would weave in and out of the streets, vendors would shout and Fayrouz would sing from every radio.

Evenings at « Corniche Manara » were magical. Families took strolls together, couples admired the beauty of the sun melting over the Mediterranean and children playing and splashing in the water.

Every part of the city taught me that joy and pain are not the opposites, they co-exist.  Joy is not the absence of pain, it’s the willingness to live, to the fullest, with the ongoing struggles.

Love in the Details

In Lebanon, love isn’t loud but it’s everywhere.

A love that one experiences everywhere, in the persistence of a grandmother “Eat, Habibti, you need more strength.” In the unspoken understanding between friends at a mezze table and the deep connection that is felt when a story is shared, laced with music where the heart and soul intertwine.

It’s unnecessary to shout to communicate love. It’s in simply being, it’s in the conscious choice to stay and in the silent statement of “I’m here,” in the little thoughtful acts of love that together form a response greater than any words can convey.

I learned the depth of feeling is not a weakness, it’s a superpower. It’s the capacity to live fully to endure the pain to still laugh in the same breath and still choose to find the joy in life.

What I carried with me

From Lebanon, I took more than just souvenirs, I took a heart that beats more softly, a breath that flows more slowly and love that is more deeply lived and unreserved.

Perhaps the greatest gift of travel is that it doesn’t just show you the world, it teaches you how to see it.

Speak love, don’t hold love captive, celebrate presence, sit by the sea, have a coffee or tea with a friend and dance to the music of life. Be resilient, hardship will come but like the cedar, we can bend without breaking. Find home in people, sometimes, home is not where you were born but where you are seen, welcomed and loved.

To all my friends in Lebanon «Shukran ». Thank you for the warmth, the laughter and the way you say “Habibi” as if it's the most natural thing in the world. You showed me that love quiet, generous and fearless is all around. All I need to do is let it in.

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