Tags
adelnehmeh, belonging, confessions from a lebanese expatriate, expatriate, grass greener, identity crisis, immigrating, lebanese, lebanon, patriotism
This post was inspired by a very nice conversation I had with two fellow expatriates on the blog of one of them: Confessions from a Lebanese Expatriate: Where did my Lebanon Go? (which is very good and I strongly advise you to follow it)
I see many Lebanese asking if they should leave the country:
Is the grass greener on the other side?
If you are to leave you will get a mediocre boring job in a cubicle.
You will listen to Lebanese radio from your cubicle and suffer.
You will hurt at the torture of seeing Facebook photos of friends back home.
You will take the metro everyday, and read the newspaper everyday.
Your eyes will scream angrily at the small column in the corner about Lebanon.
You will hate Lebanon and you will miss it.
You will love it more but thank God that you are not in it.
Your identity will shatter, as you become a so-called ‘citizen of the world’.
You will belong neither here, nor there.
The word expatriate will plague you…
But you see, for the longest time, I had been clinging to Lebanon for dear life.
I got knocked down repeatedly and I picked myself up and tried again.
But eventually I got knocked down and found that I stayed down.
In fact, I fell further and lower and what’s more, I was kicked.
Kicked in my patriotism, kicked in my hope, kicked in my naivety.
Kicked over and over again until religion was kicked clean out of me.
My faith in my country was standing at the door of my being.
It was clutching at the doorframe fighting tooth and nail to stay inside me.
The people of my country had it by the feet, pulling and dragging it out.
So I left.
I left for the sake of my faith.
I left so that I would come back one day with more to offer.
As for the question I asked in the beginning: As fellow blogger AdelNehmeh so eloquently put it, “The grass is not greener on the other side, and if it is you graze alone”.
SO WHAT IS A LEBANESE TO DO!?
Thanks Eleena for taking our enriching conversation and expanding more on it.
If I may make a request, I would prefer you reference the following page (http://lebaneseexpatriate.wordpress.com/about-2/) to direct people to know about me more.
My other blog is out of date and inactive at this stage.
Thank you and I am glad the world of blogging has connected us and has been brining such coversations and support.
Done
!
I’m also glad to have become connected! THANKS SOCIAL MEDIA!
it is only the beginning
What is a Lebanese to do?
The question has many answers and they are all valid. Below are just a few.
Firstly you do what you need to do for your own sanity. You stay, you leave or you return in order to ensure that you remain sane.
Secondly, you never and I mean NEVER give up on what you want. The world is full of mediocre people who just accept their lot in life and never challenge themselves and the reason they do not challenge themselves in because they live in fear of their own potential.
Thirdly, we the Lebanese need to stop living short term and start thinking long term. How does this happen? It happens through education and a willingness to see that short term thinking only leads to short term benefits.
Fourthly, If you wish the grass on your side of the fence to remain green, it must be nurtured, manicured, fertilised, weeded and generally taken care of. Neglect it and it will become thorny, overgrown and weedy and those weeds will strangle the life out of the grass, which inevitably means that it will die.
Therefore, what are the Lebanese to do? They must start looking to find other Lebanese with similar ways of thinking and begin to support, nurture and uplift each other. A house divided when fall in upon itself. There is power and strength in numbers and there are enough Lebanese young men and women who think the same way, strength in unity and connectedness whether in Lebanon or outside it. We live in a connected world lets start taking advantage of it.
We must begin to develop a network of like minded people who’s purpose it is to see the betterment of their people. And for those who said it cant be done there are examples after examples of it happening. It starts with a conversation. Hold on wait a minute, isn’t that what we are having now?
Change in Lebanon will come in the same way it comes everywhere else, when one person decides they want change and so does another and another and then these people start to work together.
And remember everything can be resolved for the better, have a coffee, start a conversation and talk it through.
That in my humble opinion is what a Lebanese is to do.
John
John thank you for your eloquent and encouraging words! My spirits have been lighter, and my bitterness has diffused some since talking with you and Adel. So will you have a blog or a newsletter that we can follow John?
As far as I’m concerned, the people of my country ran Lebanon through the ground, the only good thing left in it, is the fact we get to fight Israel and rid the world of its evil. That’s my opinion, because sadly as aforementioned, its so called “citizens” have let it become a cheap whore for other Arabs and Western Countries to bully it around. I have no more faith in my “country”, Imam Ali once said, home is where you live a good life that protects your dignity and well being. So much for that here huh? If they keep letting others try and take away our cause, I might as well just abandon this dump.
Sad, but true.
Or maybe I’m bitter because it’s Monday?
Ali,
With my utmost respect, if thats the attitude you have for your country then it’s better that you leave. All sides of Lebanese society, be they religious, social or political are to blame for the way Lebanon has become. This “whore” that you speak of is the byproduct of greed and selfishness on the part of all Lebanese who did and do not have the courage to say stop this is not right.
If the only positive that you can see with being in Lebanon is to fight Israel then for you Lebanon as a country is a lost cause. Lebanon is and should not be a battleground for anyone’s agenda, not yours, not Israel, not Syria, not the East, not the Arabs and not the West. Furthermore it is not a place where the Lebanese should feel the need to make it a battleground to fight each other.
Rather than trying to help build a pluralistic society that respects humanity and the rights of the other, we point fingers and play the blame game as to who caused Lebanon to become this way. Before we as Lebanese point fingers at the other we should point them squarely at ourselves. We caused this, all of us no matter what sect, religion, social group or political party, when we choose one sect over Lebanon. I am religious but I am also Lebanese. My religion is private, my nationality is public.
In the famous words of the Prophet, Kahlil Gibran:
“You have your Lebanon and its dilemma. I have my Lebanon and its beauty. Your Lebanon is an arena for men from the West and men from the East. My Lebanon is a flock of birds fluttering in the early morning as shepherds lead their sheep into the meadow and rising in the evening as farmers return from their fields and vineyards. You have your Lebanon and its people. I have my Lebanon and its people”.
I love Lebanon and its people.
John
E’s,
I had never thought about it to be honest but our conversation has given me an idea but I need yours and Adel’s help. If you are interested email me and I will be more than happy to discuss it further. I think you will like it.
John
I am in in any kind of initative that creates momentum and encourages postitive action. I don’t have your email but here is mine: lebaneseexpatriate@gmail.com
Ali, I can understand your frustration and maybe you were extra bitter since it was Monday. Perhaps John’s words managed to ease ur tension as they did mine, you see I am also bitter and frustrated at what Lebanon has become, but that is not to say, (as John so beautifully put it) that we should give up on Lebanon or use it as a battleground. It is that combative attitude that has a big hand in what Lebanon has become today. Also as John put it, on Adel’s post (that I mentioned in my post) we need to be the change we want to see. I can’t see myself being that change at the moment in Lebanon as I have a lot of growing up to do and maturing, but I will never turn my back on my country, everything I do is to get one step closer to returning to Lebanon with more to offer.
) I would love to be a part of any intiative that encourages positive action. I would love to help here is my e-mail eleena.korban@gmail.com.
John, I also do not have your e-mail but like Adel said (I’m assuming Anonymous is Adel