To the heart in you don't be afraid to feel to the sun in you don't be afraid to shine to the ocean in you don't be afraid to rage to the love in you don't be afraid to heal to the silence in you don't be afraid to break.
Hey, so my guest today, Nejwa Zedyan, is a lebanese canadian activist, author, speaker and educator who developed a passion for language at a really young age, immersing herself in Arabic, poetry and novels.
And as someone who found herself repeatedly displaced, leaving Lebanon for Canada when she was 16, not even realizing at that moment that it wasn't just a trip, but rather a permanent change, she would find herself searching for a home, what Nezhwa describes as a place where the soul and the heart feel at peace.
A quest that continues into her adult life and her passion for language and quest to understand her place in the world and compassion for those who've been displaced and disfranchised led her to pursue a PhD in education.
But it was an experience teaching young refugees that rekindled her love of writing after having left it behind because of an association that she had with it.
And she began to heal her 16 year old self by writing to heal her students.
Since publishing her first collection of poetry and prose in 2016, Nejewa has become an inspiration to millions of people worldwide and a trailblazing voice for women everywhere.
And she's been featured widely in the media, collaborated with everyone from Google to RBC, Kohl's and even Cirque du Soleil.
And drawing on her own experiences of displacement, discrimination, and abuse, Nezhwa uses her words to encourage others to build a home within themselves, to live, love, and create fearlessly.
And her new book, welcome Home, it invites us to explore how to create that feeling we so yearn for within ourselves first before looking outside.
So excited to share this conversation.
I'm Jonathan Fields and this is good life project.
It is so nice to be able to spend some time with you.
I've been diving into you and your work and really so deeply moved by it.
Thank you.
And I want to walk through some of your journey on the planet and also your most recent book and some of the ideas in it.
You grew up in Lebanon?
Yes, from what I understand, the youngest of six kids, and describe yourself as sensitive, kind of an old soul from the very earliest days.
I'm curious how that showed up when you were a kid.
I just remember feeling extremely out of place because I had too much going on on the inside, too much emotions, too much thought.