About Najwa Zebian — Najwa Zebian's Site

I’m a Lebanese-Canadian author, activist, speaker, and educator.

My goal is to help you heal through words. If there's one thing I know for sure, it's this: words have the power to transform your life. They certainly transformed mine and those of millions who've read my work. Words can be the mirror that helps you feel seen, the crying shoulder that helps you feel heard, and the open arms that help you feel like you matter. In my darkest moments, putting my thoughts and feelings into words allowed me to remove the blur that was standing between me and my power to change my life. Words have led me to finding myself, reinventing myself and living fearlessly. And they will do the same for you.

I grew up sitting on the floor next to my dad’s bookshelf, reading Arabic poetry and novels. In that place, hours felt like minutes. I was the only one in my family who would be excited when my parents put folk music on because the power of words made me feel seen and understood.

For a few years, I lived with several relatives as my parents travelled back and forth to Canada. It was then that I started aching for the feeling of home- the place where I would feel loved and welcomed for who I am. That ache led me to start putting my words to paper when I was 13. It was the first time in my life I felt truly heard. And the beauty in that is that I gave myself a voice and I was the one listening to it.

I joined my family in Canada at 16- on my birthday. A few weeks later, the war broke out in Lebanon and I had to make the decision to stay in Canada. This lack of choice led me to spiral into years of depression and sadness. I ripped up the journal I started writing in at 13 and vowed to never write again. Because writing meant feeling. And feeling was painful, especially when it was coupled with helplessness- knowing that I had no power to change my reality. I lived those years in black and white.

That changed seven years later, when I started teaching. My first group of students, a group of young refugees, led me back to my original passion: writing. I wanted to help them heal and see that they don’t have to fight to belong. Shortly after, I realized that writing to help them heal was also healing my sixteen-year-old self.

Sharing my words with more people positioned me in a place where I was asked by multiple people to compile my writings in a book so they could have access to it in one place. So I self-published my first book, Mind Platter, in 2016. And the rest is history. I was able to reach millions of people worldwide and help amplify the voices of those who felt they had none.

I have published a total of 6 books of poetry and self-development that followed my journey of healing, building a home within, letting go of my conditioning and reinventing myself.

I can brag about all the media outlets that have shared my work, but that’s not my biggest pride. My biggest pride is the number of people who reach out to me every single day telling me how my work has transformed their lives.

I recently became a Doctor in Educational Leadership. It’s my hope that the knowledge I’ve gained on authentic inclusion, coupled with the years of uniting with people all over the world through the power of words, will help me in spreading this message: every human has the ability to transform their life once they realize they are the leader they've always needed.

Sometimes change is welcome and sometimes it’s an unpleasant surprise. But how do we best deal with the changes, both big and small, in our lives? In The Only Constant, I’m guiding readers through the changes we must make (or those we need to endure) and how to fully embrace those changes on the journey to lead our most authentic lives.

Read now