Zyara sheds light on life’s heroes
Lightkeeper Muriel and All-loving Denise do their magic
Two people serve one meaningful purpose. Denise, Muriel, and their Zyara [visit in Arabic]. They get invited to other people’s lives and get entrusted with their stories to document and share. Their story-telling invites hope and waken inspiration. The most profound way to understand Zyara is to get to know Denise, Muriel, and the magic they produce.
We sat outside. When I asked about their story, Denise jumped in and flashed back to her childhood. She took me to the beautiful Beirut neighborhood of Corniche ElMazraa, to the house that defined her.
Aside from Gus and Joe, she’s the third person to take me there. Is this a coincidence, or there’s something magical about that Beiruti neighborhood?
The house was home to many souls
It was a small all-inviting house continuously full and generous. If only the walls could speak. No more. Soon after Denise’s two brothers and sister got married and moved on, and their live-in aunt passed away, the house became a little too empty for her and her parents. In 2002, the front door squeaked as the closed it shut and moved to the Northern suburbs of Beirut to join the brothers in their new building. They held on to it for 10 years before they decided that they have to let it go. Today, the house is a deserted empty lot except for the random vegetation growing in it.
Denise between her siblings, toddler, and at 4 years old; all in Corniche ElMazraa
For about 50 years, that house buzzed. It had a simple structure. One big living room in the middle as you walk in from the front door and then two bedrooms: one to the left and one straight ahead. The kitchen was to the right. A cute garden, with a shading guava tree and a jasmine bush, hugged the structure. Between the outside gate and the main door under the tree, was a small pond with pet fish, centered by a water fountain, bringing freshness to Beirut’s summer heat.
Did the children overfeed the fish? How did the guava smell? The jasmine?
Many people used to come to their place: relatives, friends, neighbors, and the occasional passer-by. She remembers her mom waking up at 5 am to wash clothes, cook, and prepare dad’s Tupperware lunch box. By 6 am, knocks on the door would start as neighbors walk in for a visit [Lebanese call it Sobhieh]. Kids would be scrambling for breakfast, a turn to the bathroom, and getting dressed for school, work, or university. Out of the two bedrooms, the six children had to share one. Most often, they had other people sleeping over. She remembers once having 11 people, whom she did not know, overnighting at their place. During the war, their home was a stop-over for people from East Beirut traveling through the airport.
The whole family back then (she’s the youngest) and with her parents now.
Houses like Denise’s made the neighborhood what it was — a mix of people from all religions and denominations. People who grew up together as one.
“What was really nice is that during all feasts, we used to bake sweets for the whole neighborhood. Overnight.”
Denise’s mom used to “volunteer” her daughters to go and help Souad and Zbeideh, two sisters from the neighborhood who lived off selling jasmine necklaces and orange blossom water. Souad was the first person Muriel and Denise documented in the Zyara series.
Zyara was born
Her upbringing developed in her an intense curiosity. She would people watch and play guess: This guy is on his second date, this one works as an accountant, and is not happy, and this couple looks like their breaking up. She suggested to Muriel to start documenting people’s stories. Denise did the talking, and Muriel did the filming, lighting, imagery, and approach. After their first story of Souad in 2014, Zyara was created and season 5 just launched.
Since then, the Zyara makers traveled all over Europe and met with prominent artists who encouraged them to keep producing. Zyara, the project, circled internationally scooping over 45 awards. The vibes of their heroes and their stories kept all kinds of support coming their way.
Denise just does the talking
Talk she does, and so much more. In the beginning, it was a curiosity that got her started as she’s interested in people. She would wonder as to what did you play with, as a kid? What are your dreams? Your favorite food? When did you first fall in love? What makes you feel the most or makes you cry? What are your regrets and dreams? What are you afraid of, and what have you learned? When you share your experience with her and your eyes start to glitter, she feels with you. That would be the beginning of yet another Zyara.
“I am hungry to reconnect to the source of humanity. I’m an empath!”
Muriel tells me that Denise feels with people even before talking to them. She has a gift of helping people break their protective shields and live with her a moment of pure connection and truth. She’s a no-limits all-loving person.
Denise believes that every minute should be lived fully. We need to let down all barriers and reconnect. Time to sit together, whether conversing or in silence, is vital.
“This is very rare today. People are carrying too much. They are too separated by their individuality.”
Complementary characters for Zyara
When Denise’s growing up was in a tribe, Muriel’s was different. When Denise is grounded with people, Muriel’s head is somewhere in the sky dreaming. When traveling, Denise would have found someone to talk to about life, and Muriel would be sitting in a warm corner in a cafe, sipping her coffee and planning the future. Muriel likes the mute mode, Denise is a great listener. You would think that Denise is a small-talker. NOT. You would think that Muriel only dreams. NOT.
Denise does the first step, plans the Murieltrap, and then retreats and watches her execute. They balance each other, and it serves Zyara well. After an interview, Denise is drained. She keeps a relationship of respect and love with that person but rarely goes back that deep with them. Muriel, on the other hand, is the one who stays in touch and supports when she can.
Denise takes people’s stories all the way in, as part of them live in her forever. Muriel uses her emotional shield to externalize situations and help.
The Zyara spirit
The visits [Zyara] are trusted. People they visit feel safe with them. They feel loved, accepted, and supported. Their message will be portrayed honestly. The power of Zyara is in its spiritual values of being non-judgemental and loving. The Zyara lens is humane.
Every time Muriel and Denise do a Zyara, they leave changed. The story of the heroin addict who has done a lot in his life, or the person who has passed through very dark times, or that someone who was a sex addict, or another who has lost a child, or the one who was raped severely for so many years; all those stories change you.
“It’s not that you’re sharing a conversation. You’re exchanging souls. You’re exchanging a part of you and they a part of them. Which remains with you forever.”
When they meet these people again, they feel that they’re meeting a part of them. They become family. All this in one day: One hour of interview, then another hour of shoots around the home, then they take them out to lunch and chat. Two hours of work and the rest is getting to know the person even more through talking, laughing, and crying.
There feel a sacredness around their Zyara’s.
All-loving Denise enchants the heroes of Zyara. Muriel stands as the lightkeeper. So, what’s the lightkeeper’s story? Where is she from and what drives her to do this?