Passing through airports the world over, you catch sight of any number of travellers with several suitcases. They come in all manner of sizes, colours and shapes. Some drag theirs along on wheels, others on trolleys, and still others, the ones you recognize by their boss-attitude, have valets or other attendants to convey their bags for them. They themselves make do with a small case or a briefcase that we often imagine filled with crisp new banknotes. Those are visible suitcases.
But what about the invisible suitcases?
The invisible suitcases are the ones travellers carry and that we do not see. They are every bit as multiform, multicoloured and multidimensional as the first kind. What sets them apart from the first kind is their contents.
The first kind contain things we can easily guess at: our clothes and all the practical items we will have to use once we reach our destination.
The second kind, for their part, are far more complex to pin down. Their contents depend on the individuals, on their history, their aspirations, their values, their expectations, and so on.
When I came to Canada, seven (7) years ago to the day, I had my visible suitcases, which my loved ones saw. But I also had my invisible suitcases.
In my invisible suitcases, I had this vision of a Martial who was going to accomplish a great many things.
A young single man approaching thirty, ignorant of a great many things but highly optimistic, I saw myself going far after a certain stretch of time in Canada. The permanent resident visa application took five (5) years of my life. I no longer had the luxury of fooling about and losing years.
In my suitcase, I had the vision of a Martial who obtained his Canadian citizenship after three (3) years, who first made his way into the Canadian public service and then to Global Affairs Canada, then on to the UN, and who finally climbed the ranks there.
The vision was there, present in the invisible suitcase, with no plan, not even an idea of the process. I simply knew where I wanted to be in a few years. How many years? I did not even know that.
Today, after seven (7) years spent on Canadian soil, where have I got to? Have I moved along in my plan? Is my plan even still current?
My conviction is that I have moved forward along that path. Three (3) years ago I was able to join the Canadian public service, and the possibilities there are endless. I keep moving along and looking for my way.
The most thrilling part of my Canadian story is everything I have gathered along the way and that I was not even expecting. I think of the wonderful friends I have had, the fantastic collaborators I have had on various projects, and, the biggest thrill of all, the presidency of the Montréal chapter of the Togolese Community in Canada, which I hold with pleasure and satisfaction. What a fine adventure!!
And none of that, obviously, had I planned. I simply put my trust in God, in nature and in my own self. Those three (3) never lie.
Which just goes to show: always leave room for uncertainty in your invisible suitcase. It is from that corner that your greatest joys and your most extraordinary accomplishments may well come.
My invisible suitcases are still full of a great many things and the uncertainty corner has not yet revealed the last of its contents.
And you, when you arrived in Canada, in the West, what did you have in your invisible suitcases? Have you achieved a part of it? Are you still in step with their contents after a few years?
M. Z.
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