Dream lives in Dream

 The road to Ghana was long, and long, and long in my impression. My first encounter with Ghana was at the age of 10 when my class teacher said in a class: “You know ‘Ghana chocolate’ sold in Japan, but children in Ghana can’t eat chocolate.” I don’t know whether or not, it was true or not at that time. He was trying to explain that in some places on the same planet at the same time, there were people living in poverty, so we had to appreciate our environment in Japan. It was the time of conflicts in the African continent after independences. I questioned myself why I could eat it but they couldn’t in my mind. And throughout my childhood whenever I complained to meals, my mother used to say “People existed on starving and struggling in Africa caused by famines. So you must eat it up!” It was the time of famines in Ethiopia and some other places in Africa. I questioned myself if I could send my meals to Africa in my mind. I became aware of Africa in a negative sense.

On the other hand, I really liked to watch the TV program called “Kaoru KANETAKA’S The World Around Us”, in which a lady goes around other countries and comments on what she saw there, and was so excited about traditions and folkways of indigenous Africa that I became yarning and longing for Africa. And I was so attracted to black people in sports seen on screen, like in Olympic Games, who were muscular, stout, powerful, tireless, and tough that I wanted to become black. And I was so enchanted to the beauty of black women who were joyful, mysterious, sacred, energetic, and transparent that I wanted to meet them to perceive their mystery with all my cells. My image of Africa and black people was rather positive and the color of skin “Black” became the symbol of beauty of mankind in me, and I created an ideal and dreamy image of Africa in my mind.

It was a long journey to come to my dreamy Africa; years are piled up 30 times to step on the soil of my reverent Africa. Now I am on the earth of my Dream! Needless to say, “my Africa” is an artificial and fictitious image of Africa, and the real Africa is totally different from my dreamy Africa and real black people might not be as beautiful as the ones living in my reverent Africa. I know the Africa that I saw on TV no longer exits, and I know it is my reminiscence. Nevertheless now I am luckily in the land of African and can see black people walking on the road, hear birds singing in the air, and feel wind blowing through me. Whenever I see people, hear birds, and feel wind, I talk to me in childhood, imagining my Africa, just then I can see my Africa vividly, overlapping the scene beyond my sights, and my imagination brings me to the dream that I saw when I was child. My Africa is fictitious but it does exit before my very eyes and is visible to my eyes with the innocent heart of childhood. We can’t see our dream in reality but we can see it if we imagine. Just close your eyes and make your heart pure like 5-year old child. Voila!! You resurrect it as it was ever in your childhood.

Some years ago, when I had a little chat with a Ghanaian friend that I met in France, she said: "Quand j'étais petite, Japon était mon rêve! (When I was kid, Japan was my dream!)", and I answered: “Really? Ghana was also my dream!” Happily, now I live in my dream! Even if Ghana is not the same as my Ghana, my dream keeps living in my heart. Dream lives in Dream. Dream is invisible unless you imagine; Dream is visible if you imagine with the heart of child. It’s just simple.

 - Adieu, dit le renard. Voici mon secret. Il est très simple : on ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

Goodbye, - said the Fox. - This is my secret. It is very simple: you can only see with your heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.)

From "Le Petit Prince – The Little Price"