France Helps You to Heal Your Wounds and Find Your True Self

I moved to France a few years ago to study for a master's degree in Communication and Intercultural Management. It's been more than two years since I obtained my degree and I'm working in Paris at the moment. As odd as it sounds I am feeling more myself now. It took several years to feel like this in France and I neither thought I'd ever say this nor I was expecting this feeling to happen.

Europe is dealing with a huge immigration phenomenon, and in France, things sometimes can be even more complex. Indeed, immigrants come to France from different backgrounds and because of countless reasons. Some people are asylum seekers, some immigrate through education and studying, some through job visas or family relocations, etc. Those who have to or decide to move because of any sort of instability in their home countries (whether it's financial, political, or due to societal implications of labor market instability, etc.) might have painfully suffered mentally for short or very long periods. Now imagine moving to a new country and (wanted or unwanted) facing a good deal of breathtaking challenges. And god knows French culture and people are not the easiest to deal with. But if you're lucky enough to integrate into society little by little, you will probably notice that wounds from the past stop bleeding and itching.

I'm not trying to whitewash anything. I have no intent of glossing over or covering the harsh societal issues immigrants encounter in the host country. No one can deny that the process of integration can be full of rejections, feeling vulnerable, downgraded, misunderstood, and underestimated. And everybody has heard about the glass ceiling for immigrants and refugees in France. I have even talked about some cultural issues that I faced during one of my previous working experiences in an article published on my blog: 5 Things I Learned About French Work Culture Yet, at this point, I'm just talking about the toxic, pessimistic, anxious inner voice that slightly fades away and you get to the recovery stage. Cherish this moment, set your own pace, and consider your whole self. It should have been easy to get to this stage. I had friends to had studied in France to be able to fully move, immigrate, and integrate but they could not bear it until this moment, even though some of them found jobs in good companies. Even though some of them were coming from other Western countries and probably were more privileged compared to the majority of immigrants in France. Were they less wounded? Were they less traumatized or in need of a space and distance to cure? I don't know. But I think I know is "The healing of a heart wound is like the healing of a flesh wound". Life can get so difficult at some points for everyone and immigration, wanted or unwanted, can be part of that inevitable difficulty of one's life. In any case, you have ended up here, do your best to settle down. France is yet able to give you the chance to rest, breathe, and calm down the screaming inner voice you've been carrying for ages. Use this opportunity to begin cleaning out, relief can come soon. The poison is being removed. The pain of abuse and the trauma of the wound are being healed. It has to hurt worse before it can begin to feel better. Cleaning out a wound is painful and takes time.

You might not like France or be stuck under the glass ceiling. That's understandable. If you can, take the chance to build resiliency for the upcoming tough times. You might be overwhelmed by the amount of stoic lessons on the internet these days, but why not ponder them sometime?

“Let the personality be made ready to face everything; let it be made to realize that it has come to terrain on which thunder and lightning play.” — Seneca

Seneca’s first advice can be practiced when you've entered the healing stages. Work on yourself, get to know yourself, and try to understand who you are and what you want. France can probably give this a chance. After you get healed, you might be able to break the "glass ceiling" and fly away wherever you want.