I went back to the classroom this month after 7 years of being a working professional. As I navigated this new life and country, I met my college counsellor during my first week of settling in. Sitting across a smiling, warm woman in a well-lit room, I found myself blurting out these unexpected words, “I had a wonderful life in India. I was a well-known professional with my credible reputation and vast body of work preceding me in every room I walked into. And here I am now, after uprooting that hard-built life, starting from the scratch. I am starting from the start! It is unsettling!”
She spoke to me empathetically, offered some tangible work related advice and also earnestly repeated, “Be kind to yourself. You are doing something very hard. Give yourself credit for this glorious journey till Cambridge!”
As I stepped outside her office, I sat on a bench under a beautiful apple tree under the blue skies and amidst the sea of green. Nature is the greatest dividend one reaps out of the beautiful campus life abroad, I thought to myself. Yet, I kept going back to why I said what I said a few minutes ago. With no answers in sight, I merely repeated “I must be kind to myself. And, I must be proud of myself!”
A few days passed by. I followed some advise, applied for a few suggested programs for mid-career professionals like me and went about my life. While managing the full-blown adult life along with intense academic and financial pressures, my thoughts and feelings rarely found an outlet to surface.
With ambition powering my days, I started attending most events relevant to my field, even as my social batteries were fast discharging. With self-assuredness slowly becoming my friend, I started bravely sharing my insights during academic discussions, even when sitting next to career diplomats and civil servants in my global classroom. My career trajectory helped me connect with the right folks. My long, enriching experiences helped me contribute meaningfully to academic discussions.
In less than a month, despite still having a long way to go, I found myself often surrounded by familiar faces. I caught myself answering curious questions directed at me on the themes of my work. The joy of meeting new people and introducing myself also started to grow.
Then, on a rainy afternoon I visited the King’s Chapel in Cambridge. I sat there soaking in its breathtaking architecture and the divine atmosphere. Suddenly, I felt the urge to write something. I quickly took out my phone and wrote what felt like unexpected. It helped me bring my earlier unexpected thoughts to their closure.
The powerful thing about starting from the start is that you’re never really starting from the start. It’s a new start line for sure but you’ve reached this track race after enduring and triumphing over so many others. It might be your new beginning but it follows up on so many successful endings that this is a legacy start of sorts. It might feel like you’re starting from the scratch but in reality it’s miles ahead from where ground zero truly lies. It might appear like leaving behind the old, familiar and well-built but in reality it flows into the new, uncertainties and work in progress.
The powerful thing about starting from the start is that you get to straddle two beautiful worlds. Holding on to the lessons of the past and the aspirations for the future. Embodying the resilient person that you became and the courageous person that you are becoming. Finding meaning in journeys which ended while cultivating purpose in the paths which are beginning.
The powerful thing about starting from the start is the audacious person inside you who said “hell, yes!” to a nervous new beginning. That person will guide you well as you undertake this exciting new voyage.
The powerful thing about starting from the start is the promise of a blank state and the potential of a brand new canvas. Start from the start and let the magic unfold! I am witnessing mine as I write at this moment. I hope you experience yours too!
Phew! such inspiring words! Thank you for this and best wishes!
This is a brilliant piece. As someone who made drastic career shifts more than once but never looked at the moves in a postive light your piece gave me something to think about. So much to learn yet. Keep inspiring Sanskriti.