Speaking of my career, I always dreamt of a corporate job in the Learning and Development space, where I could make a difference professionally and personally. I imagined working with big clients and staying updated with industry trends, which I anyway did while I worked at Deloitte as an Instructional Designer until November 2019. I truly loved it! I loved the fast-paced, high functioning team that I belonged to, that is where I learned true professionalism, ethics, confidence, and met incredible people.
While my career was thriving on one side, my family thought it was time for me to make important personal decisions as well, and they were determined to find me a husband. Their efforts on Bharath Matrimony paid off, and I got married in January 2020 to the man that has been my biggest cheerleader. Touchwood! After our wedding, I moved to Dubai.
Although it was an exciting time personally, my professional life hit rock bottom. I moved in January 2020, just before COVID-19 hit. Saving one’s life and job was hard, let alone finding a job. Every morning as I sipped on my tea and checked my emails, I would only feel worse and dejected, not landing any opportunity.
Eventually, I got some consulting jobs, but they didn't bring me happiness, although they did bring in money, making me financially independent again. I started reflecting on what truly made me happy. I wondered if the corporate was my real calling or if there was something else that I could do. My parents suggested I start teaching French, a subject I love. I did that too. I founded C’est Français and began teaching. The best part about it was the joy of helping children who never thought they could study French and watching them ace it. Although I was thriving at that, I still felt incomplete, like I had not found my calling yet.
I spent a lot of time reflecting on it. Research speaks of a spike in cognitive abilities– especially creativity levels while under the shower. So, the saying, “the best ideas come in the shower” — happened to me too one day. In that quiet moment, I asked myself what truly brought me joy. The answer was simple: dancing and finding meaningful solutions to people-related problems. That realization led me to discover a course that was a perfect amalgamation of dance and healing, better known as Dance and Movement Therapy or Creative Movement Therapy. Diving deeper into it each day, learning more, reflecting more, and applying it in my sessions with clients is deeply satisfying. There is a whole world to discover and uncover in this field and every day, I now wake up with a purpose – to make a meaningful and positively impactful difference in the lives of those who want to release emotions, reconnect with themselves, and rise to their true potential. I remain endlessly grateful for it. Today, as I think of the path I have traversed before I got here, I know that everything happened to me to teach me different lessons of life – of gratitude, resilience, and the biggest power, that is of knowledge, I guess it is true when they say – everything happens for a reason. I am embracing every one of those reasons each day as I move forward, one movement at a time.
