“If Your Life’s a Straight Line, You Ain’t Living”

Shiva Mittal

Asian Indian | Minneapolis, MN | he/him/his

My name is Shiva. I hail from a picturesque Indian city at the foothills of the Himalayas. Both my parents were movie scribes (Bollywood, woot!). I fell further from the tree and armed myself with an engineering degree, which, amongst other things, got me hired as a software consultant in a multinational firm. Part-Y2K furor and part-American Dream took me to California. I accepted a position at a Bay Area consulting shop. In the 15-plus-years that followed, the corporate realm was my sandbox. I designed software apps and led cross-functional teams in global business expansion, with more meetings, flights, and PowerPoint presentations than any (sane) human should have to deal with.

In this ascent up “the ladder,” I met an unexpected layoff. This was different from being “on the bench” or the 9/11 and 2008-09 recessions. This was personal. Bump with a capital B; trauma with a capital T. Not only my professional identity, but my confidence, my health, my family relationships, my social standing, and my finances were shattered. I felt burnt out and broken.

Yet, this wasn’t the end of the story; it was the close of a chapter. At the time though, it was less than obvious, and things didn’t turn around overnight. I had to heal, rediscover, and reclaim my true self. The drive and focus were there, but I had to develop patience and self-compassion. I had to let go of “stuff” — physical, mental, and emotional. I learned transformation is a process; it is not the whim of an arbitrary deadline.

My BFF and unyielding taskmaster on this journey has always been my inner voice. It refused to let me sink into the comfortable trap of the old ways or let my values be ignored working towards goals my heart did not align with. It convinced me to pursue the path of true potential, and in turn, help others realize theirs.

Weeks, months went by, and though it felt like a long time something inside told me to stay the course. Finally, the Universe stepped and seemed to say, “I got your back.” A Dislocated Worker program allowed me to retrain as a career counselor. This was my first epiphany and cemented my decision to target life skills education as my “next” phase. I enrolled in a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) and Advanced Teaching program, which I am currently pursuing. I am also training to be an advanced yoga teacher and growing ThirdEye, a life-design startup I conceptualized. I am now a writer, speaker, educator, and artist, and have fully embraced this new self. 

As a transplant from Asia, I have experienced firsthand the struggles of being an immigrant. By the same token, I am fortunate to access the advantages of a thriving country, an advanced infrastructure, a focused work culture, and broader opportunities. Simultaneously, there is an uphill battle on multiple fronts — cultural supremacy and oppression, stereotyping, sociocultural segregation, economic disparity, legal and institutional injustices and so on. 

My mission is to unite Eastern consciousness and Western enterprise to help others discover and manifest their authentic, best selves. As the proverb goes, “To walk fast, walk alone. To walk far, walk together.” My goal is to walk far. In the power of ME. In the power of WE.

#MinneAsianStories Series