Month: March 2008

family, happiness

Operating on happiness

Christa Avampato

This time of year, I think of my dad. He would have been 77 this past week. Occasionally, someone will ask me what my father passed away from and I end up pausing a bit, trying to think of how to summarize all of his ailments in one short sentence. Truly, I think he died from unhappiness. And that started me down the road toward my intense interest in studying happiness. 

Recently there have been a number of academic studies and pop culture books on the subject. I’m currently reading Geography of Bliss, the story Eric Weiner’s year-long trip to learn what makes people happy in different parts of the world. And the results are surprising because everything that we strive for in the US apparently makes no difference. Money, stability, success in careers. Even love and long-term relationships. It seems that what matters most are dreams, and their pursuit. 
Now over 15 years since my dad passed away, I know what he didn’t understand is exactly what Weiner didn’t understand either before he set out on his trip. Happiness is not something to be had. You can’t grab onto it so it’s no wonder that it’s such a slippery creature. Happiness isn’t even a journey. Happiness, simply is an operating principle. Some companies choose lean manufacturing. There are a lot of people trying to clean up their lives and live in a more eco-friendly way. These are operating principles, too: At every moment, the participant considers how to make choices, every choice, within a framework, with an operating principle as a guideline for separating good options from less-than-good options.  
So if I think of happiness the same way I think of Green and lean manufacturing, and I believe truly that it is the best way to run my life, I would look at options and make the choice that does the most to increase happiness. Even if in the short-term the choice is more difficult or forces a new way of conceptualizing my life, the long-term result will be worth it. And I hope now, wherever my dad is, he knows that, too. 

theatre, writing

It’s all in the edit

Christa Avampato

In recent days I’ve been building a presentation by committee. And it’s forced me to consider how to collect ideas from a wide audience, put them through a filter, a funnel, and then develop a unique, singular voice. If only I could draw, it would make a great visual: All the voice of the world at the top, been strained into a funnel with a neat, well-crafted set of ideas at the bottom.

I’m struggling with how to make the process less painful for all involved. It’s a struggle to edit. As a retail company, we are forced, constantly, into editing because the size of the box is finite. It’s true for newspapers, magazine, broadcasts, and museums. In some sense even for Google and Amazon.com – how much surfing is one person really willing to do on any one topic or product category – after a few pages of results, I’m done!

When I first moved to NYC, almost a decade ago, I worked for the Roundabout Theatre Company. Todd Haimes was then, and remains, the Artistic Director. And he’s brilliant. The best there is. In an interview, he was asked why he never directed shows. He answered, “I have no interest in directing shows. My passion lies in bringing talent together to get the work done.” He is a curator, an editor, of talent. He gathers, sifts, and funnels a multitude of great theatrical pieces and builds a season of shows each year that make a cohesive, powerful statement.

I thought about Todd as I worked on this presentation with a multitude of people voicing their opinions about what’s important. Deciding what matters and what doesn’t matter really is the hardest work on Earth, and the most important – through editing we define who we are, and what matters.

The photo above can be found at: http://www.blackwell-compass.com/render_image/fragments_home_editor_letter_image

apartment, feng shui, good fortune, love, luck, wishes

Shifting energies

Christa Avampato

Some days New York beats the hell out of the best of us. Like a job, no matter how much we love it, it can’t love us back. I got a parking ticket (unfairly I might add – so I’m fighting it), I had a hard time getting around the city for a work project due to construction (which seems to be happening in every neighborhood), the wind was blowing so hard my lungs hurt walking outside, and then I got booted off a subway due to a suspicious package and once I walked to a new train station, a racial fight broke out in the car I was in (right next to me). And this all happened in one day.

I ate dinner with my friend, Brooke, and we talked about energies that seem to be shifting in the world. Sensing that something is happening in the world that is signaling change. Big change, and not bad change. Just a movement, something new on the horizon. Brooke is feng shui-ing her apartment. I have a Dummies guide to the art and though it sits on my bookshelf, I have not once picked it up to help with my current apartment even though my sleep cycles and energies have been completely knocked off kilter. 
Yesterday I started working on the corner of my place that deals with relationships. Previously, I had my junk box there. A recycled cardboard box decorated with some lovely wrapping paper. And in that box I would put all the stuff I couldn’t find another place for, and eventually it became a place that I put all kinds of things that I didn’t want to find a home for at the moment. A dumping ground. My love life. Brooke looked at me with something akin to horror. “You need to fix that.”
So I did. We can’t always force circumstances in our lives; it could be argued that we can never force circumstances in our lives. Rather than pounding the pavement and fighting for what we want, sometimes we need to prepare ourselves and call good fortune to our door. Now I just hope that good fortune is listening.     

apple, music

Soundtrack for life

Christa Avampato

David Sedaris once wrote about how his Walkman helped him survive in New York – it gave him a soundtrack to live his life in, a way for him to drown out any of the noise around him on his walks. I feel the same way about my ipod. I suspect most people in New York with the signature white ear buds do, too.

This past weekend I had a great group of buddies from Darden in town. A bit of a reunion. Our semi-annual sixth month club has begun. I was talking about my birthday with my friend, Kelly, and telling her about how my birthday is really my New Year’s. I was wondering how I would commemorate a new year. And Kelly suggested a soundtrack for my year.
I’ve been thinking about the project. Considering songs here and there. Some people put together scrapbooks (which I never even thought of doing), others keep a journal (which I used to do). I write in this blog, and now I’ll be compiling yearly soundtracks.    
business, nostalgia, Starbucks, tradition

Go to the mattresses through your roots

Christa Avampato

Starbucks, the king of coffee, is in the midst of learning a very hard lesson, and we should all learn right along with them. Dazzled by the all the glitz of selling media and other brand extensions in their stores, they let go of what made them great: the best cup of coffee in town. They took a humble commodity and made it a fashion accessory, a brand someone can hang his hat on. And while they were off doing exclusive album releases and making deals with Apple, the enemies were encroaching: McDonald’s and DD being the two most noticeable ones in my neck of the woods. Howard Schultz said on Wednesday, “We are going to fight to the death and not allow any company to take our (coffee authority) position away from us.” They’re moving forward by going back.

Losing focus on what initially brought success is a dangerous trade-off. To be honest I can’t think of a single example of a company that moved successfully moved away from its roots. I also can’t think of single person that fits that mold either. Where we come from and where we initially place our stake in the ground is a critical consideration because everything else we ever become largely builds on that decision. It’s the only way to be genuine. It’s where our passion and creative sensibilities are born.

Thank goodness for the return of Howard Schultz. I am a fan of the company and I was growing a bit sad seeing the baristas fumble around to deliver an “okay” coffee drink. I used to be one of them – as a recent undergrad I worked at a Starbucks in Georgetown part-time to make ends meet. I was pleasantly surprised on Monday afternoon when I stopped into one of my local stores and was greeted with, “Here’s your grande chai. Let me know if it’s not perfect – I’ll remake it for you.” I think they’re successfully finding their way back to their roots.

The photo above was taken by By Marcus R. Donner, Reuters.

celebration, happiness, wishes

Habitual rewards

Christa Avampato

My dear friend, Lisa, took me to brunch this morning for my 32nd birthday. I ordered some peppermint tea and the tag read “reward yourself”. Lisa, who has known me for nearly ten years immediately said, “Christa, as if you need anyone to tell you that.” She’s right of course, I’ve made rewarding myself a habit, though that wasn’t always the case, and as much as I love being nice to myself, it doesn’t come without a tiny piece of questioning each time. 

I took the day off today to celebrate me. I got the idea from my friend, Ken, who also took his birthday off as a personal day this year. Another friend of mine, Alex, told me about a company that gives its employees their birthdays off as an extra perk. 
I took myself for a nice long walk through the park – a glorious, sunny day – and then to get a manicure and pedicure. After that, I took another long and leisurely stroll home. It was one of those days that I was so happy to have had, and would have been so sad to see end except for the fact that I know another self-reward is likely just around the corner.
Alex also was telling me today that as adults we don’t celebrate or birthdays with the same gusto as children. And that started me wondering how this happened. As a kid, I would wake up with such an excitement that my big day had arrived. And while today I was thrilled to have the day off, I didn’t have that tingly happy birthday feeling. So, as my birthday wish, simple though it may seem, I am searching for a way to get that birthday tingle back, a way to believe that self-celebration is not a luxury, but rather something that comes naturally.    
travel

7 Wonders of the World

Christa Avampato

I was recently flipping through the April issue of Vanity Fair and came across an advertisement for MasterCard. It was advertising the a giveaway for a trip to see the 7 wonders of the world: the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, The Amazon, The Great Wall of China, Victoria Falls, The Great Pyramids of Giza, and the Great Barrier Reef. And it occured to me that in my travels, while I have seen many incredible things, I have not seen a single one of these place. This is a sad state of affairs.

Last night, I went to a work event and then dinner with friends, Dan and Lisa. Dan asked if I had any birthday wishes. At the time, I really didn’t. Now I do – by the time my 33rd birthday rolls around I hope I’ve been able to see at least one wonder.

business, Business Week, dreams, entrepreneurship, happiness, risk, sports

Ice climbing and starting a business

Christa Avampato

Bill Buxton wrote a great post this morning on Business Week’s Innovation blog, http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/. In a conversation with his friend, Roger Martin from the Rotman School, the two friends discussed the parallels between starting a business and ice climbing. They compared the characteristic of people drawn to these two activities, specifically their appetite for risk.

The parallel drew out some interesting comparisons such as training, having the necessary tools and trusting in the process. I would also add that there is risk in everything – even in not doing something. We often consider the risk of starting a business, going ice climbing, etc. though we rarely mention the flip-side: how will our happiness, sense of satisfaction and accomplishment be affected long-term by deciding not do something that interests us?

Will we get to a point in our lives when these opportunities are no longer possible because of other choices we made, and then look back with some kind of regret and sadness that we didn’t do something more bold that made us feel alive? While more difficult to conceptualize and put data behind, the point merits some consideration. In the long-run, I’ve found it’s the chances we take, combined with the ones we let pass by, that make up a life.

See Buxton’s full post at: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2008/id20080312_205292.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories

art, creativity, design, innovation

Why good curation matters

Christa Avampato

Today I was reading Bruce Nussbaum’s blog, http://blogs.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a journalist, blogger, and innovation guru.

Today he wrote a post that truly impressed me – very simply he opened the post discussing his changing role as a journalist, moving from being a Voice of Authority to a Master Curator.

I know that many times the content of a discussion, presentation, or art exhibit for that matter, overshadows the design and organization of the exhibit itself. Curating is as much an art as being a content creator.

If an event or exhibit is curated well, the content takes center stage, with the curating barely being noticed. If it’s curated badly, the whole things falls into chaos. Good curating is very much like good management – if its competent, the content (the team’s work) shines. So if we aspire to be truly great curators, great managers, then we need to aspire to go unnoticed.

The photo above can be found at http://www.bibi.org/box/2006/03/Jere_Smith.jpg

environment, happiness, outdoors, season, sunshine

Daylight Saving(s) (Ti)Me

Christa Avampato

I was giddy yesterday at 6:30pm. I have finally confirmed that yes, I have SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder. After months of cold temperatures, gusty winds, and a small amount of daylight hours, I begin to get into a funk that no amount of sitcoms or jokes from friends will shake. As my friend, Trevin, says, “After a while, it’s best to just hibernate as much as possible.”

All that changed on Sunday morning at 2am. Though I lost an hour of actual time, the increased daylight more than made up for it. I have nearly a full hour of daylight after I get home from work, rather than driving home in the dark. Yesterday, I ran to my apartment (literally), put on some comfy clothes, my sneakers, and ran back out to enjoy my “extra” sunshine. I couldn’t believe the difference it made. 
So while it’s been a long, cold winter that has allowed me time to reflect and contemplate where I am in life, I am thrilled that Spring is just over the horizon, along with the opportunity to change my contemplation into action.