This week Brian and I were talking through some personal choices I will need to make in the coming months. I’m having trouble deciding what to do – all of the options are fabulous. Poor, unfortunate me, right? Having to choose between fabulous and fabulous is a tough row to hoe.
Brian has a way of staring at me very directly as if to say, “seriously, this is what you’re worried about?” Then I start laughing, fall over to my side on the couch, and shake my head in wonder. If all else fails, I never have to worry about knowing how to entertain myself with my whirling, churning mind.
“Let me get a little Joseph Campbell on you,” Brian said. “The hero’s journey involves choices, and the nature of those choices must be difficult. Anyone can choose between a fantastic choice and a terrible choice. A hero, or heroine, has to make tough choices. That’s the nature of the hero’s journey.”
I sat with that thought for a while, turning it over and over in my mind. “I guess you’re right,” I conceded. “I can’t go wrong, can I?”
“No. May you always have a life where you have to choose between wonderful options,” Brian said.
“Let’s hope so, Brian,” I said.
“Forget hope. Let’s just make it happen.”
I laughed. “Yes. Let’s.”
The image above is not my own. It can be found here.
Published by Christa Avampato
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
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