Since my fire in September, I haven’t been able to walk down the street where it occurred. I’ve taken a few steps, and then I quickly cross the street, averting my gaze and avoiding any chance of looking through that door. To look at the building now, you’d never know that a fire happened there. It’s been reconstructed with new brick, repainted, doors and windows replaced. Everything covered over. For me, that street has a smoky covering, an eerie, uncomfortable feeling. Yesterday, I finally needed to stare it in the face.
I got out of the subway and made the turn I’ve been avoiding for almost 8 months. Since it was the Beltane yesterday, a day that celebrates life in all its glory, it felt like an appropriate time to face fear. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I didn’t cry. I didn’t really feel anything until I got right up to the building, and saw to my right a giant statue of Ganesha above a psychic reading place. Ganesha is the Hindu deity who removes obstacles to our spiritual development. On occasion, he will place obstacles in our path for us to deal with so that we grow and evolve. He gives us what we need, even when we don’t know exactly what we need at the time.
In that moment, seeing Ganesha juxtaposed to that building where the fire happened, I realized how much I needed that fire. In the three years that I’ve lived in this neighborhood, I’ve passed that statue many times. I just didn’t know who he was until my yoga teacher training. Now, it has a special significance to me. Now, I understand what I’d been seeing all along. I guess life is like that: we look and we look and we look, and then one day, the clarity that has been staring at us all along finally comes in to focus. I wish it didn’t take us so long to really understand what’s in our line of our vision, but then again, if we understood everything on Day 1, what would we have to look forward to? Here’s to seeing more clearly and facing more fears in the days ahead.
The photo above is of the Ganesha statue next to my old apartment building.
Published by Christa Avampato
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
Since my fire in September, I haven’t been able to walk down the street where it occurred. I’ve taken a few steps, and then I quickly cross the street, averting my gaze and avoiding any chance of looking through that door. To look at the building now, you’d never know that a fire happened there. It’s been reconstructed with new brick, repainted, doors and windows replaced. Everything covered over. For me, that street has a smoky covering, an eerie, uncomfortable feeling. Yesterday, I finally needed to stare it in the face.
Thanks, Christa. That’s really powerful. I have a lot of fears I’m facing now, while putting on my very stalwart “game face.” I appreciate how scary life can be at times, and yet how we need obstacles to have triumphs and to grow. Thanks for this lesson. You’ve given me an evening of inner peace 🙂
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Amanda, your comment made me break into a huge smile. I am so glad this was helpful. Girl, we are all facing fears, and we’re in it together. Look what you’ve built with DailyWorth, from ZERO!!! It’s truly amazing and I’m so excited every time I hear how well it’s doing. KEEP GOING! And when you get scared, just email me 🙂
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Congratulations on confronting a fear-I know it is a huge milestone! I can’t imagine how scary that fire must have been, but I’m glad you were able to lay it to rest a bit. I’m also a big believer in signs. There are always so many we miss because we aren’t ready to see them.
Good luck to you as well regarding the blogathon! I’m also a blogathoner and wanted to give you a writing-high-five!
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Hi Rachel! Great to meet you through the blogathon. I am so glad my friend, Amanda, posted about it. I’m meeting so many other great writers through it! A writing high-five back to ya!
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Fear plays such an enormous role in preventing our being free, happy people. And confronting that fear is a huge hurdle. What an amazing and freeing feeling.
Congratulations and keep it coming!
Elizabeth
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good job christa. way to go at it head on. ; )
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Thanks, Col! I’m beginning to think that head on is the only way to really face up to challenges in life.
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Hi Christa, Ganesha is one of my favorites. I keep a small staute of him on my desk, and when I’m feeling hemmed in by fears I think about the wisdom of Ganesha. Sometimes I find it helpful to visualize elephants moving through the landscape, stepping over or moving through all obstacles. -Jan
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Jan,
I love that image of an elephant stepping right over obstacles. I’m going to use that in my meditation practice!
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Christa:
Well, no matter how fearful you are, I know that ‘this too shall pass.” Meditation will help you in this case as well.
In the end, it will all work out for you–just you wait and see–and things will go your way. Just hang in there.
Like you, I have also experienced a fire in my home. However, we managed to survive thanks to the timely help of people in the neighborhood.
So, your post resonated with me: it really did.
Stay safe out there. My best wishes, as always. Cheerio!
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Now that’s one thing I wish we didn’t have in common. I am glad you were able to get out of the home and not harmed. Life lessons find us in mysertious way, right?
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