“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act.” — Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
One recent weekend I found all of my plans fell through. As usual my schedule had been packed and slowly but surely the plans trickled away until I was left with a completely free weekend. My first inclination was to fill up the time with a whole new set of plans, and then I paused. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a completely free weekend. What an interesting this to try, and it was glorious! I would have loved to follow through on my plans but this turn of events gave me a chance to re-charge.
Enjoying our down time is an important ingredient to for making the most of our productive periods. It gives us a chance to reflect and realign. All of nature takes this time for revitalization. We’re the only beings who consider down time a waste, myself very much included.
That weekend, I basked in the idea that I had nowhere to be at any time. My day could be shaped moment to moment, and not by Google calendar (which does a stupendous job of keeping me organized during hectic times.) “The busy season is on its way,” I reminded myself. “This is your chance to just be, and not do.”
This is balance: to take both the slow times and busy times in stride, grateful for what each set of circumstances has to teach us.
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.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
2 thoughts on “Beginning: Life As a Great Balancing Act”
After all, Christa, we are human beings and not human doings, so down time is essential for all of us. Type-A personalities especially have a hard time with unscheduled activities and unstructured ways of living. We are so used to planning and moving forward as per our calendars. However, nature teaches us that we don’t have to look at the clock. The natural world is not in a hurry. Nature understands ebbs, tides, flows. Nature, that gifted teacher, wants us to enjoy our state of being. Or, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, “renounce and enjoy.” Bliss to you.
I love that – “renounce and enjoy.” I’ll be using that and crediting you handsomely in an upcoming post. It’s just the quote I needed for an upcoming piece.
Christa Avampato 
After all, Christa, we are human beings and not human doings, so down time is essential for all of us. Type-A personalities especially have a hard time with unscheduled activities and unstructured ways of living. We are so used to planning and moving forward as per our calendars. However, nature teaches us that we don’t have to look at the clock. The natural world is not in a hurry. Nature understands ebbs, tides, flows. Nature, that gifted teacher, wants us to enjoy our state of being. Or, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, “renounce and enjoy.” Bliss to you.
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I love that – “renounce and enjoy.” I’ll be using that and crediting you handsomely in an upcoming post. It’s just the quote I needed for an upcoming piece.
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