celebration, change, opportunity

Leap: What I’m Thinking About on My Birthday – Kiefer Sutherland and Gandhi

Christa Avampato

“You have to work on opportunity’s watch and not your own.” ~ Keifer Sutherland

“The difference between what we are doing and what we are capable of doing would solve most of the world’s problems.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

36 today, and what’s on my mind? Kiefer Sutherland and Gandhi. Odd mix, you say? Perhaps, but here’s their glaring resemblance: they are men of opportunity.

Kiefer Sutherland was recently interviewed by Jay Leno about his new TV show, Touch. He didn’t want to take the job and hoped he would hate the script. Unfortunately, he fell in love with it and couldn’t turn it down. The story was too powerful and he knew he’d be kicking himself if he passed on being the one to tell it. We don’t always get to choose when we make a leap; sometimes, the leap chooses us.

Gandhi was also a man of opportunity. He saw injustice happening in his own life and to many others all around him. He couldn’t watch it anymore without throwing all of his efforts into change. He knew he could do more and that his efforts would make a difference. We revere Gandhi today as super-human, but he wasn’t. He was a person just like you and me, and with so much passion for his cause that he had to pursue it. He knew he could be the change.

I’ve firmly set the date for when I’ll be leaving my current job in pursuit of my own passions – Compass Yoga, my writing, and a public education project called Innovation Station that I have been crafting for several years. People have asked me how it feels to be leaving my stable job in pursuit of my own projects, and I have to admit that I don’t think of this change as leaving my job. I think of it as reaching up into the sky and pulling my dreams down to Earth. This is work I have to do that’s good for me and good for the world. I’m running to something that I must do, not running away from something that I can’t do anymore.

Today is a birthday for me on 2 levels – a celebration of 36 years of living and learning and another celebration of being reborn into the life I’m building of my own design. And I feel like the luckiest person on the planet for this opportunity. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all!

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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.

9 thoughts on “Leap: What I’m Thinking About on My Birthday – Kiefer Sutherland and Gandhi”

  2. dear and divine Christa….. like in a compass ….. the needle always align towards north so is our inner being towards our purpose of life ….. what you have doing up to now also is a part of the training to fulfill your dream ….. my best wishes and happy birthday ……with love and blessing ….. love all.

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