Month: November 2014

books, creativity, technology

Inspired: 4 books that show girls they can build anything they can imagine

Christa Avampato
Rosie Revere, Engineer
Rosie Revere, Engineer

My college pal, Jen, posted a link to a story about a Barbie book that makes my blood boil. The short of it: Barbie, the computer engineer, can’t build the game she designs and needs her male friends to build it for her. (Don’t even get me started on everything that’s wrong with this message!)

To combat this ridiculous Barbie book, that quite frankly Random House should pull out of production, here are four awesome books that send girls the right message about science and technology—they can create anything they can imagine!

Rosie Revere, Engineer
This book explores the life of a fictional character, Rosie, who is an inventor and maker. She shows us the trial and error process of building, and illustrates all the ways in which engineers make our world a better place.

What Do You Do With an Idea?
This gorgeously illustrated book helps kids realize that their creativity and initiative to turn their ideas into real-world projects can and will change the world. This is the positive push that kids (and the adults who love them) need to boost their confidence and encourage the power of imagination.

Rocket Girl: The Story of Mary Sherman Morgan, America’s First Female Rocket Scientist
Written by her son, this biography tells the inspirational story of the female rocket scientist whose crucial contributions launched America’s first satellite.

Your Fantastic Elastic Brain
There are few areas of science more exciting that the workings of the human brain. This book uses clear language and excellent illustrations to explain the complex workings of our brains to kids, their family members, and teachers.

The outrage over the Barbie book, online and off, is warranted, but let’s not let the conversation end there. The best way to combat ignorance is to kill it with knowledge. We’ve got loads of stories and activities that show girls they can do anything and be anything. Put the books above, and the scores of others like them, under the tree this holiday season for all the girls in your life to bolster their confidence and encourage their imaginations.

creative process, creativity

Inspired: Grappling with the messy middle

Christa Avampato
The messy middle
The messy middle

Every creative project has its messy middle. I’ve felt it with every creative project I’ve ever done and I feel in now with my novel. It’s uncomfortable and at certain points you feel like you want to give up. That’s the nature of the middle. It’s confusing. But if you keep moving forward, inch by inch, you break down the enormous goal you’ve set for yourself into doable, bite-sized bits. Tackle each bit one at a time, and soon you’ll find yourself free and clear and heading for home. Don’t let the messiness get you down; it’s part of the process. Creativity isn’t neat nor logical; order emerges from disorder. Our only responsibility is to keep going.

action, creativity

Inspired: When I’m 80, please let me be like these seniors

Christa Avampato
Carmen Herrera, painter, 99, in her Manhattan studio. Herrera sold her first painting at age 89. Today her work is in the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Modern.
Carmen Herrera, painter, 99, in her Manhattan studio. Herrera sold her first painting at age 89. Today her work is in the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Modern.

I have no desire to go back and be younger; I’m psyched to meet my older self! Active seniors knock me out with their awesomeness. This weekend The New York Times Magazine ran an interactive piece that showcased seniors 80+ years young across a number of professional disciplines who are now at the top of their game with no sign of slowing down. Their secret: work they love and exercise. Please, Universe let me have their energy, determination, and passion to make good use of every moment I have in all the years I’m lucky enough to live.

To check out these movin’ and shakin’ seniors, click here.

creativity, dreams, writing

Inspired: A lesson in writing – Your best idea is your next one

Christa Avampato
Make a list of your next great ideas
Make a list of your next great ideas

The idea you have right now feels like the best work you’ve ever done, the best work you ever could do. And it should. That belief is what’s going to help you see this one through!

As good as your present project is, the best is yet to come. As I worked on Sing After Storms, I started to formulate other story ideas. I jotted them down as briefly as I could, and put them aside until Sing After Storms was done. Then I looked back at that list when I was ready for my next project. That’s where I found the seeds for Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters.

The muse works in mysterious ways. It bubbles ups when we least expect it. Get the ideas down; they’re gifts. They’ll be exactly what you need when your next creative burst of energy strikes.

books, writing

Inspired: Writing around the (Disney) World today with Orlando NaNoWriMo

Christa Avampato
Our starting location for Write Around Disney World for NaNoWriMo
Our starting location for Write Around Disney World for NaNoWriMo

I usually write alone—just me and my story. Today I’m breaking that pattern to meet and write with other Orlando-based writers as we travel through Disney World while working on the drafts of our novels for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Last year, the event drew about 20 writers and they had a great time. Our schedule is below. I’ll post photos and reflections on the event to let you know how it went. If you’re in Orlando, please join us at any point. Thanks to the Orlando NaNoWriMo chapter for organizing this event!

Where: Downtown Disney Starbucks (starting location)
When: November 16th, 2014
Start Time: 10 am
End Time: Roughly 4, give or take 4 hours

Schedule:

  1. Meet at Starbucks, Downtown Disney (DTD)
  2. DTD to Port Orleans by Bus
  3. Port Orleans to Epcot by Bus
  4. Epcot to TTC by Monorail
  5. TTC to Polynesian by Monorail
  6. Polynesian to Grand Floridian by Monorail
  7. Grand Floridian to Contemporary by Monorail
  8. Contemporary to Wilderness Lodge by boat
  9. Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom by boat*
  10. Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom Lodge by bus
  11. Animal Kingdom Lodge to DTD by bus.

*No stop at Magic Kingdom, just get back on Monorail

action, choices, work

Inspired: The only thing I want to be

Christa Avampato
Way to be
Way to be

The purpose of my life is only this: to be a proliferator of good-a** vibes. Everywhere I go. Everything I do. I want it all to add up to this. That feels like the best possible way to spend my time. It helps me. It helps the world. Everyone wins.

choices

Inspired: The only 3 choices you have

Christa Avampato
Find your way forward
Find your way forward

No matter what decision you have in front of you, there are only three possible answers: give up, give in, or give it all you’ve got. They all have a place in our lives. The important thing is to know which answer to use when. Here’s my little cheat sheet that’s never failed me:

If what I’m doing doesn’t bring me joy, I give up.

If I’m afraid of moving forward, I give in (and give myself over to the experience.)

If I’ll regret not taking the road ahead of me, even if it seems difficult and frightening, I give it all I’ve got.

Above all, make a choice and stand behind it with conviction. The choice itself is empowering, and it’s yours.

business, creativity

Inspired: The low-tech lesson I found in a Moonjar

Christa Avampato
http://www.moonjar.com/
http://www.moonjar.com/

As someone who loves and writes passionately about technology, I love that Moonjar is a low-tech solution to a big problem. Kids need to learn strong financial habits early, and most of them don’t. Moonjar easily teaches kids to divide their earnings into 3 parts: spend, save, and share. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s effective. It got me thinking about other problems that we have in our society that could be solved by low-tech ingenuity and creativity. It also inspires me to get back to building and making as I continue writing. Time for me to chase down that muse, too.

action, change

Inspired: Change starts with choice

Christa Avampato
Make choices
Make choices

I was in a funk. I blamed lots of external factors, some deservedly so, but at the end of the day it was me that needed to ignite change. I needed to take back the reigns on my mood and keep marching forward. So I got up, danced around to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” (judge me if you will but I like the message of that song), took a very cold shower, and got on with it.

Change is tough, but I’m tougher. I am my thoughts. My world is my own creation. I am responsible for what goes right, what goes wrong, and what needs fixin’. Life is a choice.

Change your mind and you change everything.

creativity, story

Inspired: And this is why we tell stories

Christa Avampato
We are stories.
We are stories.

“Storytelling is part of human continuity.” ~Robert Redford

Stories keep us going in the darkest hours and they help us celebrate the high points. Though the medium and format may change, storytelling is the oldest tradition we have. Around a campfire, at bedtime, at the dinner table, on vacation, when we’re scared, when we’re happy, when we have free time. We tell stories everywhere all the time. Stories are mad for everyone—anyone can hear them and each person will take away something different to apply to life in their own unique way. I want my epitaph to read only this: she lived and told good stories.