Welcome to the rise of the slash generation where it’s perfectly okay, and even preferable, to be a baker / neuroscientist / dog walker, or in my case a writer (of many genres) / product developer / business owner / believer that my greatest project has yet to even be imagined. Everything in your career connects in some way at some point so follow that curious nose of yours wherever it leads you. I’ve put aside the boxes and definitions that some people are so desperate to put on themselves and others. The only question now is “What’s your slash?”
Writers live many lives—1 foot in the manufactured world around them & the other in the worlds they design for their stories. I love that finally I live a career and life that doesn’t admonish me for pursuing everything that interests me, whether it connects or not. It’s opened my mind to possibility in wild and wonderful ways, and made me feel truly free.
I always love when someone tells me that something is impossible and will NEVER happen. A little internal smile makes its way to the surface of my face and motivates me to change “impossible” to “I’m possible”. It’s never a question of “who’s going to let me?” It’s more a matter of “who’s going to stop me?” Cue pensive laughter and the tapping of fingers together.
Just thank these impossible-sayers for their time and walk on by. They have no idea what you’re capable of, that you are limitless. Let them use their blinders on their own lives. You live yours out loud and celebrate your goodness. You got this.
‘Tis the season to drain our bank accounts and buy a lot of useless merchandise that won’t mean anything come, oh, about December 28th. We have an embarrassment of riches in this country. I don’t need 99% of them.
I really appreciate that my friend, Leah, posted this link a few weeks ago from the International Rescue Committee. $58 buys a year of education for a young girl in Afghanistan, Lebanon, or Congo. $18 provides a mosquito net for an entire family that prevents malaria, a disease that impacts half the world’s population and kills one child every 60 seconds. $25 is enough to provide an innovative solar lamp and charger to those in places such as Iraq and Syria who have to flee from violence with little or no access to electricity.
Similarly, gifts can be made to local food pantries, homeless shelters, and schools. I’m blessed beyond belief to have everything I could ever want or need when it comes to material possessions. I don’t need anything else. I’m guessing many of you don’t either. We’re the lucky ones. This holiday, let’s give and receive gifts that count, gifts that help others who really need our care and compassion.
Last week I watched the movie Chef. It’s about a restaurant chef who achieved a certain level of success, settled into the mediocrity of popular food, experienced an ugly and public fall from grace, and then dismantled everything in order to rediscover his passion for his craft. There are many lessons embedded in the movie that got my wheels turning:
To launch an arrow, it must first be drawn back. We can choose to make setbacks the guts of a new foundation.
To succeed, our work has to be rooted in love. There is no luster without light, and love is the light.
If we are drones, in work and in life, then a serious shake-up is required. This won’t be comfortable but it’s necessary.
If we say we will never do something, rest assured that is exactly the thing we eventually must do.
Our failures are the basis of some of our very best work if we allow them to be. With a steady mind and a wild spirit, anything is possible.
As I move into intense editing mode for my novel, Where the Light Enters, I am also at the very early stages of sketching my second novel. The idea for it surfaced during a Twitter conversation I had a few months ago with Anthony Mason, one of my favorite journalists. He told me about one of his childhood dreams and that dream sparked a character and storyline in my mind. While still very rough, here is the basic premise:
10-year-old Levi Adler lives in a small town and has big dreams of someday hosting his own radio show.Baxter and Flo Adler, Levi’s parents, are morticians and run the family business from their home. Levi uses all his free time practicing his future profession in the backyard treehouse that he’s set up as a recording studio. One evening while hosting his now-imaginary radio show, Levi starts to have real guests call in and they’ve got some important messages for Levi to deliver to his neighbors. With the help of his neighbor and sometimes co-host, Shelby, can he convince his neighbors that these messages are real and realize his dream of being a real radio show host?
The news out of Ferguson, New York City, and Charlottesville, made me shake my fists at the ceiling and ask, “Why? Why have we been taught to value institutions, however corrupt, over human life? Why does our society continue to glorify violence over justice, kindness, and respect?” I have no answers to these questions, but I do know this: it must stop and change starts with us.
I understand that teaching our children Common Core concepts has merit, but what about the common core of compassion, mindfulness, and nonviolence? I know there is value in math, science, and the proper use of the English language, but they are worthless unless we first learn to treat one another with respect and decency.
What we need are new standards, standards that aren’t measured by a state administered exam on a specific day, but by our own daily actions. When I was a student at UVA’s Darden School, we had to write and sign an oath at the end of every exam that stated the work that we did was ours and ours alone. I want to see everyone, everywhere, accept an Honor Code that includes conduct that goes far beyond UVA’s oath against lying, cheating, and stealing. I want an Honor Code that elevates humanity and denounces violence in all its ugly forms.
Reflecting on today’s news, I’m reminded of the quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.” Collectively, we have within our power, in our lifetimes, to create a tidal shift in how we treat one another. And of course, how we treat others is how our world is shaped.
We have the chance now to create a better and more peaceful world for our children and future generations. But we have to raise our voices in unison and in the name of all people everywhere. It is time for goodness to have its reign, and it starts in each of our mirrors. It’s time for us to put aside all the titles we carry around—where we work, where we live, where we came from, how much money we have, what gender, race, and religion we are—and recognize the one thing that binds us together forever: we’re all on Team Human. Let’s act like it.
When you write a book, you have to create a whole world that is rich with future opportunity. My hope is not only that my first novel, Where the Light Enters, gets published, but that I can also make it into a brand in its own right. Such is the way of today’s publishing landscape, and that’s not a bad thing! I’m planning on a game of some sort based on the story that highlights the value of compassion, empathy, and imagination. There are also many other books within the book that I could write that tap into different facets of the story. Among them:
– There’s plenty of room for a sequel to this book and an associated travel guide of Emerson’s quest
– The book that is the crux of the whole story—a guide to having endless and unlimited creativity
– Sketchbook of fantastical inventions (based on Truman’s character)
– Children’s book entitled The Star Lighter (written by Emerson’s mother, Nora)
– Folklore medicine and healing recipe book (based on Irene’s character)
– History of the 9 muses, and a book that tells the story of each one
– Inspirational essay collection from people all over the world who have been helped by the shoots of The Crooked Willow (based on Samuel’s character and the cafe that is one of the main settings in the book)
And the list goes on…With a lot of hard work and a bit of luck, Emerson Page could be a part of my life for a very long time.
We can’t learn to sail from the shore. We can’t learn to fly from the ground. To learn how to build a business of any kind, we must be in business. Business is an art form just like playing the piano or painting a picture. It takes practice, and chances are we will create some really awful work as we learn to make great work. So don’t be so hard on yourself if your first attempts are less than shining stars of success. Honestly, it’s better if they’re not. Go further than you think you can. Give your wildest ideas a whirl. Get crazy. That’s where the learning is, and learning is the best gift you can give to your future self. Don’t be afraid. Just do it. Go have an adventure.
“I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they will be moved to act.” ~Bill Gates
Despite Thanksgiving, last week’s news was dominated by tough, complicated stories that won’t be quickly nor easily solved. Sexual assault on the grounds of UVA, where I went to the Darden School for my MBA, was one of those stories. My friend, Alex, and I banded together with other UVA and Darden School alumni to place an ad in the Cavalier Daily, the newspaper at UVA, to support students who have been victims of violence on UVA’s grounds and to raise our voices to demand a safe environment for all UVA students. We raised almost $1000 in a short amount of time (and over a holiday weekend!) That money paid for the half-page ad and the balance will be donated to UVA’s Women’s Center where students receive counseling and support.
We can’t change the past but together we can build a better and brighter future. Thank you to the alumni who gave so generously. UVA will be a better place because of you. Donations will be accepted through tonight via PayPal.com to christa.avampato@gmail.com.
Christa Avampato 