Congressman Elijah Cummings in Baltimore shaking a State Trooper’s hand after the riots
On the day of Freddie Gray’s funeral, Congressman Elijah Cummings led thousands of people in peaceful protests. These peaceful protesters are the people who are generating change by being the change. They’re cleaning up neighborhoods. They’re creating bridges where there are serious gaps. Their strength and courage inspires me. Love drives out hate. Light drives out darkness.
Violence and sensationalism is what sells, but it’s not what generates progress. Elijah Cummings and all the people who joined him are the hope and light of Baltimore. In time, they are the ones who will close the divides in their community. They’re already doing it. They’re the ones who need our support. We need to band together for our own good and the good of our neighbors.
This afternoon I got a number of those signs right in a row that reminded me of this idea: several new lucrative writing gigs, positive feedback from my boss at my new job, and confirmation that my decision to let go of my consulting business was absolutely the best choice. Phin is well and happy. I got several happy messages from friends who shared great news after facing tough circumstances.
Walking around on this sunny afternoon I fully appreciated that I live in an amazing neighborhood in an equally amazing city that has so much in store for me. I took a deep breath and smiled. The Universe works in mysterious ways, often from behind the curtain and out of our immediate view. We don’t always understand what’s happening in the moment or why. When we look back, things do make sense if we just have the faith to hang in there through the difficulties.
I’m ready to walk through the door into the next chapter.
“You only age when your regrets outnumber your fears.” ~John Barrymore
When we talk about aging in our society, and how to fend off its physical effects, the discussion often turns to diet, exercise, healthcare, and beauty products. I’ve found the best way to lessen the impacts of aging has nothing to do with anything physical. It’s about choices. Are we making the decisions that make us happy and help us feel fulfilled? Are we having fun, enjoying our time, and doing what we love? Our choices have just as much impact on our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing as anything else. So let’s make the choice to leap through fear and go after the lives we really want.
“The White House Correspondents Dinner is over around midnight. Very late for a town that goes to bed at 9.” ~ Bob Schieffer, Face the Nation
New York City is a town for people who don’t sleep. We go to bed late and get up early with an IV of coffee in between. It’s packed year-round with people 24/7. The beat of the city is matched by the beats of New Yorkers’ hearts and our rapid-fire footsteps. It’s been that way as long as anyone can remember.
Many times I’ve caught myself walking in D.C. at night and noticed that the sidewalks were mostly empty. For a New Yorker, this can be a bit unnerving on many levels. I know great things are happening in every corner of this city and those actions and decisions impact the entire world. So where are all the people in D.C. after the sun goes down?
This has been an adjustment, and one I couldn’t understand until this weekend when Bob Schieffer uttered the magic words above on Face the Nation. Unlike New York City, D.C. is not a 24/7 town. At night, especially during the week, people pack it in. They retreat to their private corners to reflect, regroup, and fight another day tomorrow. For all its focus on achievement and a desire to make a difference, D.C.’s rhythm isn’t a million miles per hour every hour of every day. Washingtonians work very hard, and then they go to sleep. For me, this is a novel concept and one I’m looking forward to trying.
After two months, I’m slowly beginning to figure out what makes this city tick. Thanks, Bob Schieffer, for pointing me in the right direction. I think I can take it from here, but if I have more questions, I’m calling you. Who knows this place better than someone who’s faced this nation through this city’s lens every week for a quarter century?
Yesterday I watched a documentary about Saturday Night Live in the 1980s. The show struggled so much after its first five golden years. It lost a lot of its people, its mission, and its way. And it wasn’t a matter of finding it again. A very small group of people, some original and some new, scrapped the entire format and started over from scratch. Brave, and frightening. Just like life.
Many of the cast members—Billy Crystal, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus—talked about not unpacking their bags. They all had month-to-month leases and were never really sure if they’d made it. Even when things were going very well, they were always on edge. In so many of those old sketches and outtakes, I could see the nerves, spontaneity, and spark.
It got me thinking that as much as we are creatures of comfort, habit, and routine, maybe we do our best work when we don’t have any of those things. Maybe those nerves that keep us on our edge give us our edge. We shouldn’t be looking for comfort at all. What we need to do our best, most creative work is a manageable dose of anxiety and fear. Our magic is not is doing the work we know we can do, but in biting of more than we can chew, in taking on precisely the projects that are beyond our reach. We should go where we think we’ll fail. We rise when we have something to shoot for that seems impossible.
Today I went to new volunteer orientation today at Food & Friends, a local D.C. nonprofit that prepares and delivers healthy meals, groceries, and nutrition counseling to people in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia who have life threatening illnesses. 10,000 volunteers help make their work possible and I’m very excited to join them. I’ll be cooking, delivering meals, and helping at special events.
If you’re looking for a great volunteer opportunity, they always need extra hands and hearts. Individuals, groups, and people of all ages (including kids) can be a part of their work on a very flexible schedule. I love this quote from one of the people who has received meals from them: “This isn’t just about food. It’s about life.”
Goal: a high-quality education for every child everywhere
I recently read a quote that books (and thereby, learning and education) can’t solve everything. They don’t fill an empty belly, stop violence, or provide much-needed healthcare. And I beg to differ. I’ve felt hungry, afraid in an unstable environment, and sick without healthcare. Books helped me, and continue to help me, take the long view. They help me to believe in a better, brighter tomorrow, and they empower me to build that tomorrow with my own two hands, and my mind, and my heart. Books make me powerful.
In my saddest and darkest hours, my education literally saved me. It helped me to keep looking up, and to keep trying, when it seemed like all of my efforts were in vain. No, maintaining our grit and determination in the face of adversity isn’t easy, and yes, it’s tempting to take a shortcut and go off the tracks and give up. But if we will go just one more day, no matter how difficult or embarrassing or discouraging, the light at the end of the tunnel is there and it is ours as much as it is anyone else’s. It was there for me, and it’s there for every child who can find a way to keep going.
We have within our power, in one generation, to make that happen for every child, everywhere. It will be expensive, though not nearly as expensive as not doing it. Think of how we could change the world if we could educate every child.An education is for the good of the many, and the one. That’s not just an idea, that’s a revolution. That’s a movement.
“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” ~Mark Twain
Perfection is a shiny object in the distance that’s rarely, if ever, achievable. I chased perfect for most of my life, and eventually its dance wore me out. I gave up on perfect, and have never looked back. Rather than racing around after it, I’ve learned to sit still and breathe. I learned to realize that what I have, right now, is perfect for this moment. I have everything I need right now to be healthy, happy, and whole. Nature’s not perfect so why do we expect to be?
These days I put my effort into steadily improving myself from the inside out rather than trying to be perfect. Every day, I try to be better than I was the day before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. And that’s okay.
Life is messy and complicated. It’s full of magic and heartbreak. That’s just its nature. Things get torn down to make room for something new. Over and over again. And we don’t always know why. I’ve found that the real joy is in the bouncing back from hard times and the gratitude we feel and show for the good times. Nothing’s permanent, so let’s enjoy what we’ve got right now.
“Christa, why aren’t you having kids?” I get this question a lot, and not without a fair bit of judgement. And here’s the reason: by not having kids of my own, all the children of the world are my full-time concern. I’m extremely passionate about public education and the wellbeing of children. It’s the main reason I took a job as Product Manager at ed tech startup STEAM Engine, Inc. Improving all of their lives through learning is my goal.
I’ve read many autobiographies of people who transformed their corners of the world, and I aspire to be one of those people who makes an enormous impact that lasts far beyond my own lifetime. One thing that every single one of these people mentions is that their mission to change the world required them to spend less time with their families, and specifically their children, than they would have liked to spend.
They reasoned that many other people, particularly those who are most vulnerable, needed them more than their own children needed them. I’m not going to debate whether or not that’s true. It’s how they feel. It’s a conscious choice they made and had the courage to tell the world about.
Of course it’s absolutely possible to have kids of our own and have a full career, too. So many people have shown us that and I tip my hat to every single one of them. Many of my friends are the most incredible parents and highly successful in their careers. I’m in awe of them. The great balancing act and sacrifices they manage isn’t something I could do gracefully; I know my limits. So, I realized I had to make a choice, a very personal choice that is right for me. And I decided, for me, I wanted to devote everything I have to the pursuit to help all kids through my career.
I mean to use the 24 hours I have every day to make a high-quality education for every child everywhere a birthright. It’s not a luxury or a nice-to-have service. It’s not something that should only be given to those of good fortune. It’s as vital as breathing, eating, and sleeping. We are all given this tremendously complex, wondrous piece of machinery called the human brain. It’s the greatest invention ever made, and I feel physical pain from the idea that some children, by simple luck of the draw, don’t get the chance to develop their full mental potential. It’s unacceptable and intolerable, and I’ve got to do something about it.
So, am I having kids? I already have kids. Millions of them. They need me, and I plan to use my career, time, and energy to be there for them. All of them.
Phin and I found two more peaceful and beautiful sanctuaries within D.C.’s borders. Yesterday, we visited Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens and the National Arboretum. Plenty of wildlife sightings (including adorable otters!), soft winds, and spring vegetation to enjoy. Best of all, they’re only a 20-minute drive from our apartment. Phin did a bit of padding around (and rolling around) in the soft grass and we both soaked up the sun on this very summer-like day. Looking forward to spending a lot more time in these two places as the seasons change. Both are free, easy to get to, offer plenty of parking, and are part of the National Park Service. Picnics welcomed!
Ferns, ferns, ferns
Cherry blossoms hanging on
Capitol Pillars at Arboretum
Phin, my faithful companion, always looking forward
A path through the woods at the Arboretum
Kenilworth’s lakes were joined together by the heavy rains last night to the delight of turtles, geese, and otters
Christa Avampato 