Month: June 2016

creativity

Wonder: Settle and root

Christa Avampato

I’ve been laying low in the evenings this week and over this weekend. After so much activity with traveling, packing, and moving, I need to take some time on my own to settle and root. In yoga, our safety, security, and feeling of home base lies in our lower chakras. They are our foundation, the seat of our intuition, and they house our sense of well-being. We need them to be strong to build upon them.

Finally I am starting to feel that sense home and security. My art is slowly filling my walls, papers are being organized and put away. Even Phin, very slowly and somewhat surely, is beginning to settle into this new space and routine. (Well, at least he’s sleeping more than 3 hours a night!)

Transitions can be tough, no matter how wonderful they are. So if like me you’re going through a lot of change right now and making plans for new beginnings, give yourself a break. You aren’t going to get everything right. I certainly don’t. You’re not perfect. I’m far from it. Let yourself have the space and time to adjust. Take it a step, a moment, a day at a time. You can’t rush roots.

creativity

Wonder: Shine – a lesson from U Street street art

Christa Avampato
Screen Shot 2016-06-18 at 8.56.24 AM
U Street serenity

I saw this street art a few weeks ago. I was rushing around trying to get ready for my move. My stress level was running high and my energy level was running low. I saw this mural on U Street, and a calm washed over me. I can’t explain it really. There’s something about her serene expression and the light around her that made me believe I could do the task before me, whatever it is with whatever I have.

So be shiny. Be real. Raise your voice with your heart. Speak up. Be honest. Rise, and take others with you. That’s the only work we have to do.

creativity

Wonder: If it’s meant for you, you’ll have it

Christa Avampato

Last Saturday, I hit a wall with unpacking and settling into my new apartment. As luck would have it, I had a chance to go to Washington Animal Rescue League to play with puppies. I’ve been looking for a companion dog for Phineas since he loved having Otis as constant company for the past year and a half. My friend, Jen, offered to go with me, and her friend, Julie, said she had found the potentially perfect match for Phin. Tired, worn, and reluctant, I went. And as luck (or providence, if your beliefs tend toward the divine) would have it, Julie and Jen were 100% right. We found the perfect match. She wasn’t what I thought she’d be. She was even better.

But I wasn’t ready. My apartment was a mess of boxes, piles of belongings, and bubble wrap. I had no furniture. I could barely keep my eyes open. This was not a time for a new dog. And still, I couldn’t stop thinking about that beautiful pup that we met. I kept imagining her in this apartment, rolling around on the floor with Phin. I thought about her meeting all of my friends. I thought about all the fun places I would take her and Phin, and how relieved I would feel that Phin had the perfect forever friend. The shelter doesn’t hold animals, and for good reason. I decided that if this sweet girl is meant for us, she would be available next weekend for us to take home into an apartment that is ready for her.

And now it looks like, yes, we will get her on Saturday. No one has adopted her yet, and I put in my application. No guarantees until everything is 100% complete, but the odds are looking good for us.

The lesson isn’t lost on me. Be clear about what you can and can’t do. Trust the process. Know that what you are seeking is also seeking you. And you don’t need to have it all figured out to move something forward. You just need the next step. And that’s exactly what we’ve got. Expect an update over the weekend on our new pack member!

creativity

Wonder: When you commit, the universe commits

Christa Avampato

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” ~Goethe

9 years ago, my former boss and always mentor, Bob G., sent me this quote. And since that day, its truth consistently rings in my mind. Once I decide to do something, against any odds and without any thought of turning back, the way opens.

A few weeks ago, I went through a tough disappointment and backed out of buying a condo for very sound and very unfortunate reasons. In the following weeks, I realized that I what I really wanted was a house, a whole house, not a condo. In D.C., that will take a lot more money and a lot more saving. Undeterred by the bigger price tag, I put myself on an aggressive savings plan. Some might say it is an impossible plan, and at the time, it absolutely was. I actually had no idea how I was going to hit that savings goal by the end of the year. Rather than shy away from it, I just decided to figure it out.

Then a strange thing started to happen: I began to get pings for new and interesting contract work that is completely doable (and fun!) in my free time. I couldn’t have foreseen any of these occurrence. I didn’t event know they were options.

Commit to a goal, and the universe rises up.

 

creativity

Wonder: Be an explorer every day

Christa Avampato

Since moving to our new apartment, Phineas has become a morning dog. He’s up at the crack of dawn, and that means I am, too. This morning we took a long stroll / walk / run past Union Station, the Folger, the Library of Congress, and on to the Capitol. Phineas was rolling around in all the grassy areas and greeting everyone who wanted to talk to him. He had the time of his life.

It reminded me that we are constantly explorers, everywhere we go, every day. We take in what’s around us, we learn, and we make the most of it.

creativity

Wonder: Happy sad days are here again

Christa Avampato

We can hold so many emotions at once without compromising any of them. Yesterday I was relieved, heartbroken, and joyful. I was relieved that my move is complete. I was heartbroken by the hateful and despicable tragedy in Orlando. I was joyful and inspired watching the Tony Awards with the incredible breadth of talent and passion that art and artists hold. It’s one of the most marvelous things about life—we can feel everything if we open our hearts and minds to the world around us and the people we meet. The show goes on, and on, and on. And so do we.

creativity

Wonder: Journeys great and small

Christa Avampato

Journeys

Go slowly in taking the step;
and fast when counting stars.
Make music with your heels,
give back the place to Place,
sing to the sound of the road
and break the spiritful track
with your wide beliefs
in what passes underground
and rises wrung and right: unbound.

~Dolores Kendrick, 2002

In my new neighborhood, there is a sculpture by the metro stop called Journeys by Barbara Grygutis and it has a poem also entitled Journeys by the Washington poet laureate, Dolores Kendrick. I walked by it this morning with Phin and it gave me a magical, cosmic sense of well-being. While these last few months have been intensely stressful in many ways, I now feel a new chapter has opened.

I have so many stories to share in the coming days – about my moving day angel, the value of journeys great and small, taking time to play with puppies, lower chakras, and taking time to settle and root. I am taking it all in—the good and the challenging—and learning.

creativity

Wonder: We live and move bit by bit

Christa Avampato

13435309_10102751897676806_5171304354613830104_nAfter a restless night, Phin and I are making progress. I put together a reclaimed wood entertainment center, bought a cool rug, set up my wi-fi, and got my roku TV working. Phin unpacked his toys and got his bed just the way he wants it. Little by little, it’s getting done. Now we’re going to go play with puppies.

Right now, everything feels scattered but I can see it starting to take shape. I’m looking forward to the day when this feels like home.

creativity

Wonder: Theater saved me while I was moving

Christa Avampato

I’m moving to my new apartment today. As I was taping up the few remaining boxes, I felt another wave of nervous wash over me. And then theatre saved me, again, the same way it’s saved me so many times before.

I started humming the beautiful song I’ve Been Here Before from the musical, Closer Than Ever. I have been here many times before. I’ve felt these feelings. I’ve dealt with uncertainty and change in inordinate amounts. And you know what? I’m always, eventually, just fine. By some miracle, it always works out because I work. And work and work and work.

This time is no different. If anything, it’s far easier than my last move. I took one more (very) deep breath and went back to taping boxes. That’s how every move everywhere gets done: one box at a time.

creativity

Wonder: Music saves us

Christa Avampato

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” ~Frederick Douglass

I heard this quote over the weekend during a tear-jerking story by journalist Steve Hartman. This story is about a 78-year-old partially paralyzed pianist, Norman Malone, who learned to play with only his left hand after his father almost bludgeoned him and his brothers to death with a hammer. I sobbed. The light and beauty in this man is present in his voice, his eyes, and his music. Even that horrid night couldn’t take music from him. He grew up to become a choral instructor so he could share his love of music with children. After all, it saved him, so of course it can save others.

Recently, finally, he had the opportunity to give his first public performance and it was stunning. And on that stage, through that stream of tears, he couldn’t find the words to express what that performance and what music means to him. He kept it to himself. And I couldn’t help but see that somewhere in him that sweet boy who survived such brutality lives on. And shines on, 70 years later.

Frederick Douglass was absolutely right. It is so much easier to build children up than to repair adults from the trauma of life. The arts, music, dance, writing, and all creative outlets help us hang on to our very essence and give us the opportunity to share it with others. I am heart-broken by Norman’s story, and I am also immensely inspired by it. Art saves. Art heals. Art perseveres.