Month: October 2016

creativity

Wonder: Writing my second book about Emerson Page

Christa Avampato

“We read to know we’re not alone.” ~C.S. Lewis

This is also the reason I write. A few days ago I mentioned that I was in a bit of a writing funk and now I know why. With my book, Where the Light Enters, I created a whole cast of characters set in a whole new world. Now that I’ve finished the first manuscript, I really missed them the way I miss people I love when I don’t see them as often as I’d like. It’s strange to think that we can invent something that gives us that kind of emotion, but we can. I guess it is a great blessing and curse of our imaginations.

And so today I started sketching out ideas for Miss Emerson Page and the enormous task she takes on at the end of the first book. I don’t know where she’s heading yet, how she’ll get there, or who she’ll meet, but I do know this—it’s wonderful to see her again.

creativity

Wonder: Be open to possibility

Christa Avampato

In the blink of an eye, things can change in ways we never expected. We fall in love with a friend, a neighborhood, a home, a city, a job, a pet. We find ourselves drawn to something that maybe we liked (or not) on the surface and then as we spend more time (sometimes by force) we find our outlook changes.

That’s what happened to me and my neighborhood. Even as little as a month ago I just wasn’t sure about the east side of the city. And then something even strange happened—I actually started to see the people and buildings around me with brand new eyes. I said hello to 23 people this morning: construction workers, neighbors, store managers, and even just people passing by. There was almost a lightness to it.

I was walking little Phineas, and he’s got a little trot that could make even the grumpiest person smile. Still I felt some kind of shift as I saw the new construction rising up and beginning to shape what this collection of buildings and streets will eventually look like.

Being open to possibility is a wonderful thing.

creativity

Wonder: Trust the timing of your life

Christa Avampato

We have to trust the timing of our lives. Maybe you haven’t met the love of your life yet, or you haven’t quite found the right home, job, city, or hobby. Maybe things are leaving your life in greater numbers than you’d like and you’re looking around at a lot of metaphorical or physical empty space.

Please take this post as a sign that what is happening to you now must be the thing that happens in order for you to become the person you’re meant to be with the life you’re meant to have. All of this—the good, the bad, and the ugly—is driving you toward your best self. It’s helping you evolve, grow, learn, and discover. Sometimes these things are difficult and uncomfortable. Sometimes there isn’t a way to know what’s going to happen next no matter how much we plan. There will never be enough plan Bs (or Cs or Ds or Es!) to give us 100% security.

The vast majority of life is unknown and unknowable. The best we can do is trust the process, trust our ability to persevere, and trust that what matters most is the learning. That’s where all great progress begins.

creativity

Wonder: The toughest reality about leadership

Christa Avampato

A long time ago I embraced the idea of leadership as service. If leaders take care of their teams, their teams will take care of their customers, and their customers will take care of the company. If we’re going to lead an organization, a group, a product, or a yoga class, the last thing we should do is play the “look at me and look what I can do” card.

This is what so many leaders get wrong. They bury themselves in their work and forget the crux of their role—to support their team members, individually and as a group, and spend the vast majority of their time removing roadblocks so that their teams can do their best work. The roadblocks can be funding, revenue, processes, procedures, services, and the list goes on.

It takes a tremendous amount of two-way trust to lead—leaders have to trust their teams and vice versa. It’s about crossing the finish line together, not beating one another to the end, whatever the end is. Just as the Lean Startup revolutionized how we see entrepreneurship and management, I hope that this idea of leadership as service revolutionizes the way we see company culture. A leader needs to be the last in line, not the first. It’s so much easier to push than to pull.

creativity

Wonder: A walk through D.C. to clear my head

Christa Avampato

On Tuesday nights I play in a bocce league. I walk from my office in Arlington through Georgetown, past the White House, and then to downtown D.C. to the court. It’s a magical ~4 mile path.

Yesterday my brain was tired after work. I’m learning coding in addition to writing dialogue for our AI product, getting up-to-speed on the healthcare industry’s best practices, processing and pulling apart medical triage guidelines (with plenty of medical vocabulary that’s brand new to me!), and planning our product’s strategy, pricing, marketing, and testing. It’s a lot and I needed a good, long walk to clear my head.

As I wound my way through this city yesterday, I fell in love with this city a little more with every step. The architecture, colors, light, water, pattern of the streets, iconic symbols of our country, and people. All of it just dazzled me. It lifted me up out of my tired fog and into a state of supreme gratitude. Movement creates a movement.

creativity

Wonder: My writing totems

Christa Avampato

I was in a little bit of a funk with my writing. I am working on a big freelance project right now and I just couldn’t get in the right frame of mind. These are times when writing totems are especially handy. A writing totem is an item (or in my case several items) that inspire me and get me in a writer-like state of mind. Here’s my list:

  • Coffee – I believe all good things come from a little kick-start.
  • 2 inch picture frame – I keep this in my writing area and it reminds me that I only have to write one word at a time. All big projects are completed by completing a series of small pieces
  • Robin Williams remains my favorite actor of all-time. I love this quote by him – “You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”
  • Funny, poignant pictures – I love this one of a goldfish wearing a shark fin and a kitten looking in the mirror and seeing a lion.
  • Dark chocolate – See the same reasoning for coffee.
  • Phineas – Everyone needs a writing buddy.
  • Joan of Arc quote – “I am not afraid. I was born for this.” Writing is a battle.
  • Picture of the fan that was charred during my apartment fire – it reminds me that life is short and we must use our time wisely to do something good with our lives.
  • Here’s to the Crazy Ones commercial by Apple – To be a writer, you’ve got to be a little crazy.

What are your writing totems?

creativity

Wonder: Blessing of the Animals at Washington National Cathedral

Christa Avampato

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. In God’s hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.” ~Job 12:7—10

Phineas and I went to the Blessing of the Animals at Washington National Cathedral on Sunday. It’s been on my list to visit (the Gothic architecture reminds me of Hogwarts) and this ceremony seemed like the perfect opportunity. With Phin’s penchant for chicken bones, he needs all the blessings he can get! At the end of the ceremony, two of the Reverends bent down to bless Phineas because they both love dachshunds. He wasn’t a big fan of the holy water (to be fair he’s not a fan of any water be it from the sky or in the bathtub!) but he appreciated the blessing. “Phineas, may your life with your human family be long and the treats be many. And may your life be an expression of pure joy and love.” Amen to that!

creativity

Wonder: NoMa rising in Washington, D.C.

Christa Avampato

20160917_101005My neighborhood is being torn down and built back up at lightning speed. Within 2 blocks of my apartment there are no less than 8 new high-rise buildings.The construction cycle is now a 24/7 operation as builders scramble to get these spaces dug out and enclosed before the winter hits. At one point there was so much construction on my block that some builders had to get night permits for demolition because they couldn’t fit anymore equipment on the street.

In 3 years, maybe even less, this neighborhood will be unrecognizable compared to today. The physical space will look different. There will be many more people and businesses to serve them. A new sense of community seems to be forming though it still has a long way to go.

People in my building are losing their minds, complaining to my management company about the noise. I lived in New York City for many years so for me this is a bit par for the course. But I’ve never seen it up close to this extent. I go out onto my small balcony and I can literally see buildings rising up out of the ground. It’s fascinating and magical. It oddly, surprisingly, feels like home to be in the midst of so much change and organized chaos. It gives me hope.

creativity

Wonder: Eddie’s Wheels restores mobility to animals with 4 legs

Christa Avampato

I am so inspired by the company Eddie’s Wheels. Ed Grinnell started Eddie’s Wheels in retirement. A mechanical engineer, Ed’s companion Doberman needed wheels so he built a set for him. That was 1989. He never looked back. Today Ed and his family has designed and built over 21,000 carts for all kinds of animals meant to walk on four legs. He has restored dignity, mobility, health, and peace of mind to these 21,000 animals and the people who love them. As a product person by professional and mom to Phineas who has in the past had back surgery, I am so inspired by what we can build with compassion, love, and know-how. Check out Eddie’s Wheels at http://eddieswheels.com.