Month: June 2018

creativity

A Year of Yes: It’s in the quiet that you find your voice

Christa Avampato

“When a great moment knocks on the door of your life, it is often no louder than the beating of your heart, and it is very easy to miss it.” ~Boris Pasternak

I used to wait for big moments, sign posts from the universe, that I was on the right track, doing the right thing, making the right choices. Poor Brian has listened to me prattle on endlessly in my sessions with him about my plans A, B, and C, followed swiftly by the making of plans D, E, and F.

“Because what if I get it wrong?” I would say.

To which he always replies, “You need to trust yourself enough to know that no matter what happens, you’re going to make it work. You always have, and you always will.”

And he’s right. Dammit, he’s always right.

In these many years of trying to figure it all out, I’ve learned exactly one thing—that the big moments are never dressed up as big moments. I have to get very quiet to hear them; I have to stare at them for a long time to really see them for what they are. And I often have to do things that my mind doesn’t understand because my heart knows exactly what needs to be done. And my mind catches up with my heart, eventually.

My hope for you today is that you find a single moment to get very quiet, to hear the beating of your heart so that you can see the tremendously opportunity in this day. And then I hope you make the leap to make the most of it. I’m cheering for you. I’m always cheering for you.

creativity

A Year of Yes: New York City’s Secrets and Lies Returns to Caveat on Monday, June 18th, at 7pm

Christa Avampato

I’m so excited that the next New York City’s Secrets & Lies show is happening at Caveat in exactly 2 weeks—Monday, June 18th at 7pm. This month’s all-star all-female lineup of storytellers is going to spin tall tales about the history of this incredible city we call home. 4 are truths. 1 is a lie. Your mission in the audience: separate fact from fiction for a chance to win an amazing prize from our friends at Untapped Cities. I’d love to see you there! Tickets on sale at http://caveat.nyc/event/new-york-citys-secrets-and-lies-3/.

Host:
Christa Avampato (me!)

Storytellers:
Tija Mittal (The Moth, Story District)
Hannah Frishberg (Atlas Obscura, Gothamist, Brokelyn)
Emerie Snyder (New Georges, All For One)
Cindy Mullock (5 Perry Street)
Sabrina McMillin (HXMXN)

Screen Shot 2018-06-03 at 1.22.53 PM

creativity

A Year of Yes: You can’t wait to have time to write

Christa Avampato

“No such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time
No such thing as down time
All you got is life time”
~Henry Rollins

“When I have the time…”

Does that sound familiar? We all do it. We say we’ll do what we really want to do when we have the time. The truth is that the only time you have is right now. There isn’t going to be some magical day when all of a sudden you finally have extra time. Or energy. Or money. Or resources. You have all of those things right now. And no, they may not be perfect. They may not be how or how much you imagined. You find time in drips and drabs, in fits and starts. And that’s when the work gets done, not in one smooth continuous line but in the constant, daily commitment to do as much as you can with what you have right now. I often have to tell myself, “Stop making excuses. Just do the damn thing.” It’s not the most elegant motto., but it’s how things get done.

creativity

A Year of Yes: How Neil Gaiman changed the way I write in one minute

Christa Avampato

“I’m not an outliner or someone who free writes. I’m more of a gardener. I plant seeds and I see what grows. I plant pumpkins and I expect a pumpkin. But if I get a tomato, I’ll figure out what to do with that. That’s how I write. I love that magic moment when something happens on the page we’re writing that we didn’t know was going to happen. I get to be the first reader of my work, and it’s very exciting. And quite frankly that magic doesn’t happen often enough. A lot of writing is just laying brick.” ~Neil Gaiman, International Literary Festival in Dublin, May 2018

By an amazing stroke of luck, Neil Gaiman was speaking as the headliner at the International Literary Festival in Dublin while I was there doing research for my next novel this week. He’s one of my favorite writers, an inspiration for my own work, and to see him in person was thrilling.

Of all the beautiful advice he offered (and you can see my tweets from his talk here: https://twitter.com/i/moments/1002678622765887488), this quote above is the one that affected me the most because it made me change the way I think about my own writing.

I’m a planner. If I were to self-analyze, I would say I like plans because I grew up with a lot of instability. I like order and organization of my tasks because I like to know what I’m doing and where I’m going, and I absolutely hate wasting time because I know what a precious and finite a resource time is. I can’t imagine a world in which I completely let that go. However, Neil Gaiman made me realize that maybe, perhaps, I can loosen the reins a bit. I certainly allow for new information and imagination in my writing. I’ve absolutely had moments where new characters and circumstances and obstacles show up that I never saw coming. That’s the fun, the magic, of writing.

But maybe I don’t need the next bit figured out before I sit down to write every single time. It’s at least worth trying, and giving something a try is where everything begins.