Me on the Stairway to Heaven in the Pochuck Valley
I’m a big fan of ReWild Yourself, an online community inspiring nature connection. This month, they have a campaign called the Month of Meaning, encouraging their community members to connect with nature on a deep, meaningful level. It’s one of the five pathways they use as a means to help people connection with nature: meaning, compassion, beauty, the senses, and emotion.
Their website has free resources that are both fun and beautiful. They’re all open source so you’re free to use them any way you’d like, for yourself or within your community. There’s also a nature art challenge which has my collage artist brain spinning with possibilities. I kicked off the month hiking the Stairway to Heaven in New Jersey’s Pochuck Valley, part of the Appalachian Trail, with a good friend. A difficult 7-mile climb, the views make all the effort worthwhile and then we were rewarded with a walk through the flats, a preserved and protected wetland. There, the connection to nature runs deep.
September has always been a meaningful month for me. Forever a student, I love back to school time. Fall is my favorite season, so this always feels like my new year, a fresh start, the next chapter. It’s no wonder my Alive Day is September 5th when I survived an apartment building fire 15 years ago. It’s also the Gotcha Day (birthday) of my beloved rescue dog, Phineas, on September 18th. This will be my first without him physically on this plane after his passing in January of this year. He would be 15 this month.
While the meaning of, well, everything, is always top of mind for me, this month I’m going to especially focus on what nature means to me. I’ll be sharing my art, writing, reflections, hopes for the future, and actions that preserve, protect, and propagate the natural world we all have, share, and depend on every day. ReWilding ourselves and our planet has never been more important than it is now.
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
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Christa Avampato 