There are many paths to reverence. Sometimes we have to lose something to truly begin to revere it.
Author: Christa Avampato
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.
This just in: Send me your pictures of kids enjoying time in nature
“Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives.” ~Thomas Berry
Alright friends, I know you take AMAZING photos of the kids in your life. Do you have pics of them enjoying time in nature? I want these kinds of photos to decorate my ed tech company’s office. They will serve as a reminder of why we’re embarking on this venture to help kids realize that the natural world we live in has so much to teach all of us and deserves to be protected.
I’m looking for nature photos in which kids are truly interacting with nature and exploring it. Please send any photos like this to me at christa@steamengine.com and we will gladly credit you in the print!
This just in: How to know who you are
What we want determines who we are and who we become.
This just in: Memorial Day and the act of memory in action
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” ~Joseph Campbell
This weekend, we will take some time to pause, reflect, and give thanks to the many men and women who have served in the armed forces and given their lives to keep our country safe. As we bow our heads and lift our hearts this Memorial Day, I also hope we can use the example of these brave men and women to consider how we can serve and how we can make the world we live in a little better every day for others. Let’s be heroes to each other. Happy Memorial Day and thank you to the many veterans who have crossed over so that life on this side of the divide can soldier on.
This just in: Isabel Allende’s cure-all for writer’s block and how to leave a legacy
“Write what should not be forgotten…” ~ Isabel Allende
If ever you find yourself with writer’s block, Isabel Allende offers you the only remedy you need. We will all, eventually, pass on. Writers leave a legacy, a trail of breadcrumbs open to anyone and everyone who arrives on our path. Most of the people who read our work will never meet us, will never have the chance to sit down and ask, “So how did your life go this time around?” Your writing will be what stands the test of time. Write what you want people to remember—about you, your life, and the world around you.
This just in: It’s okay to close some doors
The world is full of possibilities. What no one tells us is that not every one of them is meant for us. The only work we ever really have to do is to find the doors that are ours to open. And no one can make that choice for you except you. Other people will try to push you down one path or another. They will try to tell you that this or that opportunity is too good to pass up. What matters is whether or not that opportunity is something you want and leads to a place you want to go.
This just in: These are the days that must happen to you
“These are the days that must happen to you.” ~Walt Whitman
We can’t be sure of any moment’s purpose as it happens. That’s why recording and reflecting on our thoughts and experiences is such a valuable practice. Now that I’ve had a number of years to collect and review my own stories of life as it’s unfolded, I’m finding that my faith in the universe, myself, and others is growing at an unprecedented rate.
In reflection, I understand the tough times. The disappointment, anger, and sadness, even the injustice, makes sense. I can see that it had to happen that way to lead me along the path meant for me. As Whitman says, those were the days that had to happen to me. And so are these. And so are the many days to come. With that perspective, hard times are easier to navigate. It’s easier to keep breathing.
Maybe you’re going through difficult terrain now. Maybe it’s hard to see any hope, light, or change ahead. I’ve had so many days like that. Days that stretched into weeks and months and years. But now, from where I am, I’m glad I kept going through the dark. I’m glad I didn’t give up. I’m grateful that I found a way to keep looking up and reaching. And I hope you will, too.
This just in: Lose yourself. Be daring.
“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” ~Soren Kierkegaard
To dare, to try something that may not work, especially if it’s highly unlikely to work, is a brave and powerful act. In the best case scenario, you gain everything you’re hoping to find. In the worst case scenario, you get knocked off-balance for a bit and realize something new and exciting about yourself in the process.
Putting ourselves in the role of student, risking looking like a fool for the sake of learning, is the most daring act there is. We admit we don’t know something. We admit that we don’t know what we don’t know, and then we go on a quest – sometimes a short jaunt and sometimes a long journey – with discovery as the only goal.
Go ahead and dare yourself. Lose yourself. Allow yourself to fall into the experience and emerge from the other side. That’s always a good way to go.
This just in: Go on, break the rules
Sometimes your only choice is to break the rules. I’ve spent a lot of time building a rule book for my life, and last week I felt the need to break with my own conventions to go outside the bounds and boundaries I had set. I can’t say why that impulse took over. I knew in my gut that the right thing to do was exactly the opposite of what I’d always done before.
The chance I took paid off in spades, and continues to pay off. It was a risk I’m glad I took. And I’m certain it won’t be the last. Sometimes the strongest move we can make is to let all of our vulnerability show. The reward is in the risk.
This just in: B.B. King’s gift
Today I’m having a B.B. King dance party. What an incredible gift he left to all of us – the ability to put all of our deepest, most soulful emotions into music that can wash over us always. Forget resting in peace. May he rest in his songs forever. And may we be lucky enough to do the same. “All I can do is wish you well.”
Christa Avampato 