I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
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.
“I picture each day as if it were a happy dog looking at me. I may not be in the mood, but the dog always wants to play. Trust the dog.” ~John Patrick Shanley, playwright
Sometimes we might not feel like doing something we need to do. Writing. Getting out into the world. Unrolling the yoga mat. Going for a run. Having a tough conversation. What I find is that once I get going, I’m glad I did even when the result isn’t exactly what I wanted. The effort to try our best is enough. Starting anything is difficult. There are so many reasons not to begin. We can’t let that stop us. Muscle through.
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
One of my coworkers mentioned this quote to me yesterday and it really struck me as so insightful. When we travel, we open ourselves to seeing the whole world with new eyes. It changes our hearts. It grows our spirits. Traveling helps us to reimagine our purpose and path. If we can change our minds, we can change anything and that is the most empowering benefit of travel.
Last week, I mentioned a poem my friend, KaRyn, wrote and then gave me a framed copy of as a 21st birthday present when we were in college. She is an amazing poet and this framed poem is one of my prized possessions. It’s one of the very few things that survived my apartment building fire almost 6 years ago. And I think that says something extraordinary about its power, and the magic of the poem and the person who wrote it. Thank you, KaRyn! Here’s the text:
“It is a renewal of Spirit that makes you uncomfortable Butterfly.
Whetted wings of resistance
stick to walls of old paper that advertise nothing—needing nothing.
So Flyer, fly—and make your peace with the blue sky.
Swear you don’t wear pastel.
Take on black, brown, gold
and become a richness of soul.
Beauty is a hidden trick
most hands would capture with pins
and fettering glass,
starving the greeness from the grass.
But some hands are freeing.
Some hands are strong enough to come home empty
and some hands will hold but not contain.
Those are the hands to land on.
Let your Spirit Wings of Water wake
and rise unweighted.
There is a threshold of reason
and one of power;
These are yours to cross and attain.
Voice your wings, my breaker of cocoons.
~KaRyn Daley
For Christa Avampato – a true breaker of cocoons with hands strong enough to come home empty.
March 17, 1997”
Love food? Live in DC? Want to help a great nonprofit help others in need? Chef’s Best Dinner & Auction is happening in DC at the brand new Marriott on Monday evening, June 15th, to benefit Food & Friends. Food & Friends is an incredible nonprofit that delivers free nutritious meals to people with life-threatening illnesses right to their door in DC and the surrounding areas. We’re still looking for people to help volunteer at the 1300+ attendee event, and it’s going to be a spectacular evening. Plus, we’ll get to hang out and have fun.
If you’re interested in volunteering, call Food & Friends at 202-269-2277. And tell ’em I sent you! See you there!
I’ve been thinking about this poem below a lot recently. I don’t talk about my love life on this site much, but I recently stopped dating someone who had quickly grown to mean a lot to me. I’m sorry that it didn’t work out with him the way I had hoped. We had a lot of potential for something very special. This poem has helped a lot, as literature always does. It makes us feel less alone. Even though we may be hurting now, we know that many people have been this way before. And if they can pick themselves up and go on, then so can we.
“After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security,
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises,
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child,
And you learn to build all your roads on today,
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure…
That you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn…
With every goodbye you learn.”
“The only true voyage of discovery is not to visit other lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundred universes that each of them beholds.” ~Marcel Proust, “Remembrance of Things Past”
I read this quote while I was on the metro Sunday morning and as I looked around the packed train car, I thought about how different the world must look through every set of eyes around me. Sometimes we talk about empathy as if it’s a switch we can flip, as if it’s something so easy to attain that anyone could do it. But truthfully, empathy is difficult and constant work, something that takes effort and grace. To have it, we have to give up our own biases. We have to drop our own baggage and put aside our hard-won perspective in the hope of somehow finding a glimmer of understanding, a glimpse into the world through eyes that aren’t our own.
The New York Times article by psychologist Paul Bloom that featured the quote from Proust questioned whether true empathy is ever really possible or if it’s an unachievable pipe dream. I’m fine with it being either. No matter if it’s achievable or not, it’s worth the effort. Even if we fall far short of true understanding, at least the attempt shows that we cared at all. And isn’t that concern what life is all about?
Faults are easy to find. And the voicing of those faults are the very things that can break us down and damage relationships and the best of projects. What’s more powerful, mature, and helpful is finding a remedy to those faults. The remedy takes creativity, empathy, and concern. It takes a willingness to win, and help others win, too. It means that we’re more interested in seeing something succeed than we are in voicing our own opinions and biases. So let’s be remedy hunters. Let’s help each other find a better way forward, together.
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” ~Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The creative process is always messy, always fraught with disagreement on some level. This is especially true when the stakes are high and there’s a lot of passion to fill the need that began the effort in the first place.
What I’m learning in my startup is that strong opinions need to be expressed with a lot of care and concern for the people who are hearing them, the people whom we ultimately want to win over and have support us. So often our point-of-view is so strong that we forget that it’s not so much about us voicing it as it is about it being received in the way we want it to be received. That takes finessing. We can’t lead if no one follows.
It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s how you carry it. ~Lena Horne
“It’s not the load that breaks you down; it’s the way you carry it.” ~Lena Horne
This quote is on my mind today as I continue to roll up my sleeves and remake my life here in D.C. And though I drove alone with my belongings packed into my tiny car for 900+ miles with my tiny dog who was healing from painful back surgery, I knew I was driving toward a better, brighter future. I just didn’t know what that future was at the time. I knew I was going to have to dig down deep into my personal reserves to muscle through perhaps the most difficult move of my life.
In many ways, coming here 3 months ago was a practice of wiping the slate almost completely clean, save for my incredible friends who supported my journey in every way imaginable. Whether it was through phone calls, messages of support, renting me an apartment, sending me job leads, helping me unpack and get settled, showing me around the city, watching Phin, or just being there whenever I needed anything, they came through with flying colors. And now I feel really lucky to be back on my feet again and in the position to give all that love and support right back to them.
I’ve been honored by the number of people who have recently reached out and asked me for help. I like to be that resource for people, especially in times of change. I’ve been through the wringer, and I want as many people as possible to benefit from my experience. Whether that means looking at a resume, meeting for coffee to brainstorm, offering writing and job search advice, or anything else that they might need, I feel glad and grateful to offer that up. It’s the best thing about getting older—I’ve now got more experience to share than ever before.
So maybe you’re going through something right now. Something that feels uncomfortable or confusing or disappointing. You might feel alone, but you aren’t. Far from it. There are many helpers, seen and unseen, who are waiting in the wings for you to ask for help. I know because I’m one of them.
“Honesty is an expensive gift. You shouldn’t expect it from cheap people.” ~Warren Buffet
No one ever said honesty is easy, at least at the moment when it’s needed. Honesty is one of those things that grows in value over time. We get honest feedback and it can be tough to take. We scowl, run, and brood (or at least I’ve been known to do all three of these things when I hear something that’s less than a glowing remark.) But after I’ve had time to reflect and absorb that honesty, I’m grateful. I appreciate how hard it is to deliver honesty, especially when the stakes are high. It takes a lot of courage to be honest, and that courage should be honored.
“I picture each day as if it were a happy dog looking at me. I may not be in the mood, but the dog always wants to play. Trust the dog.” ~John Patrick Shanley, playwright
