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.
Words can be daggers or wings. They can tear us down or help us fly. What you say now, not only to children but to all people, becomes a part of how they view the world and their place in it. Gentleness is as important as strength and honesty. Everyone should leave every conversation with their dignity intact.
Do you want to be someone who tears people down or builds them up? Do you want to be someone who becomes a pesky inner voice to someone that instills self-doubt or do you want to be someone whose words are a comfort to others in their darkest hours?
The answers to these questions fuel our words and actions. They are our legacy.
I am so excited to announce that I have signed on to be the new 5 Minute Yoga blogger for Do You Yoga. They reached out to me last week after reading my pieces online and asked if I would be interested in taking over the column. I was thrilled to be asked and am even more thrilled to get going!
Every week I will write a short article on how to bring the benefits of yoga into your busy life, even if you only have 5 minutes. I hope the articles are helpful and informative, and that they inspire you to unroll your mat more often.My goal is to illustrate that no matter how we busy we are, we always have at least a little time to take care of ourselves.
This week, my first article is about how to fit your yoga into your holidays. Enjoy!
“Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” ~ Gladys Bronwyn Stern, British writer
Say thank you. To the people who inspired you, whether you know them personally or not. To the people who made a difference in your life. Who encouraged you at every turn to be more than you ever thought you could be. Who helped you reach further, run faster, rise higher, and breathe deeper. To the people who set the example by which you live. To the people who showed up not only to celebrate your victories, but also to comfort you in your hour of defeat. The people who helped you dust yourself off after a hard day so that you could try again tomorrow with a full heart.
There is something so sacred, so liberating, about expressing gratitude. Thank you is free, and it multiplies. You say thank you to someone and it inspires them to pay it forward. You can never say thank you too much. You can never be too grateful. So go ahead and overdo it. Way overdo it. Throw it around far and wide as if it has no end because it doesn’t. It is one of the few resources in this world that is truly infinite. It’s one of the gifts you can give anyone and they will love it more than anything else they’ve ever received. They will remember it during their darkest times and their greatest triumphs. It’s that rare possession that we can take with us wherever we go.
Say it out loud. Say it online for the whole world to see. Write a letter. Send an email. Text. The method doesn’t matter so long as the message is sent loud, clear, and often.
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ~ W.B. Yeats
On Sunday, I went to a housewarming party and happily saw some of my wonderful former co-workers, now friends. Most have left the company where we worked together and we all talked about finding our next great adventure in the world of work. One person finished up at the company on Friday and really wanted to know if there was as much opportunity out there as he’s heard. My answer was an emphatic “YES!”
The synchronicity of this Yeats quote flying into my inbox this morning was not lost on me. I’m in the midst of a short but intense freelance assignment in addition to my responsibilities at Sesame Workshop, PBS, and Compass Yoga. This morning I had to turn down my first freelance assignment for the sole reason that over the next week or so I have a completely full, well-compensated plate. And then we’re into the holidays when I plan to spend an inordinate amount of quality time with my family and friends, sans work.
I promise you that there are magical, joyful, blow-you-mind unbelievable opportunities floating all around you. So many that you’ll have your pick. They are like fireflies on the warmest summer nights. They are begging to be seen, recognized, and acted upon. By you. To see them, you must let go of your fears about finding them. You must trust the process – commit to finding a new kind of living and working. Then, the opportunities will be so obvious that you’ll wonder why you waited so long. Once you leap, they will be there to light your way.
There is no reason to shrink from opportunity. Too often when we are faced with unfamiliar and uncomfortable challenges, we hang our heads low with self-doubt. We second guess our abilities and our judgement. We worry that we may not be up to the task at hand.
My advice is to chuck that attitude out the window. Immediately. Right now. You will gain nothing by turning away and you will lose so much in the process – new skills, new contacts, growth, strength, resilience, and the opportunities that will unfold as a result of taking this new and uncertain path.
If you truly don’t want the opportunity, then I advise running in the other direction as fast as possible. There is no point in wasting precious time doing something you don’t care to do. But don’t run away out of fear. Don’t turn your back because that pesky voice of self-doubt says you aren’t good enough, smart enough, experienced enough, nor capable enough to pull this off. That pesky voice knows nothing.
Yesterday, marked the 20th anniversary of my father’s passing. I’ve been alive longer without him than with him. To even fathom that 20 years has passed makes my mind numb. I remember that evening so clearly that I could recite my actions and thoughts of each minute. I think of it in frames of a film, a shutter action happening in between each. There’s some soaring music in the background that rises and falls in waves like water.
That night I was viscerally aware that I was literally closing one chapter of my life and opening another one with my bare hands. The door between those chapters was heavy and awkward. I knew that once it shut behind me that there was no going back. That feeling is lodged in my heart in a way that used to feel painful and now is just familiar. It’s become one of my oldest friends.
Nothing happens in isolation. As soon as my mind turns those events over a few times, it just keeps going and I follow it along as an audience member, as if I am watching a performance of Sleep No More. At first it slowly trudges to the wake and funeral, to high school graduation, to leaving my hometown, to college and everything that would unravel and then coalesce in that time.
The speed of the frames in my mind picks up rapidly after that. As a young 20-something I thought I would go into politics and instead opted for a career in theatre, moving from D.C. to New York to life on the road. That would lead me to Florida, back to D.C., on to graduate school in Virginia, and then back to New York where I’ve made my home for the past 5 and a half years. That journey flashes with so many characters and scenes and travels across the globe, some happy, some sad and everything in between. It makes me dizzy if I think about it for too long.
I used to feel so much a part of that narrative. No matter how much distance I got from December 1, 1992, I was still that character, playing that role. I was this way because my dad was that way. I played the victim card, the martyr card, the lost card, the hopeless card, the trapped card. I let the role write the script instead of writing it myself.
It took a long time for me to understand how that’s a clear and certain road to disaster. No one wins in that scenario, least of all me. And it took me even more time to realize that it didn’t have to be that way. The beginning of a journey influences its course but it doesn’t define it. It is within our power, responsibility, and right to own the narrative of our lives.
We can fold, toss those old worn out cards into the center of the table, and walk away. It’s okay to leave it behind and continue on in a different direction. It’s healthy to do so. It’s required if we intend to do anything extraordinary with our lives. We can honor our past, our roots, and not feel shackled to them. What happened, happened. There’s no changing it. What happens next? Well, that’s up to us. It’s always up to us.
Wherever my dad is now, I hope he folded his hand, too, walked away from the table, and set out on a new course that was brighter than the one that was here among us. Every soul deserves that chance.
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” ~ Mary Oliver
I walk through the world with my eyes and ears wide open. I take in as much information as I can, even if I’m not sure how or when or why it would be useful. I love those moments when I realize that something I saw, read, or learned years ago is now immediately relevant in my life. It really strengthens my faith in the power of curiosity and makes me wonder if there is always some divine work at play.
Are we given lessons now so that we acquire knowledge and experience that we will need many years down the road? Is today’s challenge preparing us to meet tomorrow with the increased sense of vigor and determination that we will need to get through?
Questions like this make any difficulty I face more palpable. Time and time again in my life, I’ve seen how this plays out. There are no coincidences. If I am willing to be a student in every experience, there is always something to learn that is useful down the line. Even the challenges. Especially the challenges. They are tough to live through but my goodness do they teach us better than any circumstance of our own design.
We innovate because we are challenged. We rise up because something attempts to keep us down. We reach out to others with empathy and compassion because we understand the circumstances they face and because someone gave us a hand up when we really needed it.
Awareness helps us to wake up to the gifts that this Universe has to offer, even if those gifts are cloaked in packages that seem undesirable. Pay attention to what the world offers – it’s found its way to our path for a reason. Our job is to make each of these lessons useful.
I love this decree by the Hopi Elders. There are many internet comments that say this was not written by the Hopi Elders even though it is heavily influenced by their sentiments. No matter. The sentiment is beautiful and worth sharing. When I read it yesterday I actually teared up a bit. It invites deep reflection followed by courageous action. Beware – you may feel highly inclined to better yourself in any and every way after the last line.
“You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.
And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of The river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
See who is in there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!
Banish the word STRUGGLE; from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
“I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” ~ Philip Yancey via my pal, Lisa, the lovely Charmed Yogi
About a year and a half ago, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at developing an independent consulting practice to freelance full-time on projects that are meaningful to me. A meticulous personal financial planner, I knew it would take me a year to put away enough money to feel comfortable to make this leap with my whole heart. I knew the final number I needed to have in the bank and set up monthly savings goals to reach it.
I made a deal with myself that I would try this lifestyle for 6 months, working my tail off to try to make ends meet. If I could cover all of my expenses by the end of 6 months, then I could keep going. If I couldn’t, I would look for full-time work again. And just to keep things interesting, I had to be very passionate about the freelance assignments I took.
June 15th of this year was Leap Day for me. I had my Mary Tyler Moore moment, wished my former employer a fond farewell, and off I went into the great big world of freelancing. While much of that time has been as close to career nirvana as I’ve ever had, these last few weeks have been slightly fraught with anxiety. December 15th is quickly approaching. I have turned down a fair amount of work because I just didn’t feel passionate about it. There were a couple of assignments I deeply wanted to secure that didn’t come to pass. I started to realize that I may not reach my goal, despite my very best efforts. A full-time job search looked inevitable.
And then in 24 hours it all turned around. I’m elated, over-the-moon, pleased as punch, ecstatic, and grateful beyond measure that I started a short-term assignment yesterday that put me in the black. With a couple of weeks to spare, I hit my goal of covering all of my expenses with freelance work by December 15th. I even have a little bit extra to put back into my savings and this gig has the potential to create a steady stream of wonderful, well-paid work into 2013.
Thank you so much to everyone who believed that this lifestyle could work for me, who cheered me on, who shared in this incredible journey in so many ways. I am humbled by your belief in me and deeply appreciative of the encouragement. I’ll find some way to say thank you that reflects just how much your support means to me. Happy holidays indeed!
I had dinner with my friend, Amanda, last night. She and her husband, Jordan, are my sages of freelance work. For all its lovely and numerous benefits, being a freelancer can leave you feeling like the 3 ring circus is a cakewalk. We juggle multiple clients, completing all of the work in front of us ahead of schedule and under budget, while also seeding the ground for future work. Dr. Seuss must have been channeling his inner freelancer when he wrote “life is just a great balancing act.”
The keys are to keep breathing and do the best you can every day. On Monday I was feeling a little down-trodden by the endless treadmill of excavating leads and today one of those leads hit big-time and I’m starting a new short-term contract with great people doing great work. Amanda explained that the nature of this freelance beast is sometimes you’ll have so much work that you need to turn some of it down and before you know it you’ll be knocking on 100 doors just to get 1 to open (maybe). That’s the gig and to thrive in it, you need to understand it and relish every step of the way, whether those steps involve feast or famine.
My yoga practice helps. My yoga teaching helps. Writing helps. Dear friends like Amanda and Jordan help. To keep your sanity, keep breathing and keep working. That’s the game. Play it as it lays.
Words can be daggers or wings. They can tear us down or help us fly. What you say now, not only to children but to all people, becomes a part of how they view the world and their place in it. Gentleness is as important as strength and honesty. Everyone should leave every conversation with their dignity intact.
There is no reason to shrink from opportunity. Too often when we are faced with unfamiliar and uncomfortable challenges, we hang our heads low with self-doubt. We second guess our abilities and our judgement. We worry that we may not be up to the task at hand.
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” ~ Mary Oliver
