This weekend I finally saw the movie The Hundred-Foot Journey, the story of a restaurant-owning family in Mumbai who loses everything and finds a new life in France. Though that trip was full of experiences, the journey that really transformed their lives was the hundred-foot walk from their new home and restaurant in France across the street to a rival restaurant.
It’s a beautiful story about challenge, love, loss, dreams, redemption, courage, and risk-taking. Go see it. It prompted me to realize that while travels around the world have so much to teach us, the travels that make us who we are often happen just around the corner from home. What’s your hundred-foot journey, the great life lesson you learned close to home? Tomorrow, I’ll tell you mine.
Happy new year! Each year I set up a general theme for my blog posts. In 2014, I looked for stories and ideas that inspired me and passed them on through my daily posts. Those posts gave me the courage to make major changes to my life last year and I hope they helped everyone who read them.
2015 is going to be very different from any other year I’ve ever had. I truly don’t know what to expect. I turned my life upside down in 2014 in an effort to have the pieces fall together in a better way going forward. This is going to be a year of surprises so I’m embracing the idea of “This Just In” to celebrate the newness that I am seeking and that I know will find me.
Wishing you an adventure-filled and abundantly happy new year! Here we go!
If anyone had told me last year at this time that this is what my life would be like right now, I would have laughed out loud. This life that I’m living now wasn’t conceivable to my December 2013 self. A lot can happen in a year. A lot did happen this year.
We’re two days away from bidding adieu to 2014 and saying bonjour to 2015, and I’ll be brutally honest: I have no idea what my life will look like a year from now. Not. A. Clue. Given my passion for planning, you’d think I’d be a nervous wreck over the ambiguity. And I am, usually around 3:00am. But once I get up and move around and drink in the morning light, I really feel just fine. Even peaceful about it all.
2015’s going to be fine, better than fine. I know 2015 is going to hold change and transformation for me on an unprecedented level. I’m okay with the roller coaster. I’ve spent my whole life preparing for this moment. We all have. Let’s make this one a year for the record books, the year when we’ll look back and say, “Damn, that was one heck of a wild and wonderful ride. I’m so glad I was there.”
In the hustle and bustle that’s December, take some time to give yourself a high-five for 2014. Even if it was a tough year, acknowledge that your strength helped you through it. What are you most proud of doing in 2014?
Here are my personal high-fives with infinite thanks to so many of you who made them possible and cheered me on in the process:
– I directed and produced my first original play that I’ve written, Sing After Storms
– I wrote the first draft of my first novel, Where the Light Enters
– I moved out of New York and started a new adventure in a new city
– I transitioned my business away from consulting to write full-time
– I saw Compass Yoga through to its completion and with the help of so many volunteers helped hundreds of people discover the joys of the practice
– I started working as a voice over artist
– I expanded the channels for my writing with great brands that I’m proud to be associated with
– I spent a lot of time with friends, old and new, and my family despite a hectic schedule
I’m making some big plans for 2015 and I know it’s going to be a wild ride. I’m not afraid. I’m excited for it, and I’m grateful to be on this journey with so many other good people. High-fives all around!
A breakthrough requires the tough work of internal change. Breaking through is difficult and painful. If we can endure, if we can push through difficulty and keep our heads up, the rewards are incredible. A breakthrough is an act of faith, faith that all we know in any moment is the very next step. The rest of the path is wholly uncertain. If we are committed enough to look fear, rejection, and disappointment in the face and keep going no matter what, then we’re ready for a breakthrough. When the going gets tough, go further.
“Fortune favors only the prepared mind.” ~Louis Pasteur
2014 taught me to expect, and be prepared for, the unexpected. We have to be prepared to recognize fortune when it comes our way and that takes training. Fortune commonly arrives neatly disguised in ways we don’t anticipate. We spend so much time steeling ourselves for disappointment and disaster that we often forget to equally prepare ourselves for remarkable good fortune, too. Be brave. Be positive. Be prepared to be successful.
The news out of Ferguson, New York City, and Charlottesville, made me shake my fists at the ceiling and ask, “Why? Why have we been taught to value institutions, however corrupt, over human life? Why does our society continue to glorify violence over justice, kindness, and respect?” I have no answers to these questions, but I do know this: it must stop and change starts with us.
I understand that teaching our children Common Core concepts has merit, but what about the common core of compassion, mindfulness, and nonviolence? I know there is value in math, science, and the proper use of the English language, but they are worthless unless we first learn to treat one another with respect and decency.
What we need are new standards, standards that aren’t measured by a state administered exam on a specific day, but by our own daily actions. When I was a student at UVA’s Darden School, we had to write and sign an oath at the end of every exam that stated the work that we did was ours and ours alone. I want to see everyone, everywhere, accept an Honor Code that includes conduct that goes far beyond UVA’s oath against lying, cheating, and stealing. I want an Honor Code that elevates humanity and denounces violence in all its ugly forms.
Reflecting on today’s news, I’m reminded of the quote “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.” Collectively, we have within our power, in our lifetimes, to create a tidal shift in how we treat one another. And of course, how we treat others is how our world is shaped.
We have the chance now to create a better and more peaceful world for our children and future generations. But we have to raise our voices in unison and in the name of all people everywhere. It is time for goodness to have its reign, and it starts in each of our mirrors. It’s time for us to put aside all the titles we carry around—where we work, where we live, where we came from, how much money we have, what gender, race, and religion we are—and recognize the one thing that binds us together forever: we’re all on Team Human. Let’s act like it.
As we round the corner to the final month of 2014, I’m taking stock of every area of my life. I’m not sure where it’s all heading or what 2015 will bring, but I do know this: I am resolved to keep my head up and my heart open to new possibilities. Right now, nothing is off the table. There will come a time for sorting and deciding but now it’s time to shake the trees. I’m prepared for surprise at every turn. I’ll do my best to enjoy the (very uncertain) ride.
I was in a funk. I blamed lots of external factors, some deservedly so, but at the end of the day it was me that needed to ignite change. I needed to take back the reigns on my mood and keep marching forward. So I got up, danced around to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” (judge me if you will but I like the message of that song), took a very cold shower, and got on with it.
Change is tough, but I’m tougher. I am my thoughts. My world is my own creation. I am responsible for what goes right, what goes wrong, and what needs fixin’. Life is a choice.
I’m one week into my Florida residency and I thought I’d share the good, the bad, and the in-between with you:
The good
– I get to see my nieces all the time. We actually share part of the house with our rooms clustered together, and Phin in particular loves all of the attention he gets here.
– My sister and brother-in-law have been gracious hosts for me while I sort out life here. They redid their guest room for me and my closet is almost as big as one of the rooms I rented in my last apartment.
– For most of the day, I have the house all to myself so that time’s been incredibly productive for me. I had a flurry of writing work that I wasn’t expect last week so I felt very grateful to have the space in my life to get it done.
– Cost of living is so much lower here, it’s laughable. I’m still in sticker shock after my many years of New York City prices for everything.
– I’m so close to nature here. The sunrises, sunsets, and wildlife are beautiful. My family lives in a rural area of Central Florida (that is surprisingly close to Orlando) so I have plenty of opportunities to get back to the land.
– It’s been over 10 years since I lived in Central Florida and Orlando in particular has changed a lot. In the coming weeks, I’m looking forward to exploring it.
The bad
– The heat is intense. As someone who loves seasons, particularly the Fall, I knew this would be tough for me. Unfortunately, Florida doesn’t get those gorgeous Fall colors that I love so much. However, Fall weather will eventually arrive here and it lasts longer here since Florida doesn’t really have a winter and Fall in the Northeast ends in the blink of an eye. (And this morning, it was a brisk 57 degrees. I couldn’t be happier about it!)
– I don’t yet have a routine. I love order and organization, of my time and my belongings. Just after a move, everything always feels out of whack for a time and I’m looking forward to getting that sorted out soon.
– I miss my New York friends. While many of my close friends live nowhere near New York, and I do have wonderful friends in Florida, I miss being able to stroll down the street or hop on the subway to hang with them. I’m hoping many of them will come to Florida to visit, and making plans to see my Florida friends should also help ease that sting.
– Because I’ve spent most of my adult life living in New York, I’m used to heading underground, jumping on the subway, and magically emerging exactly where I want to be, or taking my marathon walks all over Manhattan. Here, I have to learn how to get around by car and I have a fairly underdeveloped sense of direction. Thank goodness for GPS!
The in-between
– We drive everywhere. I love public transportation, though once I get my own car, find a neighborhood that has some walkability (where I’m hoping to buy a house or condo of my own for the first time!), and get my patterns down, I think I’ll find a way to make this work for me. I am looking forward to taking my first ride on the Sunrail, the very beginnings of Central Florida’s public transportation system. It’s incredibly limited but I’m hoping in time that it will expand.
– Having never lived with kids before, I’m still getting used to the early school day routine. I have had to shift my schedule as we’re up really early (5:30am). However, this is also a time change I’ve been wanting to make. I like to be up early and in bed early so I’m looking forward to this adjustment in my sleep rhythms.
Change of any kind is always challenging and even welcome change takes some getting used to. I’ll be sure to update you as I navigate through this latest life shift.
Christa Avampato 