I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
I was waiting for things to settle down and get back to the way they used to be until I realized that every experience fundamentally changes us. Time marches on and we have to march with it. I’m grateful for this because it makes every moment, every day, special and unique. Storms may turn our world upside down but they also show us who we are and what we’re made of. They are part of the wild ride of Life.
We don’t have to wait for a new year or even a new day to make a change. We’re afforded the opportunity at every moment to turn it all around. Thanks for the reminder, New York City street art.
All changes are tough, even the ones that are blessings. With every change, something dies and falls away. We mourn the loss of the good and the bad. To wipe the slate clean, we have to go through this loss of the old to make way for the new. Give yourself the space and time to process the loss, even though it may be welcomed and expected. Go through the motions. Take all the steps. Feel all the feelings. No regrets.
I’ve often regretted holding on. I’ve never regretted letting go of anything. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of letting go – of expectations, bad habits (great and small), insecurities, and stuffy routines. The release itself isn’t scary; it’s the anticipation of the release that can scare us into inaction. I don’t have any magic formula to get through that phase. We need a Nike attitude about it – just do it. Decide. Choose. Let go. Change. Act.
“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.” ~ Chinese proverb
Change can knock us down, and it can also provide the fuel we need to transform into our best selves. It makes us stronger, kinder, more empathic, and give us insights that our regular routines can’t provide. When I take a step back from my troubles, I get perspective that helps me see the possibilities that reveal themselves during tough times.
Exactly as Phin and I crossed Central Park to begin moving into our new apartment, the sun began to part the clouds after days of torrential rain and months of intense uncertainty. My first thoughts was, “You’ve gotta be kidding me, Mother Nature.” She wasn’t kidding; she can be so cliché and I’ve never loved a cliché more than I did at that moment. The lesson wasn’t lost on me: eventually the light always returns and we have the right to bask in it.
This apartment search has been a tough journey, and a good one. I feel stronger, braver, and more open to change as a result of it. I learned what was important, and what wasn’t. Best of all, I realized just how many incredible people I have in my life. Thank you all for sharing in this journey and being a part of the solution. You’re welcome to visit any time and help me explore my new neighborhood. Actually, I insist. Tomorrow my blog returns to its regularly scheduled programming of inspiration and encouragement. Today I’m spending the day saying thank you, for everything.
Today Phin and I will be movin’ on up in the true style of the Jeffersons. We’ll trek across the park to the Upper East Side to sublet from our lovely, kind, and incredibly generous friend, AraBella. After reading about our heinous apartment search via Facebook, she took pity on us after one hell of a crazy experience that showed me just how brutal the New York City real estate market has become. We’re so incredibly grateful to her!
New York City is changing a lot; I’m changing a lot. I never thought I’d want to own real estate. Now I know being a homeowner of some kind, somewhere, is in my future. Being at the mercy of a landlord every year is just not the way I want to live anymore. So now the question is where will this home be, and when will I get there. I have no idea what the answer is but at least I am clear on the question, and that’s half the battle, right?
In the meantime, Phin and I have a lot of exploring to do. We’re going to have to find our way around and develop some new routines. He’ll come through it like a champ; he always does. Me? Well, that remains to be seen. I’m going to let him lead. He’s got a better (and bigger) nose than I do. Luckily, we have a number of friends in our new neck of the woods and we’re hoping they will give us the inside scoop on everything wonderful around our new digs.
Here’s to change and everything that it has to teach us!
My habits are being shaken to the core right now: I’m moving to a new apartment in a new neighborhood and my workload and career are shifting. My play, Sing After Storms, is about to go into rehearsal, and that will drastically change my schedule. I have the feeling that I’m at the start of a very exciting and very long journey, and I don’t know exactly where it will lead nor what turns in the road to expect. I do know that I will have to navigate it purposefully and by intent. 3 cheers for self-made change!
I’ve been talking to a lot of friends about big life changes. Moving, relationships, jobs, creative projects. It’s too easy to say, “I’ll get to that later.” Later never arrives. If you have something you really want to do, something you want to try, take the plunge. Give it a whirl. Grab the opportunity. There’s no good reason to put off anything you really want to do. You deserve the very best shot at exactly the life you want. I support anyone and everyone willing to take any kind of chance. Go for it!
Change doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by action. If you don’t act, someone else will and then you’ll live in a world designed by someone else rather than one that you designed. You deserve better than that. Build your own best circumstances. Keep what you love; change what you don’t.
Christa Avampato 