Category: creativity

creativity

Wonder: Rhiannon Giddens’s unique sound is now finding the audience

Christa Avampato
Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Bhi Bhiman
Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Bhi Bhiman

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to seek out new music and see more live shows. I learned about Rhiannon Giddens on CBS Saturday Morning Saturday Sessions. I was making breakfast and when she started to sing, I popped my head around the corner from the kitchen to see who she was. Her sound was so unique—both her voice and her band’s orchestrations. She’s managed to take her multiethnic heritage and meld all of the parts of her ancestry and experiences into something wholly new and very powerful. There is something about her earthy voice and music that stirs something in everyone who hears it.

Giddens and special guests will be at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on February 26th at 8pm. The concert is described as:

“Led by Rhiannon Giddens, founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, this concert will explore the songs of resistance of the South, both old and new, the deep history of protest songs from Leyla McCalla’s Haiti and Louisiana, and the modern outsider-looking-in observations of 1st generation American Bhi Bhiman.”

I snapped up a ticket immediately. I hope you will, too.

creativity

Wonder: Take your time – a lesson from Hamilton, Adele 25, and Serial

Christa Avampato
Adele
Adele

When you’ve done something incredible, there’s an urge to attempt a second lightning strike as fast as possible. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Adele did it right. They took a significant amount of time between their first monumental successes and their second attempts. They wanted to roll the dice again, and they wanted to be the most skilled dice rollers they could be. That couldn’t happen over night. It couldn’t even happen in a year. Lin worked on Hamilton for five years. Adele took 4 years between her albums 21 and 25. They were patient, persistent, and thoughtful about it.

Serial, sadly, wasn’t. The second season isn’t anywhere near as interesting, suspenseful, nor intriguing as Season 1. I’ve already stopped listening because it’s not worth my time. They should have spent more time selecting, researching, molding, and shaping season 2. They should have been more concerned with content and less concerned about turnaround. We would have waited. We would have been here.

If you’re working on your second act, take the time to get it right. Don’t rush for the sake of rushing. Move along as fast as you can, and don’t compromise quality. In a world of so much noise, quality is worth the wait.

creativity

Wonder: A kind soul in Petworth returned my stolen package

Christa Avampato

I bought a new batch of toys for my pup, Phineas, and his friend, Otis, and someone stole the boxes right off our porch. On Sunday, a good Samaritan found the open box with the partial order in an alley and returned it to me with this note. Because they didn’t sign it, I’m hoping that by posting this I’ll be able to find them and give them a proper thank you. Things that are lost can be found, with the little help from the community around us.

Thank you, neighbor!
Thank you, neighbor!
creativity

Wonder: The website Instructables teaches you to make anything

Christa Avampato
Paper collage "painting" by boddhi15 on Instructables
Paper collage “painting” by boddhi15 on Instructables

I’ve become mildly obsessed with paper collage work and I was looking for some new techniques to try. I somehow found my way to Instructables, a website that teaches you to do just about any DIY project step-by-step and gives you the chance to share your DIY process and knowledge. I’m kind of in love with it and the 2 million+ people who belong to the Instructables community.

Whether your passion is visual arts, cooking, gardening, sewing, party decor, or any and every other DIY project where the result is something you make, this site is for you. Learn, document, share, and be nice about it—those are the only guidelines on Instructables. There’s so much to learn and explore. No excuses for boredom!

creativity

Wonder: New York Public Library Digital Collection expansion takes us back in time

Christa Avampato
The Waterfront on South Street in NYC. 1935. By Berenice Abbott.
The Waterfront on South Street in NYC. 1935. By Berenice Abbott.

One thing that I really miss about New York City is the New York Public Library. Luckily, this week we saw a massive digital expansion of its collections and you can access the now 672,182 digitized items by clicking here. A few short clicks and search terms give you a passport to history like never before. And it’s all free.

Whether you want to see photos of a changing New York City (or almost any of other city for that matter!), construct 20th century floor plans of mansions through archival blueprints, or learn new paper collage techniques, it’s all here for you to use and reuse in limitless ways.

Enjoy and never stop exploring!

creativity

Wonder: The Ghost Ships of Mallows Bay

Christa Avampato
Wildlife of Mallows Bay
Wildlife of Mallows Bay

Less than an hour’s drive from Washington D.C., there are ghosts that have found a new and unexpected life. There are 185 archeologically-documented shipwrecks in Mallows Bay, part of Charles County, Maryland. The area is about to be declared an official marine sanctuary and is literally overflowing with wildlife in the water, on the shores, and inside the ruins of the boats. Once the weather gets a bit warmer, I’m looking forward to seeing it for myself and photographing it. I love a good story of redemption and life restored to something considered long gone.

creativity

Wonder: How the first movie we ever see shapes us as adults

Christa Avampato
The Secret of NIMH
The Secret of NIMH

Yesterday, Marc Maron had director Todd Haynes on his WTF podcast. They talked about the first movies they’d ever seen in a theater and how those movies shaped them. The first movie I remember seeing in a theater was The Secret of NIMH. I was 6. Right around that same time, my grandmother took me to see the original movie Annie. Those two movies shaped my love of powerful and personal narratives.

The Secret of NIMH fostered my already deep love for animals and my disdain for those who are cruel to them. The main character, Mrs. Brisby (a rat) was caring and compassionate, but also tough and brave. That was the first time I realized one person could be all of those things. She felt compelled to protect those she loved, and also to protect and rescue those who were being marginalized.

Annie showed me that we can define the word “family” on our terms, and demonstrated how music can unite people and move a story along. I also remember being completely wowed by the Indian character, Punjab, and I absolutely loved the dancing. If I close my eyes, I can still see that mansion. I couldn’t believe that anyone had a house that big and that extravagant.

I guess it’s no wonder that I ended up working in theater and environmental conservation, and why my passion for those causes continues to this day. It all started when the lights went down in a theater, and a light started to glow in me.

What was the first movie you saw in a theater and how did it shape you?

creativity

Wonder: How to know if there’s more

Christa Avampato
Find more
Find more

“If you sense there must be more, there is more.” ~Alan Cohen

Have you ever thought this: “Is this all there is?” This has happened to me, oh, maybe several hundred times in my life. Maybe thousands. At some point, it happened so often that I just lost count.

And here was my second thought every time: “Of course there’s more out there. Go find it.” And I don’t mean more as in more money, notoriety, or some other superficial possession. I mean more in terms of inspiration, better health, more happiness, peace, love, joy, passion, knowledge, adventure, and all the good things that make life worth living.

I didn’t always know where to find it or how to get it. I had to work hard for it. I had to make difficult choices. I had to take the long view. I had to go through hard times and plenty of uncertainty to find the good stuff. But I did find it, always, eventually, in spades. And I’m grateful for it every day, every time.

There are more of these things for you, too. For all of us. And I want us to be brave enough to go out there into the world and get them and share them. In 2016, let’s do that, okay? Okay.

creativity

Wonder: Feel more, think less

Christa Avampato
Feel more, think less
Feel more, think less

“Don’t think. It complicates things. Just feel, and if it feels like home, then follow its path.” ~R.M. Drake

I’ve started 2016 embracing this idea. Our guts are so powerful and wise and intuitive. They know the way home. They know exactly where we should and shouldn’t go, whom we should and shouldn’t be with, and what we should and shouldn’t do. They know far more than our heads, far more than our hearts. And no, we often can’t explain a gut feeling. It doesn’t need explanation. It needs only action. So trust it. Follow it. Believe it. Even if your head and your heart are conflicted, don’t waste time and energy questioning the gut. Just know that, now and always, it has your back.

creativity

Wonder: You are the universe

Christa Avampato
You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
You are the universe in ecstatic motion.

“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” ~Rumi

How many times have you wondered if you’re good enough for a job, a person, or just something wonderful? Understand this: you are enough. You are so much more than enough. Forget about being too young or too old for something. Forget about your regrets and self-doubt and fears. That thinking doesn’t serve you. You’re better than that. You’ve always been better than that. Now go get the life you want, the whole life you want, because that’s exactly what you deserve.