This week I felt a big energetic shift. I opened my eyes one morning and everything looked different. Overnight, something had lifted and in its place I felt only lightness. I can’t remember any dream I had that night. There wasn’t any message I received in any channel that caused a change. All I know is that I was different and the world was different and that was enough of a reason to smile. I walked to work in the cool, bright sunshine and felt nothing but grace and gratitude. It’s not easy to change our mind, but once we do we find that everything else changes, too.
Every story needs failure, especially your own. We love an underdog. We love to know a character, real or fictional, who fights his or her way back to the light. And the further they fall and the steeper their climb, the better. Maybe right now you’re failing at something. Join the club. No matter what’s happening in our lives here’s what we can count on: at least one thing, no matter how small, isn’t the way we want it to be. That’s okay. Keep reaching. Keep pulling yourself up. You’re going to stumble. There will be some serious cuts and bruises along the way. Some so serious that you think you’ll never recover. But you will. You are so much braver, so much more resilient, than you think you are. You’ll only discover this when you’re truly being tested, so take the test. I promise you that someday, maybe long into the future, you’re going to get a summit and the view is going to be more than worth it.
Life is never perfect. There’s always some piece that needs fixing and tending and change. Maybe it’s your job, or your relationships, or where you live. The best we can do is enjoy where we are, in the midst of the mess and the disorder and the chaos. If we can pick our heads up and look around and look past all the disappointment, we can find the goodness. It might be just a speck far in the distance, but it’s there. These days, I’m trying to focus my energy on what’s right and not what’s wrong. It’s challenging. Sometimes it seems downright impossible, but I try anyway. And in the trying, I find a way forward. It’s not about being lucky or fortunate. It’s about being so determined that I just refuse to give up. I believe in a brighter tomorrow and that belief is enough to see me through another day.
I knew I loved these birds! “Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy and celebration. Hummingbirds open our eyes to the wonder of the world and inspire us to open our hearts to loved ones and friends. Like a hummingbird, we aspire to hover and to savor each moment as it passes, embrace all that life has to offer and to celebrate the joy of everyday. The hummingbird’s delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning, and that laughter is life’s sweetest creation.” ~ PAPYRUS
When something or someone gets you down, there are exactly 3 solutions: smile wider, laugh louder, and stand taller. You are your actions, not someone’s opinion of you.
While D.C. may be known as a government and nonprofit hub, I’m finding a whole new side of Washington every day. This weekend I went to the celebration of SpeakeasyDC, a storytelling organization where I take a class, rebranding itself as Story District. They had a carnival-type atmosphere of dozens of arts organizations from all over the District. We visited all of the different tables that highlighted the creative work of storytellers, comedian, writers, filmmakers, and visual artists. It was an inspiring and spirited evening that made me so happy to live in this city and be a part of its creative evolution. Here is a list of the participants from that evening. I hope you’ll check them out and support their incredible work!
Batala – an all-female Brazilian dance and drum corps
PoeMC – rappers
The Originals – dancers
Soul & Ink – interactive screen printing
Acre 121 – a local bar in my neighborhood that offers live music every weekend
Better Said Than Done – storytelling
BrandDave – artist
Creative Mornings / DC – monthly get-together for creatives
Dance Place
DC Shorts – short film festival
Docs in Progress – documentary makers
Figment DC – free arts exhibition
Flashband – musicians collective
General Assembly – co-working space for entrepreneurs that offers classes and events
Human Rights Campaign
Impact Hub DC – co-working space for social entrepreneurs
Men’s Story Project – storytelling organization that shatters male stereotypes
Mortified DC – a storytelling project that features storytellers telling embarrassing moments from childhood
Photography by Alexander
Possibilities Publishing Company – independent small press
Recreative Spaces – temporary creative art spaces for hire
Sixth & I – performance space
Split This Rock – youth storytelling organization
Washington DC Comedy Writers – free Monday evening group of comedy writers
“Alignment is easy…just remember something that feels good and focus on that.” ~Abraham Hicks
This weekend I read a self-help book that was a good, hard read. I think this quote by Abraham Hicks is really what every book like this boils down to. If we want to be happy, we have to stop putting ourselves in situations that hurt and harm us. That means staying away from negative people who don’t treat us well. You can’t change adults, nor save them. Leave that to expert therapists. They aren’t your work to do. We are each responsible for our own happiness and our own transformation. Be with people who appreciate you and care about you. Invest your time and effort in activities that lift you up and bring you joy. Anything else is a waste of your value.
My friend, Nisha, posted this over the weekend and I just love it. These are things that we should all decide we no longer have time for. Life is so short. Let’s spend it with the best people we know doing the very best we can.
I saw this image yesterday and it stuck with me all day. We’re so inclined to think that technology, money, emotions – any tool or source of energy – has control. It doesn’t. It’s up to the user. It’s how you wield these tools that makes the difference. It’s about intention and purpose. It’s about deciding how to use the forces within us and around us that determines our impact. Choose and act wisely.
“In the fight between you and the universe, back the universe.” ~Frank Zappa
Have you ever just wanted to understand why something has happened, why life has unfolded in this particular way that doesn’t match the vision we have for ourselves and our futures? I spend a lot of time thinking about this idea, and when something doesn’t go my way I often go through the classic stages of grief. Because let’s face it, having life not pan out as we hoped, in big and small ways, is a kind of loss or at least a recalibration of expectations. And it feels awful.
No matter what I’m facing, the idea I come back to is the one Frank Zappa references in this quote. I’ve got grand ideas about how life should go, and they rarely, if ever, happen. But here’s what I know to be true—never, not even once, have I looked back on any time in my life and said, “If life had gone the way I wanted it to go, I’d be so much better off now.”
The Universe always gets it right, and I’m so grateful for that. It’s so much wiser, more experienced, and generous to us than we are to ourselves. That knowledge temporarily stops the whirring in my mind. It stops the incessant analyzing, bargaining, and blaming that I usually direct inward in a moment of disappointment. It helps me smile, pick up, and go on. Double down on the Universe—it’s there to support you.
Christa Avampato 