Mark Twain, one of my productivity idols, countered a busy week of writing by taking weekends off to spend with his family, read, and daydream
My summer break in Los Angeles helped me realize the truth in an adage that I have long-loved but only now really understand: “So often what’s needed in a change of self and not a change of scene.” I can, and should, take more breaks and I don’t have to skip town to do it.
I am inspired by this article from the Huffington Post about the un-plugging rituals of some highly productive folks, both past and present. It’s a fun and inspiring read. If these folks can take a break, so can I. And one of the happiest upsides is that it will make my work even more joyful and energizing.
Here’s how I plan to implement my own regular “take a break ritual” when I’m back at home in NYC:
1.) I love to spend my Sunday mornings curled up on my couch with a cup of something warm and tasty, reading the New York Times and watching CBS Sunday Morning. I always learn something new and inspiring. I’ve sacrificed this time too often in the past. No more. On Sundays, I won’t be reachable until noon.
2.) Mornings are a time that I feel reflective and clear. I want to make the most of that time. Of course Phin and I will continue to do our morning gratitude walks (the pup’s gotta get out!). I’m up early by nature so I plan to give them a bit more structure – morning meditation, some gentle yoga, a vegan smoothie, followed by a page of writing (not typing but actual writing) anything that comes into my mind.
I’m excited to see if and how keeping these two rituals change my perspective. Of course, I’ll be sure to report back right here on this blog.
About a year ago, I took a voice over class at People’s Improv Theater (PIT). This is a path that has been of interest to me for a while. It was challenging work and completely outside my realm of experience. Given the flexibility that I’ve built into my life over the past year, I am now able to dig deeper and see if voice over work is for me. Can I make a solid, enjoyable living doing this? To start answering that question, I reached out to a coach who can provide me with a few private sessions and product my demo.
When I get back to New York in August I’m going to have our first private session. Here’s the promise this coach made me by the end of our first class together: he will be able to identify what I need to work on and just how much work I need to do to make my voiceover demo. Then I can decide if it’s worth the time and financial investment. No more waiting. Time to hop onto these tracks and see where they lead.
In just a few short weeks, I realized I’ve been telling myself a story that’s not true. I always imagined that if my ancestors had gotten off the boat in New York Harbor and kept going west, I would have never left the state of California. It’s a catchy little line and totally untrue. LA has given me some downtime, a chance to get away from it all. Getting around here and finding my bearings is proving to be more difficult for me here than it is in New York. When I first moved to New York, from the moment I set foot in that city as a 22-year-old who knew absolutely no one, I felt right at home. It clicked for me. I found the beat immediately and just joined the flow. Not so in LA.
This doesn’t mean that I’m sorry I came here. It also doesn’t mean that I regret this experiment in any way. After all, experiments are just that. We have a theory. We test it. We examine the result. A number of my dear friends have left New York for good this summer. I will miss them terribly and it prompted those old thoughts of giving up New York, again. My theory was that perhaps I had stayed too long at the dance, as Joan Didion so perfectly and beautifully stated about her move from New York to LA. Maybe it was time to grow up and move on. To test that theory, I did a house swap to try out California, a place I’ve thought of making my home for many years. The result has surprised me as much as anyone: California has wonderful aspects and I love to visit, but it’s not meant to be my home.
When these thoughts first started to rise up last week, I thought I was being too judgmental. Perhaps I needed more time, more patience, more experience with this new life. And as I sat in my meditation every morning, I realized that my gut was right, as it always is. Sometimes I ignore it, and regret it.
There are many things to commend my temporary home. The weather here is mostly cool and dry. Because I’m at the beach, it’s often cloudy and that prompts my pensive writer brain. Because it’s not as easy to get around here as it is in New York, I’m spending a lot of time on my creative work at home, exactly what I wanted to do with this time. I am staying in a beautiful condo that’s in a walkable neighborhood while a pair of lovely people are taking exceptional care of my (very small) pad in New York City. I’m getting the chance to see friends here whom I don’t see often enough. Almost all of the people I’ve met here are lovely and kind.
I’d always been of the mind that a place is just a place, that I loved New York only for the people who are there and a part of my life. But that’s not true either. New York and I have had a love affair for 15 years now. It’s been an off and on relationship. We have had our rough patches and separations. Sometimes I want to punch it right in the face because it makes me so frustrated. Eventually I can’t take it anymore, throw a fit, and run out the door saying I’m heading for greener pastures. New York stoically stands its ground, confidently and calmly, and says, “Okay. Do whatever you want. You know where to find me.”
I leave New York, and then I come back. Over and over and over again. I miss its energy and the buckets of opportunity that are flowing through the streets. I’ve had 8 different homes there over the course of 15 years. I’m sure I’ll have many more. I’m in Manhattan now and know that eventually I’ll find a home in Brooklyn either when this lease is up or perhaps a year later. I’m also certain that the love of my life is roaming the streets there and he’s wondering what the hell is taking me so long to find him. (Believe me, man, I’m wondering the same exact thing!) I know my long-term multilayered career will find its groove there.
New York, give me your noise, your dirt, and all the crazies you can muster. Let me rise to the challenge and make me a better person in the process. You’ve taught me strength, courage, and perseverance. A diamond is made shiny by pressure and scrubbing. A pearl is created through a salve to ease irritation. A butterfly is born from a cocoon through the struggle and squirming of an imperfect being with great potential that is hidden from the eye. Those lessons are not lost on me. I’m glad you stood your ground and chose to evolve on your own terms, not mine. You taught me so much about me just by being who you are. You’re not meant to be a home to everyone, but you are certainly meant to be my home. I’ll see you soon, but in the meantime I am making the most of my 5 remaining weeks in the City of Angeles.
This summer I’m taking my first shot at writing a full-length play. It’s challenging, heartfelt work based on a story that’s been rattling around in my mind for over a decade. I’m not sure what I’d do without my friend, Trevin, who has supported the idea since I first mentioned it to him earlier this year and has read the very first words formally put to page. In a 30 minute FB chat, I learned more about playwriting from him than I did in an 8-hour playwriting intensive class that I took a few months ago.
By the end of my time in LA, I plan to have a completed first draft and new insights into my own life and skills as a writer. Already, I’ve learned so much in this process and I’m only one scene into the play. We have to keep challenging ourselves in our craft, whatever our craft is. We have to push our boundaries. And we have to ask for help from those who are able to support and guide us in our new endeavors. Whatever the outcome of this play, writing it alone will make me a better person. And that’s what art is all about – it’s a means to improve ourselves from the inside out.
“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” ~ Mary Oliver
Within every day, even the hardest, most awful days, there is something wonderful that happens. If anyone asks me what I’ve been up to lately, this is what I’m going to say: “I’ve been out looking for all the wonderful things that make me happy I’m alive.”
“We must understand that out of community and dialogue, the answers will arrive in their own time and way.” – Bryant McGill
I came to California to get away from it all, to tap in so that I can clearly see what’s around the bend. That’s a more poetic way of saying that I came here to find these answers:
Where do I go from here?
And why?
And how?
And with whom?
Slowly those answers are rising up as I engage deeply and fully with the world around me and the world within. It is the best and hardest journey I’ve ever taken. And it is so worth it!
This photo perfectly captures the serenity I’m feeling in Santa Monica. It’s my first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean on Day 1 of my creative break. Pretty remarkable. I can barely process that I’ve come this far in my life, a place I never thought I’d be.
“The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.” ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson
Somewhere along the way we got the crazy idea that work is work and therefore it shouldn’t be equated with happiness, purpose, and passion. We were supposed to leave work at the workplace and not let it seep into other areas of our lives because we had to create a wall in order to have that coveted possession called balance.
I once had an extremely unhappy and bitter friend who was fond of saying, “It’s called work, not play, for a reason.” Not surprisingly, our friendship didn’t last long and never had much depth. I want my work to be my passion, and my passion to be my life.
Put your time and energy into what you love, even if it’s not how you make your income – yet. Master the things that make you happy and recognize that your abilities have no limitations. Stay interested, stay active, and the world of opportunity will reveal itself.
Christa Avampato 