Category: creativity

cooking, creativity, food, weather

Beautiful: When I Need to Think, I Go to the Kitchen

Christa Avampato
French onion soup - one of my favorite comfort foods!
French onion soup – one of my favorite comfort foods!

“On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it.” ~ E.B. White

Cold enough for ya? In New York City, we are braving some serious cold and wind. It’s that biting kind of cold where you’re quite sure that if you smile too wide, your face will crack. I’ve found myself eying my new Ninja crock pot and cracking open my cookbooks to create a shopping list of ingredients to create warm, comforting meals.

This weekend, I have brunch plans on Saturday and Sunday and otherwise will be inside working away. I find that I do my best work when I nourish my mind and body with nutritious, delicious food. Additionally, I also love that cooking helps me to quiet my mind and reduce stress. When I hit a road block in my writing, I back away from my desk and head for my stove where I’m sure to get my creative juices flowing again (cooking pun intended!)

Like a good story, a good meal is cobbled together by the hands, inspired by the spirit, and nurtured with love from the heart. This weekend may you find refuge in the kitchen despite the frightful weather outside.

career, creativity, work

Beautiful: Thinking With Our Fingers

Christa Avampato

writing“Writing to me is simply thinking through my fingers.” ~ Isaac Asimov

There is something magical about the act of working with our hands. Whether we’re painting, writing, creating music, cooking, or some other tactile-based project, there is a certain pride that creeps in when we look upon something we physically created. It magically makes us feel whole, capable, and empowered.

I think this idea holds a lot of promise for how we think about our careers. I recently read a post on LinkedIn about 16 words you should stop using to describe yourself. Overwhelmingly, the words that the author suggests omitting are ones that describes traits, not activities. When someone says they’re an architect, I immediately get a picture in my mind of what they actually do. They make things, structural things like buildings to be exact. I can get my head around that. It’s real to me. I understand how they spend their time.

In the next few days, I’ll revamp my LinkedIn profile and business website to better define what I do, why, and how. It will accurately describe how I spend my time and for what greater purpose. I’ll cut the jargon and popular buzz words of the day and get to the simple statements of how I use my heart, mind, and yes, my fingers, to create things I care about.

adventure, creativity, determination, passion

Beautiful: Irrational Passion

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“‘Irrational Personal Passion’ is the heart of effective entrepreneurship.” ~ Tom Peters

You have an idea. A wonderful, beautiful, sparkly idea. After much crafting and nurturing, you slowly begin to release it out into the world. You tell one person, and then another, and then another. You hope for praise and encouragement and much rejoicing. And there is that one person (or in my case, there are many people) who tell you your idea just won’t work because of reasons A – Z. And what do you do? You smile.

You’re on to something. You’ve hit a nerve. You’ve found a new way of seeing the world. Now you’re getting somewhere.

Some people give up in the face of criticism and negativity. You? You keep rising. You take all that energy that people put into tearing down your idea and use it make yourself, and your idea, stronger. Plow ahead. Reach higher. Go further. Irrational passion is the only thing that has ever caused true, lasting, meaningful change. Without it, we’ll never be anything more than we already are. Irrational passion is the fuel of progress.

beauty, creativity, make, maker, nature

Beautiful: Nature Teaches Us to Be Resourceful

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“When you let go of trying to get more of what you don’t really need, it frees up oceans of energy to make a difference with what you have. When you make a difference with what you have it expands.” ~ Lynn Twist

When I feel myself getting a case of the “I need more…” syndrome, I play this little meditation game. I imagine that I’ve miraculously found $100,000 with no strings attached that I can spend any way I like. Would I travel the world, donate it all to charity, put a down payment on a house, pay off all my student loans? A few minutes into the game, I always find myself saying “$100,000 just isn’t enough. What I really need is…” And then I start laughing. $100,000 of discovered money isn’t enough? That’s absurd.

And this is how it goes for so many of us. We focus so much on what we don’t have that we lose sight of all of the resources at our disposal. Our culture feeds us a healthy diet of lack. Nothing is ever, ever enough.

When this happens, it’s up to us to turn off all of our devices, get outside, and go for a walk. Look around. Nature doesn’t think about lack. It adapts without any drama to the resources available at the present time. Nature has a much bigger job than any of us. It has to keep this whole planet and all of life moving forward. We think we’re over-scheduled and tired? Mother Nature takes a look at her to-do list and shakes her head at all of us.

Stop letting a sense of lack deprive you of the wonders that lay at your feet. Pick them up and put them to good use. Everyone can make something beautiful right where they are with exactly what they have.

action, adventure, creativity, time

Beautiful: Your Actions Belong to You

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“My actions are my only true belongings.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I know this to be true. Over 3 years ago, I lost almost all of my possessions and nearly my life in an apartment building fire. In an instant I learned the deep truth of that old adage “it’s just stuff.” If it had gone another way, if I hadn’t gotten out in time, all that would have remained of me would have been the results of my actions and the people who remembered them.

So there is no time like the present. It’s the only time we have. Do something with it. Make something beautiful that matters.

creativity, gratitude, Life, simplicity

Beautiful: Be Like Water

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

I started a new morning routine on January 1st. Upon waking, I stretch, place my hands in front of my heart, bow my head, say thank you (out loud), and drink a glass of water.

The stretching reminds me that my body is a vehicle for action to create a world I am proud to call home. The focus on my heart reminds me that it is the best guide for my journey, whatever that journey is each day. I bow my head in reverence for the wonders of the world. I say thank you to remind me that every day is a gift and I’m lucky enough to get another one each morning.

That all sounds lovely, right? But drink a glass of water? What’s that about? you may ask.

Yes, it keeps me nourished and hydrated. Yes, it reminds me about the ebb and flow of life. But why make it part of this ritual? Is there anything spiritual about drinking a glass of water?

Water reminds me to keep it simple and to never underestimate the power of simplicity. This humble offering, a glass of water, keeps all of life moving. Without it, we would all perish. Without it, nothing around us would have ever existed. It offers everything and asks for nothing. It is the ultimate creative force.

beauty, creativity, curiosity, science, television

Beautiful: The Pi of Life

Christa Avampato

Have you been watching the TV show Person of Interest? Filled with quirky characters, nerdy testaments to the power of technology and programming, and a healthy dose of espionage and government secrecy, it consumes my complete attention during every episode.

Last week’s show, 2πr, began with a lyrical discussion of Pi. Yes, that Pi: 3.14159265359… or said another way, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi randomly repeats with no end. Finch, the main character of the show, explains that Pi contains every number combination possible. It contains all of creation – past, present, and future. Somewhere, it contains our phone numbers, birthdays, social security numbers. If those numbers were translated into letters, it would contain every word, every sentence ever written by anyone. Mind-blowing.

This is why I find math and science so intriguing, inspiring, and endlessly fascinating. We don’t need to ask, nor wait, for answers to any of our questions, curiosities, and confusions. They are all around us. All of them. What we need is an open heart, a discerning eye, and a clear, keen mind to see them, recognize them, and then put them to good use.

beauty, creativity, dreams, make, maker, time

Beautiful: Create the Conditions You Need to Do Your Best Work

Christa Avampato

21814379414799127_vbmdhYPx_c“Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.” ~ Alan Cohen

Why wait? There will never be a better time to do the best work you can do than right now.

More money won’t help. Neither will the illusion of more time. Focus is gained by focusing. Confusion is sorted out through action. Clarity is gained by deciding to be clear about your priorities.

The conditions around you are always temporary and you have the power to make the ones that are right for you. Begin and the world will mold around your dreams. The Universe loves purpose, passion, and action.

adventure, creativity, make, maker, time

Make Something Beautiful – My New Theme for 2013

Christa Avampato
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From Pinterest

In the spirit of my new year’s resolution to fearlessly go after every dream I have, I’ll write every day about this journey. In 2012 I took the leap into a life of my own design. I spent a lot of time entrenched in the critical processes of planning and experimenting. In 2013 I will breathe life into those plans. I’ll roll up my sleeves, get out into the world, and actually build those dreams with my own two tiny hands because at heart I am a Maker.

Poet Mary Oliver poses the question, “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” In this new year, I mean to answer that question not in words, but in beautiful, thoughtful, passionate actions.

I’m so glad you’re here to share this experience. I hope it inspires you to take up the call to create. In 2013, what will you make?

courage, creativity, customer service, determination, generosity, gratitude, thankful, time

Leap: You Don’t Need More

Christa Avampato

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My friend, Adela, posted this on her Pinterest board and it raises a question that I’ve run through my mind so many times this holiday season. It’s fine to wish or hope for something though every person I know who is happy has two qualities in abundance: gratitude and determination. They don’t pray for things to get better; they work hard and make them so. They recognize the value of who and what they have in their lives and they share with others.

Here’s what I’ve learned – everything, absolutely everything, can be figure out. We can find a way into a new job or field. We can solve challenges, locally and globally, by extending our hands and acting together. We can find love by opening our hearts. We can improve our world, for ourselves and others, by shutting down our devices, leaving our homes, and rolling up our sleeves. And none of this requires that we have more stuff. It requires that we have more heart, more concern, more courage, more confidence. It requires us to understand that we have everything we need to do everything we want to do. The question is what will we do with it.

This Christmas, I hope we all get just one thing in our stockings – the strength to decide that the helping hands we want are the ones we already have.