Category: creativity

choices, creativity, opportunity, passion, patience

Beginning: Renewing the Familiar and Waking Up

Christa Avampato

“The moment one gives close attention to any thing, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.” ~ Henry Miller

Every morning I walk 5 blocks to the subway, and some mornings I don’t remember a single step that I took to get there. I’m out ahead of my walk. I’m imagining the packed subway car that I don’t want to deal with or thinking about my morning meetings and deliverables. I’m checking Twitter and Facebook or planning out my evening activities. This is the downside of being hyper-organized and a creature of planning – I can miss the moment I’m in right now, and all of the learning that each one offers.

In the past month, I’ve been focused on waking up and being aware. I’m observing more consciously, and finding that Henry Miller was absolutely right. Right in my neighborhood, there are beautiful things happening. Small business owners trying to make a-go of their dream. Tiny sprout of life breaking through the cold ground as Spring makes its long slow climb out of obscurity in Riverside and Central Parks. Street musicians and artists decorating our sidewalks. And even all of those people packed in the subway car on weekday mornings – just watching them and taking note of their activities makes my commute a part of my day rather than just some means to an end.

It is possible to renew the familiar, and it doesn’t require any fancy equipment or class or certification. You can start right now, wherever you are. Observe the knots in the world flooring beneath your feet, the sunshine filtering through your window, or the simple mannerisms of the person sitting next to you. We always have the option to begin a practice conscious living.

This blog is also available as a podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

creativity, invention

Beginning: The Great Work of Remaking You & 3 Tips for a Successful Reinvention

Christa Avampato

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as in being able to remake ourselves.” ~ Gandhi

This winter weather can really take the wind out of our sails. Today it’s heading to 60 degrees in New York City and I think Central Park may have a mob scene on its hands by the time happy hour rolls around tonight. I might be part and parcel to it myself. I need to literally stretch my wings and let the sunshine pour down over me. I’ve felt too-couped up for the past few months. I needed the rest, and now it’s time to put my new-found energy to work.

All this excitement of remaking my life comes on the heels of having paid down a huge chunk of my student debt. With that goal accomplished far ahead of schedule, I’ve turned my attention toward reinventing my day-to-day life. The options of what to do next are endless, and paired up with a multitude of interests I’ve got more options for re-invention than I know what to do with!

The process of remaking our lives can be a daunting task, and luckily I’ve made a habit of it so this path is a well-traveled one for me. I’ve found that the keys to surviving and thriving during the reinvention process are:

1.) Make it a game. Try out new ideas. Put them to use, tinker, and see how it goes. Play.

2.) Don’t take any of your mistakes or successes so seriously that you’re afraid to make your next move. Don’t beat yourself up for wrong turns or paths that didn’t pan out. It’s all good learning (and good writing material.)

3.) A loose plan of how to move forward helps to focus your energy, but also gives you room to learn and change direction as needed.

If all else fails, reinvent again
Like any new start, remaking your life will have its ups and down, moments of excitement and anxiety. The greatest joy we have in this life is a new start every day. We can wipe the slate clean and start from scratch, creating something new that the world has never seen before. It’s the blessing of being an individual, and should be exercised and celebrated.

Get out there and start something, anything, that gets your heart jumping. Don’t worry about having to change and impact the whole world. Just focus on impacting your little slice of it and build from there. Reinventing our own lives is more than enough work for any of us.

This blog is also available as a podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

art, creative process, creativity

Beginning: What I Create and Refuse to Destroy

Christa Avampato

“A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy.” ~ John Sawhill

I’ve been watching the coverage of Egypt with a heavy heart. I’m sure you have, too. An art curator in Egypt was interviewed by one of the networks recently and he talked about his deep concern that the violence could jeopardize so much priceless art in Cairo. I’ve been so focused on the human element of the conflict that I never considered how this could reshape Egypt’s artistic heritage.

This new perspective got me thinking about the creation and destruction we do every day in our lives. What we build, tear down, rearrange, and leave intact says a lot about who we are and what we value. It deserves some reflection time.

My creations:
1.) I’m working on creating more personal art thanks to my Wacom.

2.) I’m building Compass Yoga, a yoga teaching business, with a strong eye on delivering yoga to under-served populations particularly in conjunction with the medical community.

3.) Though my natural inclination is to make my living through working with small organizations, I’m currently a part of a large financial institution that has become a great test lab for me to learn about industrial psychology, mobile technology, and the levers that move the market.

4.) This blog continues to be a big part of my life as I work on other writing projects. My writing is a way for me to reach out, connect, and work through the situations of my life.

What I refuse to destroy:
1.) I used to take a lot of risk in my career. I still value risk though I’ve also learned to better calculate the consequences. As a result my risk taking in recent years has yielded a higher return, personally and financially. My improved analytical skills have helped me build a life of real value and independence – something I would never compromise.

2.) I work hard to create a peaceful life and home, which may sound funny to people who know that my schedule can frequently get packed to the gills. It’s only in the past year or so that I’ve felt any sense of peace, something I always desperately wanted and could never find. Despite a long-lived yoga practice, where I would find moments of peace and well-being, it faded quickly once I got back to real life. What I didn’t realize for a long time is that peace is a daily process and it is actually always with us. The quiet within wants to surface. We just have to slow down enough to let it reveal itself. Every day I carve out time to just sit and be. I have to.

3.) I have a ritual of preparation. Even if I never use a lick of what I prepare, the preparation itself is part of my creation process. Brian and I have been working a lot on my improv skills, my ability to trust my gut so I can show up and just be. I was trained as a preparation junkie, trying to madly cover every possible base. It took me years to realize that every base will never be covered. There will always be unexpected circumstances, thing we could never prepare for because we never even imagined their existence. And while I’m getting much more confident in my trusty gut and my intuition, I’m still preparing. My prep time these days is greatly reduced compared to what I used to do, but it’s still there in some form. I need it. Rituals bring comfort, especially in new situations.

What about you? What are you working on creating, and what are the non-negotiables of your life?

The image above is my latest doodle on my Wacom. It’s how I feel when I’m writing late into the night.

This blog is part of the 2011 WordPress Post Every Day Challenge.

This blog is also available as a podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

art, children, creativity, dogs, meditation, yoga

Beginning: 3 Way to Get Fresh Eyes

Christa Avampato

“To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.” ~ George Kneller

How many times have you caught yourself saying, aloud or to yourself, “well, that’s just the way it is”? It’s a dangerous phrase, though entirely understandable when we are in the throes of frustration or disappointment. I’ve made a career out of busting up that phrase and trying to help others banish it from their thought patterns. I’m all for getting inside a system and learning its inner workings, but once I learn a system the tinkering begins. I get a kick out of seeing how my re-arranging of the rules, no matter how long-standing those rules are, can improve a system.

If you’ve been in a system for a long-time, whether that system is a job, a relationship, the city where you live, it can be a challenge to find joy, to think creatively about any challenges, to make it feel new again. Here are 3 ways to take George Keller’s advice and freshen up your eyes and mind.

1.) Yoga and meditation. (You knew that was coming, right?) No yoga practice, class, or even posture is ever the same experience twice for teachers or students. There is always nuance. Our bodies are different every day – literally. Our rate of cell turnover is tremendous. Some scientific studies say that every month all of our cells – every single one – is entirely new. That means you’re physically a new person every month. And since a yoga and meditation practice often begins in the body, then those practices must be new every time. Embrace the change from your practice, and you’ll be able to embrace change in other areas of your life. That’s yoga’s whole purpose.

2.) Check out the world with a dog or a child. Their eyes are new every day, and their literal and figurative perspective, is very different from that of adults. They are open to the world in ways that we are entirely closed off. We have a lot to learn from them. My nieces, Lorelei and Aubree, and my dog, Phin, show me new ways of thinking whenever I’m with them.

3.) Take in some art. We’re blessed in New York City is have the most incredible art, music, and performance landscape in the world. There is art in some form for every taste. Artists are constantly reinvesting themselves. Their livelihood depends upon reinvention. Let them inspire you to do some reinvention of your own.

This blog is part of the 2011 WordPress Post Every Day Challenge.

This blog is also available as a podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

creativity, entrepreneurship, teaching, yoga

Beginning: Yoga for Taxi Drivers

Christa Avampato

“We must use time creatively.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” ~ also from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

My friend, Erica (of Yogoer fame), sent out a tweet over the weekend that highlighted an article in the Times that described a yoga class created expressly for New York City taxi drivers. Can you imagine a more stressed out group of people? They never know who’s getting into their cars, what those people are bringing into their cars, and they have to contend with the lunacy of New York City Streets. If anyone needs yoga for stress reduction and relaxation, it’s our city’s cab drivers.

That’s exactly the opportunity for goodness that entrepreneurial yoga instructor Andrew Vollo saw and brought to life. “Taxi Yoga” is his creation. He’s been running this class for 7 years and it has grown through his distribution of 3,000 fliers (mostly through a wide variety of houses of religion that the cab drivers attend) and several interviews in channels that cab drivers are likely to patronize. He refused to be discouraged by any naysayers or critics of his cause. He knew what the cab drivers needed because he used to be one himself.

Whether your life has yoga in it or not, Vollo’s story is nothing short of inspiring. Take a look around your world. What does the world need and how does that match what you have to give? There’s so much opportunity for us to be part of one another’s lives in helpful and magical ways. What’s your story? How are you giving to the world around you?

The image above depicts a scene from Vollo’s Monday night class for taxi drivers at LaGuardia Community College. It was taken by Michelle V. Agins.

This blog is also available as a podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

art, creative process, creativity, gifts, teaching, yoga

Beginning: Build from the Heart

Christa Avampato

This post is available as a free podcast on Cinch and iTunes.

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” ~Marc Chagall

I love Marc Chagall’s windows. I remember walking through building after building in France to see and feel how much beautiful light filters through them. They aren’t something we look at; they are works that we experience. There is so much heart in each tiny space.

I thought about this quote of his as I put together the sequences for my upcoming yoga classes for Compass Yoga. I work with a loose structure when I create classes, starting with an energetic quality and an intention, and then growing from there. That way the poses fit together well and give students a more holistic experience. That’s the method I’ve seen work best for the students I teach. It feels like a more authentic way for me to give.

Sometimes when I begin building a new sequence, I can feel choked up, stuck, as if I have never done a yoga posture before. It’s a manifestation of a form of stage fright that I’ve heard some performers describe – right before they begin a song or a scene their minds go completely blank. When I was a performer, it used to happen to me all the time. It can be unnerving so when that happens I stop and breath and remember that this practice comes much more from the heart than the mind.

To create a class is to create a gift, and the process of its creation is something that makes me even more grateful than the actual end-product. I remember what a treasure it is to be here, on this mat, at this moment, building something for people that will bring them joy and peace and a brief time to self-nurture.

How does the process of creation work for you? When do you feel you’re really building from the heart?

The photo above depicts Chagall’s windows in the Reims Cathedral in Paris.

This blog is part of the 2011 WordPress Post Every Day Challenge.

adventure, career, creativity, guest blogger, health, writing

Beginning: Guest Post by Monica McCarthy of Morning Do

Christa Avampato

Monica McCarthy is one of my favorite Twitter-turned-real-life connections (@MissMcCarthy). She is an actress and holistic health coach living in New York City. Her blog, Morning Do, is a collection of her writings on healthy living. Monica is having a transformative 2011 already and I’m so thrilled that she agreed to write a guest post. She writes here about her love of new beginnings and some of her latest adventures.

When I was in elementary school I won first place in a writing competition for a poem entitled Every Ending Is A New Beginning. Little did I know then how many new beginnings would take place over the years.

I love new beginnings, always have. Maybe that’s because as a kid, I spent my summers jumping from one summer camp to another while both of my parents worked. Every week or two there were new places to explore, new friends to meet, new things to do.

As an adult, I have a similar approach when it comes to career. The results of a personality/career test I took recently stated the most important component of my Ideal Career was Spontaneity. Yep – that sounds about right.

This past year, the pull of New Beginnings strengthened tenfold. I became certified as a Holistic Health Coach after having switched to a vegan lifestyle after having understudied actress and vegan Alicia Silverstone in a Broadway play. In an effort to learn everything I could about the benefits of a plant-based diet, I also interned for the radiant Kris Carr for a bit and assisted the lovely Victoria Moran, both incredibly knowledgeable women in the vegan/health community.

Last October I started the Healthy Living website Morning DO and entered the amazing and fascinating world of blogging and social media where I’ve met some extraordinary people like Christa!

Oh, and I got engaged! So now I’m entering the crazy world of DIY weddings. Oh, I also started taking French classes because I love languages and had never studied French. Oh, and last month I took my first photography class. Oh, and last week I ran in my first New York Road Runners Race. Oh, and at the end of this month I’m taking my first painting class.

I guess you could say I’m a new beginnings fanatic. I believe we learn more about ourselves every time we try something new. The catch, of course, is we can’t do everything at once. There are still only 24 hours in a day. Every new beginning must lead to an end.

Which leaves me with just one question: What’s next?

Monica McCarthy is a certified Holistic Health Coach, writer, and actress living in NYC. She loves helping her clients transform their health and happiness in ways they never even thought possible. Her passion for healthy lifestyle make-overs is the basis for her website MorningDO.com where you can find useful tips and helpful hints along with a daily Morning DO exercise. Monica lives with her fiance and their rescue pup and spends her free time planning for their DIY wedding.

adventure, books, career, celebration, change, choices, creativity, discovery, experience, family, friendship, grateful, gratitude, growth, happiness, ideas, meditation, New York City, story, writing, yoga

Step 365: What’s Possible? A 2010 Wrap-up.

Christa Avampato

“I am neither an optimist nor pessimist, but a possibilist.” ~ Max Lerner

As I cross over the finish line of 365 days of living and writing about an extraordinary life, I marvel at the passing of another year. On December 31, 2009, I wrote a post explaining that in 2010 I wanted to record something every day that put me one step closer to an extraordinary life.

This December 31st post is always fun to write because it’s a chance for me to reflect on the past year and realize how much has happened. Just like flipping through the New York Times’s Year in Pictures helps us remember what’s happened in the world around us, flipping through my posts from the last year lets me remember all the tiny steps that brought me to do this day.

My road to recovery from my apartment building fire:
I was in denial about the true effect it had on me and that brought me to Brian, my coach and therapist, who has helped my life grow in leaps and bounds. By June, I finally felt safe in my home again and could make my apartment feel like a peaceful space.

Stepping into the writing life:
I moved my blog over to WordPress and for the first time in the 3 years since I seriously began to contemplate living a writer’s life, earned enough money to be a freelance writer for hire. This year I connected with so many talented writers – Josh, Laura, Amanda, Erica, Sharni, Will, Sara, the Wordcount Blogathon writers, Katherine, the fab team at Owning Pink, Elephant Journal, and Michael.

I wrote and published my first e-book, Hope in Progress: 27 Entrepreneurs Who Inspired Me During the Great Recessions, a compilation of 27 of my interviews that I conducted with entrepreneurs through my Examiner column.

Yoga at the forefront of my life:
I completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training at Sonicstarted Compass Yoga, my own small teaching company, and will begin teaching a regular Sunday night yoga class at Pearl Studios NYC. Through Sonic I was inspired by the incredible teachers and the 23 amazing women in my class whom I hold so dear after our journey together. My yoga teacher training helped me to establish a regular meditation practice and cured the insomnia I’ve lived with all of my life. I found the joyful noise of kirtan, which re-ignited my interest in music. Yoga led me toward a true contemplation of my faith and spirituality that continues down a very healthy, peaceful path. There are not words enough to thank the people at Sonic for how much joy they brought to my life, but I gave it a shot in this post about our last class and the closing ritual of the training. I am forever and happily indebted to them.

Some wrong turns, too:
I studied for my GRE and despite doing well on the exam, Columbia sent me an email that began “we regret to inform you that you have not been accepted” [into a PhD program in education]. I wrote a curriculum for LIM College that I was tremendously excited about, and then the class was canceled at the 11th hour for reasons that still make me shake my head. I was so excited to be selected to serve on a jury and sadly realized just how imperfect our system is. I still think about the case on a regular basis.

Making peace with New York living:
In 2010 I fell in love with New York City, again and again and again. It became my home. Our love hate relationship ended its many years of turmoil and now we’re living together in a general state of bliss, with an occasional side dish of annoyance, just for good measure and because, well, it’s a very New York thing to do.

A few unexpected journeys:
I conquered my fear of swimming in open water while on a yoga retreat in Greece. I found that mistakes can be joyful.

Wonderful new additions to my family:
We happily welcomed my new little niece Aubree and after years of wondering whether or not I should get a dog, Phineas, a sweet little dachshund, has graced my life via the Humane Society and New York dachshund rescue.

And 10 valuable life lessons that I’m grateful for:
1.) Goodness is created and remembered by sharing what we have with others.
2.) Shouting dreams helps bring them into being.
3.) Stubborness can be a beautiful thing.
4.) We get what we settle for.
5.) Obstacles in our lives are valuable.
6.) We never have to wait to live the life we want.
7.) Letting go is sometimes the bravest and best thing to do
8.) Trusting our gut is the best way to get to get to the decision that’s right for us.
9.) Be thankful for less.

My favorite and most treasured discovery of 2010:
10.) Truly extraordinary living is found in very ordinary moments.

Wishing you a very happy start to 2011. Thanks so much for being with me on this journey that was 2010.

The image above makes me feel free. Find it here.

commitment, creativity, imagination, inspiration

Step 353: Clearing the Mind for Creativity

Christa Avampato

“Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.” ~ Dee Hock

A few nights ago I was having trouble falling asleep. It’s a condition I used to be very used to having had insomnia for so long but now I’m closing in on a year of relief from that condition. Now a minimum of 7 hours is the norm for me and I never let myself get up out of bed anymore should I wake up in the middle of the night. So the lack of sleep a few nights ago was a surprising and disturbing event. Something was bothering me. There seemed to be no good solution to the situation I was grappling with and no matter how many times I turned it over in my mind, I couldn’t find my way out of that rut. The worst part was that it wasn’t even my problem to solve; a friend of mine is struggling with a personal issue at the moment and I was trying to think of an encouraging plan to pass along that might be helpful. No luck, and it really irked me. At first, I didn’t understand why.

I’ve read stories that say Isaac Newton did his best work by thinking of a problem and then promptly taking a nap. Einstein used his music and water-color painting to take his mind off of physics. Thomas Jefferson believed that having a lot of interests, and creating his own productive distractions actually made him even more productive when he focused on one specific task. E.B. White commented that walking away from a piece of writing for at least 24 hours before doing any editing aids our perspective. All of these methods help us find fresh eyes.

So to get myself to sleep and hopefully help my friend simultaneously, I made up my mind to forget about the problem. The moment the thought entered my mind, I said hello and promptly showed it the door. I was determined to do whatever I need to do to make the situation blur out of focus in the hopes that when I came back to it, I would have a better understanding of it.

The next morning, I realized why I was so stuck: 1 or 2 different turns about a year ago, and I would have found myself in the same situation as my friend. I would have made some very rash, heady decisions and felt crushed by the consequences. That fear mixed with relief, and the accompanying guilt and sadness for my friend, was clouding my vision. I couldn’t provide any help because the thought of being in the same situation myself scared the daylights out of me. Once I separated myself from the situation by taking a break from it, I was able to more creatively and compassionately assist my friend with some honest, actionable advice.

The next time I find myself turning a predicament, I’m taking the same course of action. I’m clearing out the clutter before I even attempt to focus. I’ll write down the problem and then immediately take it off my mind, letting it rest in the background of my mind. We want quick resolutions and immediately, correct answers but creativity doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes we have to take the counter-intuitive approach and let it go before we can really embrace it.

I didn’t create the cartoon above but it made me laugh out loud. Truth in comedy. Find the image here.

creativity, imagination, loss, love

Step 352: Re-imagine

Christa Avampato

“They say improve and maintain. I say destroy and Re-imagine.” ~ Tom Peters

Last week I was really struck by the beautiful op-ed that Yoko Ono wrote about John Lennon, how when she thought about their life together and their relationship what she remembered most were the simple moments of laughter. John Lennon encouraged us to imagine a life very different than the one we currently have, to expand our sense of what’s possible and to not accept things as they are but to work toward something better.

I’m not one for maintaining. I get bored maintaining what already exists. Once I’m in maintenance mode chances are I’m moving on soon. Movement makes sense to me. Movement helps to keep my imagination alive and active, and my imagination is one of the sole reasons I have the really wonderful, blessed life I’m grateful for every day. There are pieces of my life that could always be better, pieces that I would like to tear down and start over. It’s always possible to begin again, it just takes some extra strength and faith, and some courage, too.

Re-imagining is the activity I’m turning to post-holiday. For now, I’m in Florida, hanging out with my family and mixing some fun and some relaxation. Just the idea of that re-imagining work ahead makes me giddy with excitement and keeps me looking forward just beyond where I stand now. It is work, for sure, but it’s work worth doing.

The image above depicts Yoko Ono and John Lennon and was taken by Kishin Shinoyama.