Category: dreams

dreams, teaching, yoga

Beginning: My Weekly Yoga Classes Begin Tonight at 6:00pm

Christa Avampato

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

Tonight I begin teaching my first independent weekly yoga class through Compass Yoga. We’ll get together for an hour at 6:00pm tonight at Pearl Studios NYC, 500 8th Ave (between 35th and 36th Streets). I hope you’ll be there to celebrate with us!

This dream of my own weekly class has been a long time coming. After I finished my yoga teacher certification at Sonic Yoga in May, I thought I’d hop onto the audition circuit of yoga studios, get on a sub list, and start teaching the early morning slots on weekdays when the studios needed a filler. As it turned out, the world had a different plan for me.

Class Scheduling
Because I work full-time and have a number of other commitments, I couldn’t even go to most of the auditions (that usually happen during the day, during the week), much less commit to sub for any class need the studios have. Because of my busy schedule, I have to teach my classes on my time. While this was an obstacle to going the traditional route for building a yoga teaching practice in New York, it was an obstacle I needed in order to find my truth in teaching.

Finding Space
Once I had decided that I’d try to build my own practice, I went hunting for a room. A beautiful space, available on Sunday evenings (my preferred teaching time), affordable, with no long-term contract required and the ability to cancel if need be with no penalty. And if they’d take my Amex card and allow me to cancel on very short notice, that would be even better. Centrally located please, with good subway access. I asked for the world and refused to settle. I needed the space for my students to be immaculate. Dozens of visits, phone calls, and emails later, and I found my way to beautiful Pearl Studios NYC. As soon as I saw the studio spaces, I knew I was right to be patient and persistent. You get what you settle for.

Marketing
Marketing the class has taken more time that building the class, especially since I’m on my own to do all of the marketing myself. Much thanks to my MBA from Darden and my work experience, I could create a full 360 degree marketing plan that takes a phased approach. Meetup has been a godsend and my amazing friends and family are helping me to spread the word. I’m more grateful for their support than I could possibly express.

Dreams
On this journey, one lesson became very apparent: we gets the dreams we reach for. I studied the market, put the marketing machine in motion, and dug down deep to find the message for my business that truly resonates with me in the hopes that its authenticity would resonate with others.

The Fun Starts Tonight
So tonight at 6pm, all of the pieces, all of the hard work, and all of that hopes come together to start these high-quality, affordable weekly yoga class. I couldn’t be more excited, and I’ve got some butterflies taking up residence in my tummy, too. This combo must mean I’m on the right path.

I hope to see you there! For more information on the classes, please visit the Meetup Page or the Compass Yoga website.

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

dreams, hope

Beginning: What We Have and Hope For

Christa Avampato

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

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” ~ Epicurus

My sister, Weez, posted this quote on her Facebook wall a few weeks ago, and it just happened to be one of those days when I was working on my personal finances, looking at how to chip away at my student debt more quickly. It was one of those moments when I felt particularly poor, which is truly ridiculous since financially I am more than on solid ground. Though no matter how much we have, those moments of not having enough sneak up on us when we least expect them.

This quote had me take a look around my adorable apartment, at my equally adorable dog, and remember just how much wealth I have in family, friends, and projects. I’m so wealthy in these respects that my life can barely hold all of them. I am insanely blessed.

I remember being an undergraduate at Penn, when I truly was poor, putting myself through school with several jobs and a heavy course load. I didn’t want to be rich. I just wanted to have enough to not worry, to not live hand to mouth all the time. It took a lot of faith to keep traveling that road. There really wasn’t a way for me to hop off or turn around. I had committed to this education and I had to see it through, despite the debt (which I now realize is quite minimal in the grand scheme of things thanks to Penn’s incredible financial aid policies.) Education was the only way I could see to build a more comfortable, fearless life. So I trudged along through college, mostly uncomfortable and very scared.

If someone had told me then that I’d have the life I have now, be the person I am now, I wouldn’t have believed them. In the back of my mind I thought this life of so much freedom and independence and possibility would be largely out of reach for me for a very long time. It was only a hope, and not all that long ago. And that memory makes me count my blessings all the more.

What aspects of your life did you once think were only dreams?

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

dreams, talents

You Have The Makings of a Cathedral

Christa Avampato

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

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

We’ve all got rock piles in our lives – raw material lying around begging for use and purpose. Skills, connections, passions, new and creative ideas that turn reality on its head. Some we’re starting to tap and develop, and some are waiting for their turn in the lime light of our attention.

This raw material takes on a certain kind of magic when we consider how we can bind it all together into something we are proud to take out into the world. It’s that book you’ve wanted to write, that class you’ve wanted to give, that piece of art that lies dormant in a blank canvas longing for color. We have this terrible habit of comparing ourselves to all of the other people in the world with our same talents and interests, wondering how we can possibly carve out a little space where our unique voice can be heard. That habit creates fear, which leaves so much work undone. To quote John Lennon, “too many people die with the music still in them.”

This image of a cathedral builder is an inspirational one. It represents hope and confidence in our ability to do and be something extraordinary, to make a powerful, lasting, and meaningful contribution to the world. All this raw material can be transformed the moment we take a different perspective and begin to see the raw material as a resource to live our best lives.

Tell me, what is the cathedral you hope to build?

The image above depicts the cathedral in Salamanca, Spain. I wish there had been a photo credit with it but I couldn’t find one. Can you believe how much light it holds?

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

care, courage, dreams, education, inspiration, integrity, story

Further Thoughts on MLK Day

Christa Avampato

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

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~ MLK via CharlesMBlow

Charles M. Blow is The New York Times’s visual Op-Ed columnist. His column appears every Saturday.

“Dr. King delivered the “I have a dream” speech at age 34 and lived only 39 years.” ~ via Drew Allen

I read these two tweets on Monday morning with so much gratitude and then so much awe for the person Dr. King was and the person that he asked all of us to be. He was the age I am now when he delivered the I Have a Dream speech and his life was cut far too short only 5 years later. Those two pieces of information weigh heavy on my heart, particularly when I consider how far we still have to go to create a more peaceful society where everyone, regardless of race, creed, gender, personal economics, or upbringing, can advance through hard work and determination.

Coincidentally I am now reading Condoleezza Rice’s book, Extraordinary, Ordinary People, which reminds me of how much hope we have in our society. While I don’t agree with her politics, the inspiration of her story can’t be denied. She grew up in pre-Civil Rights Birmingham and rose to be one of the most influential people in the world because of her hard-won education. She has a quote in the book that hit me like a ton of bricks because of the courage and passion it coveys. She says of her parents, “Somehow they raised their little girl in Jim Crow Birmingham to believe that even if she couldn’t have a hamburger at the Woolworth’s lunch counter, she could be President of the United States.”

I understand her fervent belief in education. I grew up in a family that didn’t have a lot of money but believed in education. I studied hard, worked hard, and pushed myself, sometimes far beyond my limits, because even at an early age I knew that my education would improve the quality of my life in the long run. That bet, that long, sometimes-difficult-to-believe-in bet, paid off. My education, and the will it took to get it, are two things that I am incredibly grateful for every day. I live a really good life as a result of my education. I like to share that story, particularly with children, through my volunteer work. It gives them some hope to meet a real life person who understands where they are and where they can get to by working hard.

In the spirit of Dr. King, we need to share our stories through every channel we’ve got. We must continue to talk about what’s important to us and what matters. And we must do so without ever really knowing how or when or why it will affect someone else. Martin Luther King Day reminds us why it is so important to speak our minds and then live accordingly – because it makes a difference.

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

career, dreams, writing

Beginning: My First Blog Circa 2004 And How I Haven’t Changed

Christa Avampato

This post is also available as a podcast. Click here to listen.

I joined Blogger in 2004 with a tiny collection of writing before I even really knew what blogging meant. I guess that was before anyone knew what blogging meant. There are exactly 26 posts on my first blog, which I titled “Eyes and Ears Wide Open”. I made it private because I was afraid someone would read it. Ha! Silly, and hilarious when now I live so much of my life online for anyone in the world to see.

There are still a few things I keep to myself. Or at least I used to. I used to moderate comments on this blog. I’m not doing that any more. Any one who puts a comment on my blog will see it published immediately. [Mom, please refrain from any gushing in the comments section. Just send me an email telling me how awesome I am. :)] Another thing I used to do a lot of was poetry writing. I won some very tiny poetry contests when I was a teenager and in my early twenties. There are a few of my poems out there published in anthologies, though I don’t own a single copy of any of them. Most of what’s on my first blog is poetry, deeply personal narratives that I never intended for any other soul to read.

Until now. In this year of new beginnings, I’m working on an illustrated book of those poems and a few others I’m writing, sprinkled with my doodles on my new Wacom Bamboo, a drawing tablet that connects to my Mac. My brother-in-law is a genius with his drawing tablet; me – I’m purely an amateur. I thought in looking back at my first blog that I’d see so much progress, that I’d changed so much as a person. I actually laughed out loud when I saw how similar I am to my 27-year old self. Outwardly, my life may be very different. On the inside, I’m still the same gal, but now with more real confidence.

To give a flavor of just how similar I am, and just how out-of-whack some aspects of my life are with how I’d like them to be, here is a post from December 2004 about cubicles. Despite my distaste for them, I work in one. I’m part of the legion of cubicles dwellers that I promised myself 7 years ago that I’d never be again. Life makes me laugh, and then shake my head, and then get up and make some serious changes. By December 31, 2011, I’m bound and determined to finally live up to the promise I made in the post below many years ago.

Saturday, December 11, 2004
Cubicles

I will never understand the human desire to set up boundaries and divisions, to seal themselves off from one another. Why is it important for people to say, “I am this and you are that. I sit here and you sit there”? I hate the cubicle culture and I fear it’s growing at a furious pace. I am getting off the train here – no more cubicles for me. And when I’m running my own operations, I will refuse to have cubicles. I’m actually going to business school on a quest to get rid of cubicles. To make them as obsolete as slide rules.

I recently saw a photo of an office that didn’t have walls between desks, but had gigantic tropical fish tanks winding through the office. You can see the person on the other side of you. You can take a boat and send it “down tank” with a message for a colleague. If we must have boundaries, then can we at least make them transparent and filled with color and life?

The image above is the one that inspired my post back in 2004. Not as inspiring as I remember it. I would make my office fish tank much more colorful.

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

dreams, music

Beginning: Save Some Time To Dream

Christa Avampato

Listen to a podcast of this post (song included!) on Cinch.

“Save some time to dream ’cause your dream could save us all.” ~ John Mellencamp

I was watching the David Letterman show last week and John Mellencamp was a guest on the show. He sang the song Save Some Time to Dream from his most recent album No Better Than This. His performance alone was powerful – if you’ve never seen him perform I highly recommend it. He’s a performer who puts his whole heart out there all the time. He lives his life with wild abandon, which is to say he is someone who truly embraces and basks in freedom. Couple a performance like his with the words of this song and there’s no way you’re not acting on the urge to run out into the world and live it up.

Our obligations, or perceived obligations, can sometimes get the best of us. We can feel selfish for dreaming, and even more selfish for acting on our dreams, especially when our dreams require disappointing others so we can be true to ourselves. John Mellencamp turns that idea on its head. The world needs you, me, and every dream we can muster. Keeping the best of ourselves hidden behind a veil doesn’t serve anyone, and actually can really generate harm. Your dream, the one you’ve got right now germinating in your mind’s eye, could really save us all.

We owe it to ourselves and everyone else to dream, and then act on that dream. In the process of changing our own lives, we’re going to change the lives of others, too.

My dream right now is to try anything new that catches my eye. If I can do that, then I’m living my dream. So tell me, what is your greatest dream, right now, at this very moment?

Full lyrics of Save Some Time to Dream
Save some time to dream
Save some time for yourself
Don’t let your time slip away
Or be stolen by somebody else

Save some time for those you love
For they’ll remember what you gave
Save some time for the songs you sing
And the music that you’ve made

Could it be that this is all there is?
Could it be there’s nothing more at all?
Save some time to dream
‘Cause your dream could save us all

Save some time for sorrow
‘Cause it will surely come your way
Prepare yourself for failure
It will give you strength some day

Try to keep your mind open
And accept your mistakes
Save some time for living
And always question your faith

Could it be that this is all there is?
Could it be there’s nothing more at all?
Save some time to dream
‘Cause your dream might save us all

Cast your eyes up to heaven
Oh what does that mean to you
Try not to be too judgmental
So others will not judge you

Save some time to think
Oh before you speak your mind
Many will not understand
And to them you must to be kind

Could it be that this is all there is?
Could it be there’s nothing more at all?
Save some time to dream
‘Cause your dream might save us all

Oh yeah
Your dream might save us all

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

change, dreams, faith

Step 361: The Caterpillar’s Promise

Christa Avampato

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” ~ Buckminster Fuller

I read this quote over the Christmas holiday as I was learning more about Eric Carle’s work. He wrote the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar (for his sister, Christa, I might add), as well as the Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See Series. My niece loves those books and I bought her a game based on the stories. The butterfly gets a lot of credit in our society as a powerful metaphor, without much mind being paid to the humble caterpillar who believed he could be more.

Think of a caterpillar, a small, wormy looking animal, not particularly attractive or inspiring. He doesn’t don any beautiful colors, he can’t fly, and no one is particularly glad to find him out there in the world. Butterflies, however, are magical. We covet their appearance, and think imagine that a beautiful thing like a butterfly came from a tiny caterpillar. Without understanding the science behind the transformation, would anyone really believe that something that looks like a caterpillar could become a butterfly? No one except the caterpillar.

Think of all the people you know who have wild, far-out-there ideas. People who keep reaching and believing that they can change the world, or at least their small corner of it. People who never say never, who don’t give up, who roll with every punch and every speed bump that pops up in their path. Big thinkers who also get out in the world and do, even if it’s against all odds.

They may just be the caterpillars among us. We would do well to believe in them, and in our own ability to transform if we just believe that we can.

How would you like your life to transform as we start the new year?

adventure, choices, decision-making, dreams

Step 319: 2011 Planning

Christa Avampato

“Life’s like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.” ~ Jim Henson, American puppeteer

Many companies and organizations are currently reviewing their plans for 2011. They’re asking themselves about low hanging fruit and bit bets, where to place their energy, time, and money. Just as organizations go through this structured planning process, it’s helpful for us to personally review our own plan for 2011. On December 31st, 2011, what do we want to reflect on? What do we want to learn? Where do we want to be and what will we have accomplished? Tell me your ending and let’s figure out how to get there.

Here’s a quick exercise I did recently that really helped me fill in some of the blanks. I’ll keep working on it through December. I hope it helps you, too, as you start to create your dream ending for 2011:

1.) What are your big areas of focus? These can be project-based or topical (personal finance, career, relationships). Mine are all project-based because I work better when my energy is focused by project.

Mine:
a.) Compass Yoga classes
b.) Yoga and personal finance book
c.) This blog (of course) / my writing in general
d.) Innovation Station

2.) What are specific goals under each project or topic that you want to work on? Give each one its own line and feel free to list as many as you’d like. We’ll get to editing later.

Mine:
a.) Compass Yoga classes
– regular weekly yoga class
– give a workshop of some kind
– secure one additional regular teaching gig

b.) Yoga and personal finance book
– get all of the content written and organized
– work with a designer (hopefully my brother-in-law) on an illustration style and cover design
– decide if I want to self-publish or shop it around
– if I want to shop it around, ask for some advice from writer friends on the best way to do that (I know nothing about the traditional
publishing world)
– give a workshop based on the book

c.) This blog (of course) / my writing in general
– choose a blogging topic for the coming year. 2009 was about hope, 2010 has been about living an extraordinary life. What should
2011 be about?
– secure another regular writing gig, similar to my time with Examiner.com
– syndicate the content into a series of smaller e-books by topic
– continue marketing my e-book Hope in Progress

d.) Innovation Station
– compile all of the materials needed for a pilot
– secure a pilot in a public school

3.) Now we have to prioritize! First the big areas you want to focus on, and then the goals underneath each one. If you’re like me, you have a huge list that might just make you a little sleepy just looking at it. I’m not asking you to edit or cross out any of your dreams. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a way to clone yourself and get it all done, or many some of your to-do’s will take a lot less time and effort than you think they will.

This prioritization will take some time because you have to spend some time thinking about your values. Take the time you need for this portion. This is a year of your life we’re talking about here, so give it the attention it deserves! I’m still in the prioritization phase myself. I’ll get back to you in a later post on how my planning is going.

4.) Once the prioritization phase is done, pour yourself a cocktail of choice and celebrate! You did a good piece of work setting up this plan.

5.) Now, after a celebration, get going. Post your goals on your fridge, on your front door, in your car, at your desk. Anywhere that you will see every day. And remember to celebrate every win, big and small.

Let me know if this process is helpful and what you’re planning for a happy and bright 2011. I’d love to give you a helping hand for an amazing year ahead!

books, clarity, commitment, discovery, dreams, encouragement

Step 293: Call Off the Search for Certainty

Christa Avampato

“We search for certainty but it certainly doesn’t exist.” ~ Kristen Moeller, author of Waiting for Jack: Confessions of a Self-Help Junkie

This recession has caused a lot of us to delay their dreams, or change them altogether. We believe we have to stay at a job that’s safe, where we believe that we can stay for as long as we need to stay until things get better. Kristen’s simple, powerful quote reminded me that we don’t need to delay the life we want, that safety and certainty are things we have made up. It’s understandable to want certainty. I want it all the time, for every decision I make. The lesson of yoga that’s been the most useful to me is that certainty is not coming, but there are so many things that we just can’t know for sure. Nothing is permanent; the only certainty is change, in one form or another.

This can be a frightening revelation. We like the idea of certainty being out there somewhere because it helps us to get from day to day. It keeps us searching and hoping and wishing. But if we can grapple with it for just a moment, recognize that certainty isn’t coming, and embrace that idea, we can find a power within ourselves that is unshakable. There is no need to say some day – the life we want can start today.

Follow Kristen on Twitter and visit her site.

creativity, dreams, imagination, inspiration, music

Step 282: Imagine John Lennon at 70

Christa Avampato

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” ~ John Lennon

Phineas and I took our morning walk to Strawberry Fields on West 72nd Street in Central Park. Under a great span of American Elms, you’ll find a small space akin to a cathedral for anyone and everyone who loves music, loves the Beatles, and loves John Lennon, who today would turn 70. His legacy is elegantly preserved there in a gorgeous reproduction of a Pompeii mosaic, a gift from Naples Italy, with one simple, powerful word “Imagine”. Just steps away at The Dakota, the singer lost his life almost 20 years ago and we lost a great spirit of peace and creativity.

I stood there this morning, just as the sun started to peak up and over New York City. Already, the memorial was scattered with flowers, offerings, candles, letters, and pictures. He was right – he wasn’t the only dreamer. He inspired a whole world full of dreamers, creators, and people who want to live peacefully. He might not be here anymore, but what he stood for and what he believed are still very much alive in the hearts and minds of so many, especially here in New York City, and most especially in this neighbor that he made his home for 17 years.

Decades from now, there will still be hundreds of thousands of people who will visit this very same spot and imagine, in honor of John Lennon. He lived a creative, passionate life, and the best way for us to pay tribute to his memory is to do the same. I think we should have a national day of creativity in honor of John Lennon, an annual marker that reminds us that our imagination is our greatest, most powerful asset. We could all do with a little more dreaming.