Category: free

dreams, faith, free, work

Beginning: Letting Go to Be Free

Christa Avampato

by Thomas Spiessens
“A truth: the more you squeeze, the less you have.” ~ fortune cookie

I had dinner with my friend, Amy, on Saturday night and in my fortune cookie I received this message. Amy and I had just been talking about her decision to not renew her work contract after it expires in January. She’s wanted to pursue a career in the humanitarian field for a number of years and has been saving toward this goal. Now that she’s saved the necessary amount and has a back-up plan in place, she’s giving her dream a whirl.

Amy’s decision requires a lot of faith and flexibility. She needs to be open to a lot of possibilities and outcomes. As with every dream, there is some personal sacrifice that Amy will have to make – the hours will be long and the competition for the roles she most wants is fierce. However, Amy has so much heart and has been preparing for this moment for so long that I have every confidence that she is heading off in a beautiful and meaningful new direction.

To make this choice, Amy had to let go of a bit of her job security and take a road that she will have to build herself. Her greatest insight came when she realized she was holding tight to a job that is not her life’s work. The more we release, the more freedom me gain. As she sees time ticking by she feels an urgency, a call to action to at least give her dream a shot. The worst that could happen is that it won’t work out and she’ll find a new dream, fulfilled with the knowledge that she gave it her very best try. Her example is such a good lesson for me, and for all of us: an open hand can hold more than a clenched fist.

free, government, gratitude, thankful

Beginning: Find Your Ideal to Honor the Legacy of Your Freedom

Christa Avampato

Photo credit: Alison Grippo
“Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom.” ~ Albert Einstein

Holidays like July 4th are a good time for reflection. On your way to the beach, the barbecue, and the fireworks today, it’s well worth a moment of our time to think about why we even have this holiday: a group of people got together and decided that they needed to live free or die trying. It’s a powerful ideal, and not one that should in any way dampen out spirits but rather buoy them up.

Today my mind, heart, and gratitude are with the many people who are overseas making so many sacrifices on our behalf so that we may live free. In their honor, I’m spending some time today to consider what one principle I would stake my life on. What ideal makes me feel so alive that I’d be willing to lay down my life for it? Once we can answer that question, then so much of our life comes in to focus. We know where to spend our time and energy. We know which kinds of people to surround ourselves with. Our legacy becomes clear.

On the 4th of July I’m thankful that my freedom was so important to so many people whom I will never have the pleasure to meet. Making the most of my freedom is the best way to honor them. Our lives are their legacy. Happy 4th!

fear, free, health, meditation, yoga

Beginning: Meditate on Breath

Christa Avampato

“We all die on the exhale.” ~ Robert Chodo Campbell, HHC

On Sunday I wrote a post the opening meditation session of the Integrative Healthcare Symposium that was run by Robert Chodo Campbell and Koshin Paley Ellison, two Buddhist monks who co-founded and co run the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care. I learned so much in their hour presentation and am looking forward to taking some classes at the center and learning from them. (Rest assured that I’ll be sharing all of that on this blog!)

Our closing breath practice was very simple, similar to the opening. Chodo asked us to close our eyes and breathe. On the inhale, he asked us to send love to every person around the world who was drawing their very first breathe of life at that very moment. On the exhale, he asked us to send compassion and love to every person letting go of their very last breath. “We all die on the exhale,” he said. And it wasn’t the least bit morbid; it was just a fact. It is one of the things that binds all of us together. The exhale is every life’s very last act.

This caused to wonder what it means then for us to master the exhale. If we gain that mastery, then can we also master the great transition that we’ll all make in our own time. When we learn to master the exhale, have we also learned how to release? And if we can truly release, can we finally free ourselves from any fear?

books, free, goals

Beginning: My One Word Purpose

Christa Avampato

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

I just finished up Deepak Chopra’s latest book The Soul of Leadership: Unlocking Your Potential for Greatness. At the start of the book, he walks his readers through an exercise that will eventually lead to an individual’s purpose. Ideally, that purpose, or dharma, will be one word. At first, I was skeptical. Being a woman of many words, a fan of words, I didn’t believe I could get my great big beautiful life to fit in just one tiny word.

I love to be proven wrong because when that happens it literally blows my mind. In addition to being a woman of many words, I’m also a woman of strong convictions. That’s how I was raised – to have an opinion. And I just didn’t think that even the wisdom of Dr. Chopra was going to get my life into one word.

Dr. Chopra 1, Christa 0. Or rather, a win for both because he did help me get to a  one-word purpose, so focused, elegant, and simple that it had me skipping around my apartment. After all of my wandering, literally and figuratively, I found a single purpose of being, not doing. Awareness. I am here, on this Earth, in this body, at this time, to wake up. And help others do the same. Awareness is the purpose that underlies everything I do, wherever I am, and whoever I’m with.

I thought a one word purpose would be confining when in fact it is the most liberating thing in the world. I do feel unlocked and I do feel great. just as the book promises in its title. Just saying “awareness” actually helps me to release and let go. It doesn’t feel small at all. It actually feels expansive, like all of a sudden I found a way to take in the whole world without feeling overwhelmed by it.

Do you have a word that conveys your purpose? If not, grab a copy of The Soul of Leadership and take a spin through the exercise. It takes about 30 minutes. I can’t wait to hear what you find!

The image above can be here found here.

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

adventure, free, happiness

Step 295: Life’s No Fun Unless You Dance

Christa Avampato

“My violin teacher, the amazing Kato Havas, has a workshop visual that has always stuck with me. She leans on a table, holds it with both hands, and says ‘I am safe – I will not fall – BUT IT’S HARD TO DANCE!’ ” ~ Trish Scott

Through this blog Trish Scott has become a friend and mentor. I reviewed her book about animal communication last week after she gave me some brilliant advice about training Phin, my adorable dachshund who I adopted a month ago from the Humane Society. This week Trish left the comment above on my post about letting go of the need for certainty. I love the comment so much that I had to feature it in a post of its own.

It’s understandable, common, and perfectly normal to seek safety and security. And once we get to a place of comfort, particularly after we’ve been uncomfortable for some time, it can be tough to leave. Adventure makes us feel alive; it can also wear us out. We need to rest and recoup, and then we need to be prepared to dance again. Dancing, in one form another, is what we’re built to do.

Trish’s comment paying tribute to her violin teacher reminds me of the famous quote by John Shedd – “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” Our lives are meant for living, and in the process there will be disappoints and hurt feelings and frustrations. We won’t always get where we want to go when we want to be there. We’ll struggle and strive and work like crazy to achieve and grow and prosper. And once we’ve “made it”, there will be a great temptation to stay right where we are. After all, isn’t this place of security what we’ve been working so hard for?

In the very wise words of Haitian culture, “behind the mountains are more mountains.” There is always more to see and do and learn. That’s one of the things that makes our world such an incredible place. Hang on to the table and regain your balance. Rest a bit, and then get going again. You owe it to yourself, and to the world, to scale that next mountain that’s calling your name. Don’t worry about taking up the challenge – in the distance there’s another mountain, followed by another table and another time for rest. It’s a cycle like any other, so go ahead and dance.

community, free, justice, New York City, religion

Step 254: A Vigil for 9/11 and Religious Freedom

Christa Avampato

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” ~ U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis

Last night I went with my friend, Sara, to a vigil for religious freedom and to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11. I had never seen the sky lights that are lit up to pay homage to the Towers, 2 giant beams that shoot up from the base of where the buildings once stood clear into the sky for as far as the eye can see. Hundreds of people gathered just one block away at Park and Church, holding candles, listening to speeches by religious leaders, and talking with friends. Just around the corner stood the site that will become the Islamic Community Center.

To be honest, the speeches weren’t moving, sometimes inaudible, and the traffic continued to run along Church Street throughout the vigil. What was moving was to hear the message, from the speakers and attendees beside us, that no neighborhood in this country should ever be off-limits to anyone. It sounds like such a simple idea and yet it has caused such controversy in New York and around the country. The argument “how could THOSE people be so insensitive?” has circulated around the Islamic Community Center in newspapers, TV broadcasts, and on the streets on U.S. cities. My response is THOSE people didn’t have anything to do with 9/11. Muslim lives were lost when those Towers fell, too; Muslims the world over are mourning today and everyday just like non-Muslims. If anything that ground on Vesey Street, and anywhere else in this world for that matter, belongs to the global community. We all have a right to be wherever it is we want to be.

What toppled those Towers so tragically 9 years ago today was not Islam or people living in Middle Eastern countries. It wasn’t hatred for Americans, nor was it anger in our foreign policies. What destroyed those Towers and continues to threaten world security is intolerance. By protesting the Islamic Community Center at 51 Park Place, intolerance grows and strengthens. Intolerance, the very idea that has caused our nation and particularly New York City, so much heartache is exactly what the protesters to the Islamic Community Center are propagating. It’s akin to poisoning ourselves with the very thing that others used to harm us.

It was encouraging to be among the group gathered for the vigil last night, sharing candle light and a common belief in true freedom for all people everywhere. I hope that the light we created there goes at least part of the way toward rooting out intolerance and burying it once and for all.

art, film, free, hope, The Journal of Cultural Conversation, war, women, writing

The Journal of Cultural Conversation – Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Christa Avampato

Exciting news over in TJCC-land! Laura, my brilliant friend and writing partner as well as the mastermind behind The Journal of Cultural Conversation, is working on a front-end re-design for the site that will be up within the week. We’re also working on a re-branding effort as well, though again, Laura must take 99% of the credit here. I’m just lucky to have a role on the virtual stage next to her.

My latest post on TJCC is up today! I was on a brief hiatus as I dealt with some personal issues and am now back, fully present. This one is about the documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell and it goes something like this:

“There will come a time when you believe that everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” ~ Louis L’Amour

A few weeks ago I attended a screening of Pray the Devil Back to Hell, a documentary that tells the story of the how the women of Liberia ended the civil war that ravaged their country for well over a decade. Donning identical white t-shirts, no weapons, 2500+ women linked arms and made their opinions and demands known, loudly and publicly, week after week, until Charles Taylor and the warlords sat down together.

For my full post about this film, please visit http://www.thejcconline.com/2009/10/pray-devil-back-to-hell.html
art, free, museum, nature, writer, writing

My Year of Hopefulness – The Life We Receive Without Asking

Christa Avampato

“Our plans are nothing compared to what the world so willingly gives us.” ~ Margaret Wheatley

“Never tell everything at once.” ~ Ken Venturi, American former professional golfer

On Saturday evening, I headed across Central Park toward the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As I crossed the park, I passed between the southern border of the Great Lawn and Belvedere Castle. It’s one of my favorite little pieces of New York City. There’s some sort of happy air that exists in that little triangle; it’s impossible to resist smiling there. I always feel romance and unending possibility as I traverse that ground. It was late afternoon so the sun was just streaming over Belvedere, the clover and honeysuckle filled the air with a perfume that I wish could be bottled, and there was a soft breeze. For those few moments, everything felt perfect.

On Friday and Saturday nights the Met is open until 9:00pm so I wanted to take advantage of the extended hours. I checked in on my friends Vermeer and Rodin, stopped by to visit the empires of Northern Mesopotamia, and spent some time among the folk artists of Oceania. It’s almost inconceivable how lucky we are to be able to walk among so many priceless pieces of art at a moment’s notice.

At the Met I was on a little bit of a mission. I’ve been working on some children’s fiction over the last few weeks. Every day that I sit with my characters, they tell me something new about themselves. In a way, creating characters is like getting to know a new friend. I uncover little pieces about them over time, just by sitting with them and letting them tell me their story. Every day I’m reminded of Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way, when she says “Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite — getting something down.” While I have a general map for the story, the characters themselves are just letting me tag along on their journey. The characters themselves will provide a far richer, more intriguing story than I could ever plan. That’s the great joy and magic of writing.

As I was wondering through the Greek and Roman Galleries, the art of Cyprus, and the rooms full of knights in shining armor, a lot of ideas were drifting in and out of my mind. I dutifully wrote them all down – bits of dialogue and thoughts and twists and turns in the plot. After recording them all, I stopped to wonder if they made sense. And then I realized the characters I’m writing about can actually do anything they want. Writing fiction is a little daunting for this very reason – all of a sudden the possibilities are wide-open. When you’re just getting something down, there are no more limitations. Writing fiction may present our one and only opportunity for complete and total freedom.

While I went through Central Park and to the Met to accomplish something specific, I found something far greater in both places than I had intended. These experiences reminded me that the world has great plans for us, far greater plans that we have for ourselves. And while not having control may at first seem frightening, in many ways it’s as freeing as writing fiction. Unexpected, incredible circumstances, people, places, and opportunities are going to appear in our lives through no effort of our own. All we need to do to receive them is to show up with an open heart, an accepting mind, and the willingness to listen. If we can do this, the magic that is all around us becomes an unlimited and constant presence in our lives.

books, business, economy, free

My Year of Hopefulness – Getting to Free

Christa Avampato

This week, Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired, released his book Free: The Future of a Radical Price. Odd that given its title the cost of the book is $26.99. It might have been a good marketing angle to give the digital book away for free. That aside, his point is well taken. Consider all the ways in which the concept of free services and goods have infiltrated our society. Craig’s List, online news, Twitter, Facebook, Meet-up. Nearly all information on any topic anywhere on Earth is free. Google it. Bing it. Email an expert in the area you’re interested in, and chances are you’ll get a response.

This puts all of us as we consider our careers and accomplishments into a new frame of mind. What can I give away and what can I charge for? How long do I need to give things away before I see a return? What is the cost and benefit of free?

I’m at the very earliest stages of beginning a social enterprise. I’ve yet to spend a single penny on it, outside of the cost of my time. I’ve have friends who are experts in the field that the business is in, and I’ve solicited their feedback and gotten a lot of it, no charge beyond a heartfelt please and thank you. (I mean a very heartfelt thank you – the feedback has been really incredible!)

I’ve wanted to start my own venture for a while and the part that kept tripping me up was the pricing. How could I make money on these ideas? Chris Anderson’s book showed me that we have to develop a new way of thinking about how we earn our living and the companies we build. The answer was very simple once I looked at it from the free point-of-view. I can’t make money off of my idea, initially. Much of the value proposition for the enterprise relies on the services it offers being free. The money comes later when the services are rolled out to a wider, wealthier audience, perhaps through some speaking and writing engagement, or some incremental products that are developed as a result of the initial free service offerings.

The enterprise I’m interested in is in the education field so let’s consider an example whom I greatly admire, Sesame Street. When I woke up this morning and flipped on my TV, I had forgotten that the last channel I watched last night was Public TV 13. So it was a wonderful surprise to have Elmo pop up on my TV this morning. Sesame Street set out to be a free service to urban children in lower-income families. They wanted to use TV as a way to better prepare pre-schoolers for kindergarten. Joan Ganz Cooney and other early believers did a lot of the beginning work on Sesame Street for free. Eventually, they had sponsors and grants, and now of course have a full licensing unit, DVDs and books for sale, etc.

What the example of Sesame Street, and many other businesses that start out on the basis of free, shows us is that many start-ups require patient capital. Founders often need to keep a day job. Those first customers require a pro-bono project to help a new company build a portfolio. Writers, artists, musicians, and young academics often have to give away their work for free to get some early publicity. In the new economy, free is the best way upward and onward to profit.

So if you’re starting a new business, the first question we’d ask used to be “how can this generate money?” In the new economy, the first question may become something more like “how can we get people to try this product or service and then get them to tell many other people about it?” or “what can we give away for free in order to get people to buy an added product or service later?” The most exciting part of things being free is that it opens up the creativity valve for us. It requires new, innovative ideas. It frees us up from getting bogged down in the numbers too early on. It helps us keep our eye on the horizon ahead while also letting us make up the story as we go along.
free, innovation, Tom Peters

Tom Peters – for FREE

Christa Avampato

Tom Peters is arguably the greatest mind out there in the field of innovation. I visit his site often and am as bowled over by his generosity as I am by his thinking and writing about innovation. After every talk, he posts his presentations. He makes his latest thinking available on his blog. Why would he do this? He could get a book deal at he drop of a hat. (He wrote In Search of Excellence, the book that some consider to be the best business book ever written.) So why give away the secret sauce?

There are a whole host of reason for giving away knowledge. For one, it creates community and opens you up to learn from others. Tom Peters is an authority on innovation, and authorities publish. And so you might wonder, if I can just read his thinking in a book why would anyone ever hire him? What he put out into the world through his book was his personal brand character. That’s also what he puts out on his blog. Who he is and what he believes. People hire him for who he is and what he inspires in others. See sold a lot of books, and those books only helped him further to sell himself and his knowledge.

I highly encourage you to take advantage of all that is truly free in life – take a look at what Tom has to offer: http://www.tompeters.com/freestuff