I tell wonder-filled stories about hope and healing
The act of giving thanks is powerful. And contagious. When we give thanks for one thing, we inspire others to do the same. And as we see one blessing, others begin to come into focus. Joy is what bubbles up when we realize there is always something to be grateful for. We don’t need to seek happiness. Once we start giving thanks and happiness will find us.
I was born in 1976, a year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac. As much as I am a Pisces, I am a Dragon: persistent, creative, loyal, decisive, generous, compassionate, active, and fiercely independent. My friend, Allan, is from Beijing and describes Dragons in one word: Conquerors. And I think that also suits me, in my own way.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling ridiculously excited about 2012 and so it was with just a hint of synchronicity that I welcomed the news that 2012 is the year of the Dragon. The Water Dragon, to be exact – a time of great benevolence and grace. (And in yet another turn of synchronicity, my sign of Pisces is a water symbol.)
This is especially poignant for me because of all I’m planning for 2012. I’ll reveal more about my plans when I begin my new living and writing adventure on January 1st. Suffice it to say that it will be a year of tremendous change for me, a year when I will make a very large leap of faith, perhaps the biggest leap I’ve ever made. Fear will have no choice but to stand aside. It’s going to be my year.
And it’s going to be your year, too. The good luck that characterizes the Dragon extends to all people in the year of the Dragon. So make some plans. Be bold. Go after exactly what you want with everything you’ve got. Double down on all your efforts and watch the rewards flow in. If you’ve got dreams, 2012 is the year to act on them!
The Chinese new year happens on January 23, 2012.
I love Thanksgiving.
It’s my favorite holiday – no presents like Christmas, no question about plans like New Year’s. Just good food, friends, family, and napping. At least for the lucky among us. And if we are lucky enough to have these circumstances on this day, then we spend a lot of time being grateful for our blessings.
Do more than be thankful. Tell the people in your lives how grateful you are for their presence and why. Show up for them the way they show up for you. Listen, support, and extend to them. And then take a look in your community, see who isn’t having the happiest of Thanksgivings, who may not have or see a reason to be grateful, and listen, support, and extend to them.
We’re here to be of service to one another – set your sights on being the strongest link in the chain.
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you so much for being with me on this writing journey. I am grateful for you!
“When we lose one blessing, another is often, most unexpectedly, given in its place.” ~ C.S. Lewis
After seeing the off-Broadway show Freud’s Last Session, a possibly close-to-true meeting between Sigmund Freud and C.S. Lewis at the start of World War II less than a month before Freud’s self-prescribed passing, I’ve been seeing C.S. Lewis everywhere. Not literally of course, he passed in 1963, but in quotes, in the advertisements of movies and theatrical productions based on his books, as the topics of numerous blog posts. So many authors are known for being brooding figures, dark and sometimes troubled individuals. One of the things I love about C.S. Lewis is his true belief in joy and his long journey to find it. His own autobiography is entitled Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life.
In this season of counting our blessings, I came across Lewis’s quote above. I’ve seen lots of quote on how to turn lemons into lemonade and the like. This quote is different – it recognizes that we may lose people and things we love and cherish, that we will be disappointed not by not getting what we want, but by getting what we want, exactly what we want, and then grappling with it slipping through our fingers. Lewis counsels us to hang on, to keep searching, to believe that even in the hour of our grief another happiness is just beyond our doorstep.
I like the sentiment and today, on a rainy, gray Sunday, I’m celebrating it. It keeps me believing that life is always full of surprises and that we should constantly be prepared to be delighted.
The image above is not my own. It can be found here. I have no idea where this place is but I believe that in a place so beautiful it must be overrun with unexpected blessings.
This weekend, my traveling pal, Dan, and I went to Philadelphia. We stayed with Dan’s friends, Jeremy and Reese, who could not have been more gracious hosts. They also have a bulldog, Dolly – an added bonus. Jeremy took us on a tour of the neighborhood around Penn, my alma mater, and we went through neighborhoods that I haven’t thought about in over a decade. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have recognized them on my own. Philly has come a long way since the 1990’s.
Philly’s an under-appreciated city; it has been for a long time. Great food, art, culture, easily navigable, with a relaxed, casual feel. We had several great meals at local restaurants and gastropubs, went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, checked out the U.S. Mint and the Magic Garden, a public art installation of found objects. Some of the best education and medical facilities in the country are located in Philly. It takes 90 minutes to get to New York by Amtrak – even faster on the Acela train. Slightly longer to get to D.C. And did I mention that it’s affordable and filled with exceedingly kind people?
So why aren’t people moving to Philly in droves? Simple – business, sadly, has no incentive to move there, limiting economic opportunities. Philadelphia has a ridiculously high gross receipts tax and city wage tax for all business owners based in the city. These fees have been around forever, and different factions have tried over many years to reduce this burden on business owners in the hopes of spurring economic growth. All to no avail. Apparently Mayor Nutter’s administration is considering another fix to these fees. Like President Obama, Mayor Nutter was left with quite a bit to fix in Philadelphia before he could get started on new initiatives. It’s my hope that he will be successful in jump starting more businesses to set up shop in Philly.
I have a personal interest in seeing Philadelphia rise up to get all that it deserves. It is a city that has had a difficult, important history. In many ways, I came of age there as a Penn student. I had some of the very best, worst, happiest, saddest, proudest, and most disappointing moments of my life there. I learned how to love and care deeply about people and community. I discovered that one person really can make an enormous difference in the world. I learned how to fail, fall, and get up again, growing stronger every time.
When I graduated my friend, Derek, gave me a photo frame with a quote inside it. “Years from now, you’ll remember and you’ll come back and hang a plaque. This is where Christa began being what she can. ~ Stephen Sondheim, Merrily We Roll Along” I didn’t know how fitting that was until the trip back this weekend. I haven’t yet hung a plaque on any wall there, but I really did begin a journey of possibility there.
Philly and I have a history intertwined. I didn’t recognize the campus as I toured through the neighborhood on Saturday. Through the eyes of my 22-year old self, I wouldn’t recognize the me of today either. Philly and I have both grown and changed in dramatic ways, mostly for the better. And I’d like to believe that for Philly and for my own life, the very best of our days have yet to be seen.
This morning on the subway I was reading the most recent issue of Yoga Journal. Every month they feature a short daily meditation article about a mantra, and this month its about empowerment.
Moving day! Once again, I had a stellar experience with Flat Rate Moving and got some much needed, much appreciated help with my own bags from the past weeks. When arriving at the apartment this morning to see the new renovations, I had the impulse to skip from one end to the other. I actually hugged the new kitchen countertop. This apartment is such a huge improvement over my last place that I can hardly believe it’s mine!
“Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
For the past few months, I’ve been thinking about preparedness. For whatever reason, my life has taken some unexpected, wonderful turns that I didn’t expect during this time. And for some other reasons that I don’t fully I understand, I have been prepared for them. Ready to raise my hand, ready to make time in my life to pursue these new opportunities, ready to be surprised.
We owe it to ourselves to be able to accept and relish happy circumstances. And I have found more often than not that happiness largely depends on our desire to be happy. My friend, Kelly, and I love to quote the movie Say Anything when John Cusack says, “how hard is it to just decide to be in a good mood and then be in a good mood?” If we keep ourselves always looking up, aiming high, and seeking good fortune, then we at least have a decent shot at living a life that’s good, honest, and worthwhile.
This life requires that we be prepared for things to go our way. We spend so much time preparing for disaster, disappointment, and hardship. I’ve spent a lot of my life hoping for the best and expecting the worst. But what if I spent even a small amount of time at least anticipating if not expecting the best outcome? These last few months have taught me that the best of times can be upon us now, even when many world circumstances look so bleak. While the world may not be clean and bright, our attitude and outlook can be, and perhaps that intention is enough to change not only our own circumstances, but the circumstances of those whose lives we touch.
The image above can be found at: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_wZoiN6j9b2k/R0s8rN24ETI/AAAAAAAAALc/57869_Jfv9E/100_3377.JPG
Some days New York beats the hell out of the best of us. Like a job, no matter how much we love it, it can’t love us back. I got a parking ticket (unfairly I might add – so I’m fighting it), I had a hard time getting around the city for a work project due to construction (which seems to be happening in every neighborhood), the wind was blowing so hard my lungs hurt walking outside, and then I got booted off a subway due to a suspicious package and once I walked to a new train station, a racial fight broke out in the car I was in (right next to me). And this all happened in one day.
Christa Avampato 