Christmas, community, compassion

Beautiful: On the Second Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Compassion

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“It is only with true love and compassion that we can begin to mend what is broken in the world.” ~ Dr. Steve Maraboli

When I posted my first day of Christmas wish (love), my friend, Lorenzo, said he wished to see more compassion in the world. On the second day of Christmas, I make this same wish. Let there be more compassion in the world. Compassion for ourselves and others, which will lead us to love, as Lorenzo so beautifully said.

Sometimes we are too quick to judge and blame others. We beat ourselves up over mistakes and mishaps – I am the queen of this. We aren’t perfect, and neither is life. It’s messy and complicated, as are we. We have only just so much information, about our experience, the experience of others, and the ways in which the world works. Compassion is a way to bridge the gap, a way to say, “I don’t understand and still I choose to be curious, to put my own opinions aside and see things from a different vantage point.”

This post is part of the “Let there be…” consecutive series of Christmas wishes. 

Christmas, love

Beautiful: On the First Day of Christmas, Let There Be More Love

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

Christmas is a magical time for wish making and wish granting. There are 12 days until Christmas and I’m counting down to the holidays with a series of posts called “Let there be…”. Starting today I’ll write a post each day about what I’d like to see more of in the world. These are things we can seek out and they’re things we can create for ourselves and others.

On the first day of Christmas, I’d like to see more love in the world. Love for self. Love for others. Love for community. Love for love. There is no such thing as too much of it. It can only help and it never hurts. It heals, saves, and serves in every circumstance. It makes everything better, always.

choices, decision-making

Beautiful: The Power of Choice

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

We stumble. When that happens, we take a pause. We look down the road ahead and wonder if we should continue or stay where we are. Stumbling shows us what matters most to us. Do we care enough to get up, with scrapes and bumps and bruises, and try again? Or does it show us that the effort is not worth our energy? Either decision should be celebrated. We have only so much time. We have only so much space in our lives. How we use it is the most important choice we ever make.

dreams, encouragement, work, writing

Beautiful: Discover the Hidden Pieces of You

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

There is unmapped territory in all of us. This week Facebook is giving you the option to review your biggest moments of the past year. Almost all of mine revolve around writing. I was surprised by this because I didn’t decide to write full-time until the end of the summer. The desire to pursue it was there all along, and I had a lot of support to take it, but it took me most of the year to decide to make the jump. It’s funny how we can so clearly be on a path and not see it until we’re ready.

This reminds me that we don’t always know exactly what our journey is nor where it will lead. Sometimes we can only see what’s immediately in front of us. It takes a while for things to become clear and to increase our visibility down the road to our future. Some of our talents and gifts lie hidden until they’re needed. The only way to find them is to keep living – fully, deeply, and freely. Don’t worry about how you’re going to get somewhere or how you’re going to do something. Just decide to figure it out. You’ll learn what you need to learn to make it happen.

inspiration, letter, writing, youth

Beautiful: CBS This Morning Features Emotional and Inspiring Note to Self by Congressman John Dingell

Christa Avampato
Congressman John Dingel being sworn into office
Congressman John Dingel being sworn into office

CBS This Morning has an incredible feature called Note to Self that asks prominent people in our society to write a letter to their younger selves and share it with the world. Art Garfunkel, Oprah, Dr. Ruth, Tyler Perry, and Maya Angelou comprise a small handful of people who have participated in the project and each brings a unique blend of comfort, wisdom, humor, and profound understanding to their letters. Congressman John Dingell is about to begin his 58th year serving our nation and his letter is the latest addition to this fine collection. I was transfixed as I heard him and watched him read his four and a half-minute letter to his younger self on Monday’s episode of CBS This Morning. As much as we try to live life in the moment, it can only be fully understood and appreciated in hindsight. Thankfully CBS This Morning is capturing these words so that we may all benefit and learn from them at any age.

Video of John Dingell’s letter to his younger self:

dreams, goals, work, writing

Beautiful: Write It Down

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving and that is your own self.” ~ Aldous Huxley

It is an act of strength to stay the course, to focus our energy and efforts keenly during times of feast and famine. There are distractions, temptations, and doubts that try to derail us. Don’t let them. Right down your goal as simply as you can. Don’t worry that it’s too big or too difficult or too unlikely. Write it down and post it. Everywhere. You can’t hit a target if you can’t see it.

childhood, children, creativity, opportunity, Second Step

Beautiful: To Stay Young, Believe in Possibility

Christa Avampato
www.terranomada.com
http://www.terranomada.com

I sat behind a boy on the train as we rolled by empty lots between Newark airport and New York City that are littered with trash, surrounded by graffiti laden buildings, and completely devoid of life.

“They could build an arena here. Make it better,” he said to his father.

Kids see potential in a way that most adults don’t. They see possibility, hope, and the opportunity for reclamation. They remind me that despair is something we create, something we’re taught, not something that we innately know. We are programmed for wonder, to seize opportunity. The trick is to hang on to that even as the world attempts to change us. If we can stay focused on what’s possible rather than what is, we can create what we seek.

love, work

Beautiful: Work from Love

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

“Let all that you do, be done in love.” ~ I Corinthians 16:14

My leap into writing full-time grew from one simple wish: to make a living by doing what I love to do more than anything. It’s the best strategy I know. There are a lot of rough patches, hard knocks, and disappointments. However, the bruises are easier to bear because I love the work so much. I’m still excited every day to try again and again and again. When I get knocked over, I never think of staying down. Giving up is never an option I consider. I do the best I can every day. When I figure out how to do better, I do better. When our work grows from love, it’s no longer work at all. It becomes a source of joy, energy, inspiration, hope, and wonder. And once we have that, we have everything we need.

creative, creative process, creativity, fear, product development, work

Beautiful: A Lesson from American Express and The Ellen Show – You Have to Rise Above Fear

Christa Avampato
The Ellen Amex photo gift card
The Ellen Amex photo gift card

When I joined American Express in the summer of 2008, my first project was to develop a photo gift card that would give customers the opportunity to put a personal photo on a gift card. On Thursday, that product was featured on The Ellen Show with the original template design I worked on. My VP at the time said I had a $200K budget and 7 weeks to launch the product from start to finish or I’d be out of a job. He also said he and my director had no time to help me. This happened the same day Lehman Brothers failed, the bottom fell out of the economy, and the company embarked on its first major round of layoffs as the stock price fell to a record low of $9 / share. Panic was everywhere, and for good reason. I put my fear aside and got to work because I needed that job. The project launched on time and under budget, and the product is still going strong today despite intense criticism from many of my then co-workers.

Some day I’ll write about everything I learned during those dark days of our economy. Here’s the biggest lesson: in every circumstance, we have to rise above fear and criticism to do our best work. We have to look way out onto the fringes and trust our creative gut to pull the trigger, even and especially during difficult times. In the short run, this is a tough path though eventually history rewards us with the knowledge that our intuition is one of our most powerful and valuable possessions. It will always guide us in the right direction if we allow it to have its say.

books, grateful, gratitude, inspiration, South Africa

Beautiful: Nelson Mandela, My Hero

Christa Avampato
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela

The summer of 2006 was not my finest hour. There was one light that I kept turning to over and over again during those difficult months – Nelson Mandela’s book Long Walk To Freedom. I bought it as I prepared for a class trip to South Africa with my business school friends the following March and it changed my life. From the moment I started that book, I committed myself to living my life as fully as possible in every single moment. I would never again say that something was impossible. He showed all of us that sheer will and the refusal to give up is enough to accomplish anything. Anything. To this day, that trip to South Africa is my favorite trip of all time. I knew when I left that I’d return there many times over in my life. It’s one of the very few places I’ve considered living if I ever live outside of the U.S. It is a magical country with some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.

When I heard the news of Mr. Mandela’s passing yesterday, I was home writing. My eyes immediately teared up and my heart felt heavy. Tears of gratitude mixed with tears of sadness. His light was so bright that I thought it would go on forever. And in many ways, it will. His light is alive in every person inspired by his actions and words. Against all odds, he shifted the world toward justice, acceptance, and fairness. Through his enlightenment, he enlightened all of us. How lucky we are to have had someone so good with us for so long.