community, yoga

Step 174: Yoga Just Means Union

Christa Avampato

On Tuesday, my friend Sara and I headed to Central Park for Flavorpill’s attempt to break the record for the largest organized yoga class ever held. Sara and I chatted throughout the hour-long wait: spirituality, school loans, and every topic in-between. The time passed quickly. I imagined us on the Great Lawn, doing our sun salutations actually to the sun, breathing together, OMing together. Yoga done anywhere is an amazing experience. Yoga done outside is glorious.

Except when it rains, and rain it did. If it weren’t for the slipping on yoga mats, I may have wanted Flavorpill to stick it out and have us practice through the rain. At first it was just a light sprinkle so we pushed through. Then the torrential downpour started. Literally buckets of rain. Everyone went running, grabbing extra mats and snacks, pushing, poking others with their feeble umbrellas. Apparently yogic behavior doesn’t always survive the rain.

I was just trying to dodge through the crowd to reach the west side of the park. I didn’t much care about getting wet – once you’re soaked, you actually get more soaked – I just don’t like the feeling of being trapped in a giant crowd. While bobbing and weaving (and cursing a little inside my head), I passed by a man on arm crutches. He looked to have cerebral palsy. There he was, plodding along, not complaining, not taking any extra mats or snacks or bags the way so many others were.

At first I rushed past the man and said a little prayer for him. After a few more steps I thought, “Christa, now that’s a lousy thing to do.” I pulled over to the side and waited a few seconds for him to catch up.

“Would you like to share my umbrella?” I asked him.

He smiled the most beautiful smile, and said, “Oh no. I’m fine in the rain, but thanks for asking. No one ever asks.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I don’t mind at all.”

“No but thank you, really. That’s very nice of you,” he replied.

I walked a little more slowly now and held that interaction in my mind. His smile was the sunshine I had come to the Park looking for. I didn’t need a mat to do a sun salutation. Yoga is lived as much as it is practiced.

children, family

Step 173: Introducing Aubree Alice, My New Niece

Christa Avampato

Dear Aubree,
We are so excited that you have arrived to sprinkle even more joy into our lives. We are thrilled that you are healthy with ten precious fingers, 10 precious toes, and already a pretty little smile. You are pretty perfect.

Though the world can sometimes seem scary, I know that it will be a better place now that you are in it. You will make us better, happier, stronger people who strive even more to make this world a bit brighter for your sake. We don’t have words yet to tell you how much we love you or how happy we are that you have joined the human race.

We’re so excited to see what you will learn, how you will grow, and who you will become. We promise to be here for you, for every little step, stumble, and wobble. Just reach out your perfect hands and we promise to catch you. Thank you for being here, for being born, for taking this journey with us.

Love,
Your Nan

moving, travel

Step 172: Learning to Leap

Christa Avampato

“Do not confuse motion for progress.” ~ Alfred A. Montapert

With my cold last week, I spent a lot of time sitting. I didn’t go outside much, I slept a lot, and I spent some hours curled up on my couch just lounging. I can’t tell you the last time I just lounged around. I am always on the move, hopping here, there, and everywhere like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. Sitting, I had time to think and consider and mull over some ideas.

My obsession with moving started when I was very young. My dad used to read the New York Times every day and I used to steal the magazine section, not to read the articles, but to look at the travel ads in the back. One summer I ordered every travel guide that was advertised that had a 1-800 number. We didn’t travel much when I was little and these travel guides helped me dream of far away places. I kept them neatly stacked in piles under my bed and I spent as much time as I could pouring through them. Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand, Chile. There wasn’t a single place I didn’t want to travel to. And so began my life of wandering.

I kept that going after college managing Broadway shows and national tours that took me all over the U.S. and Canada. I spent my vacations trekking around, 2 trips to Europe with only a backpack and a guidebook, the Alaska wilderness, and the Caribbean. In business school, I went to South Africa and loved every moment, even the moments after my passport was stolen. In the Fall I went to Costa Rica and next week I’ll be taking in the islands of Greece. There is so much I want to see. The fact that I’ve lived in the same city for the past 3 years is a monumental record.

I’ve always been afraid that if I sat still I’d miss something and thereby miss out on something. I thought motion meant progress. And more importantly, I thought that I couldn’t progress if I didn’t move.

But this last week I experienced a profound change of heart. In the book Glimmer, Warren Berger talks about the idea of jumping fences. When we sit and wait and observe rather than jumping on every new trend or opportunity we have the ability to store up our energy, hone our learning, and jump not just one step ahead, but many. Fence jumpers, Berger argues, are the ones who truly transform our world. They know themselves, they know why they’re jumping (and it’s not just for jumping sake), and they have the strength and stamina to make the leap and stick the landing. Now that sounds like progress.

I don’t think I’ll ever give up trekking around this globe. I’ll keep going for as long as my bank account can take me. But now I’ll also spend some more time re-energizing, and maybe even get in a little more lounge time. Jumping fences sounds like a good hobby to take up.

family, holiday

Step 171: A Father’s Day Tribute to All My Dads

Christa Avampato

I’ve had the great good fortune to have a lot of dads in my life in the truest sense of the world. Men who showed up in my life who loved me, took care of me, and have always been supportive of me and my decisions. On this Father’s Day, a little tribute to each of them:

Joe – my mom’s long-time boyfriend whom we call my step-father because he’s a much more central figure in our lives than just being termed my mom’s boyfriend. We never asked if we could call him our step-father, and he’s never objected to it. We have a good understanding that way. He helped move me in and out of college dorms, then in and out of countless apartments and storage units after college. He danced the Father’s dance with my sister at her wedding. He’s been a big part of all of our holidays, birthdays, and special occasions for 17 years and this summer he and my mom are moving down to Florida to be in the warm weather and be closer to my sister and her family. Without him, I’m not sure my mom would have made this move and I know it’s the best thing for her health. I’m certain that they’re adding years to their lives with this move and for his leadership is moving this idea forward, I’m forever grateful.

Joey – my older brother always felt responsible for my sister and I as kids, though I have to say that sometimes I think we tried to take even better care of him. He bore a large burden growing up as the only son and eldest child. He’s 6 years older than me and almost 8 years older than my sister. When we were little he never shooed us away when he was with his friends. He took us along, taught us to swing a baseball bat, play kickball and tackle football by the rules, catch tadpoles, and climb trees. All those good tom boy traits we always wanted.

Uncle Tom – my mom’s younger brother. I think in some ways he kind of adopted us as his own. He paid for my braces (which were sorely needed!), always encouraged my studies, came to my college graduation, and now is someone I exchange business philosophy with. I looked up to him for his career and independence. He inspired my first interests in business and management, and now inspires me as an entrepreneur.

Great Uncles Joe and John – we always saw them for a bit during every holiday at my grandmother’s house. Joe is my grandmother’s younger brother and John is married to my Aunt Rosie, who is my grandmother’s younger sister. They came to my high school graduation, were always proud of the school work I did, and are always interested in my various travels and careers, of which there have been many. They’re in all of our holiday photos from when we were kids, and they never forget a birthday. I always love hearing their stories about their lives when they were younger, about my family members who I never got to meet, and their lives in the early part of the century. The amount of change they’ve witnessed in one lifetime is staggering.

For all these men who stepped up to raise me in some way, there is never away for me to say thank you enough. Every one should be so lucky to have the dads I’ve had. My Uncle Joe is in the hospital this Father’s Day so I’m especially sending out a little prayer for him, hoping for a speedy recovery. If you could say one for him, too, I’d very much appreciate it.

Happy Father’s Day!

sports, success

Step 170: Going Platinum

Christa Avampato

I love all things pithy and witty. Quotes fill that bill. I used to keep a running list of them on my Blogger blog. Once I moved over to my new WordPress design, I let that be a piece that fell away, though I use quotes all the time in my posts. I love to go back and review my list of quotes – they give me inspiration, counsel, and comfort.

Kevin Kelley writes a fantastic uber-blog of all of his writing called Lifestream. He’s a tech guru who has a knack for making technology applicable to a wide variety of people. He’s also a killer writer, funny, and a fan of quotes. Yesterday, he put up a post with some of his favorite quotes. My favorite comes from Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s 2007 TED speech: “With 300 million people in America, you can fail to impress 299 million of them and still go platinum.” The power of perspective. With that bent, having an idea go platinum seems more probable and possible.

owning pink, relationships, writing

Step 169: My New Column on Relationships on OwningPink.com

Christa Avampato

It’s with great excitement that I announce my new OwningPink.com column on relationships. The brilliant and ridiculously talented Pink team asked me if I’d be interested in being a featured blogger and I couldn’t resist the chance to be more closely linked to them. I was very influenced by Chris Brogan’s recent post on the importance of labs and how they fuel our creativity by pushing us to our edge on a subject we want to understand more deeply. The complexity and wide of relationships (including our relationships with romance, family, friends, money, co-workers, our community, dreams, etc.) is something I want to understand better, so I’m writing my way to understanding through OwningPink.com and inviting all of you along for the ride.

I’ll be posting about twice a month, under the incredible editorial eyes of my dear friend, Joy Mazzola, and her sparkling partner-in-pink-crime, Lauren Nagel. The whole venture is headed by Lissa Rankin, Founder and Pink Doctor of Mojo (what a great title!). Lissa and I connected through Twitter and then I interviewed her for my entrepreneurship column on Examiner. She is a gift in my life.

Would love for you to check out my new column, leave a comment, and click around the site to see all of the other amazing creative work that’s on display.

health, time

Step 168: Doing Less

Christa Avampato

“It’s okay to do less.” ~ Jason Fried, Co-founder of 37 Signals

“Your energy levels could be low today, which could make you feel lethargic. Perhaps your body is sending you signals that you need to rest and take it easy in order to recharge. When we feel listless, it is often because we have over-taxed our bodies–we spend so much time running and so little time resting that our bodies simply crash. In order to heal, our bodies then create barriers that ultimately prevent us from recharging ourselves. Resting in relaxation pose, however, helps us to unwind enough so that we can release the blocks we have and let in the healing energy of the universe. By giving the gift of relaxation to yourself today, your body will soon recover, and you will be filled with the loving and bountiful energy of the universe.” ~ My horoscope on 6/16/10

I hate summer colds. I can’t remember the last time I had one. All week I’ve been fighting one, and to no avail. The cold beat my will. I had so many fun things planned this week, so many events with friends, and all of them have fallen through. I finally got to work on Wednesday and by the end of a long day felt wiped out. By 4:00, my fever had returned and I broke a sweat in my cube sitting at my computer.

While I know that biologically I have some type of virus that is causing me to sleep for 12 hours at a stretch, I also think the universe has a lesson in mind. I hate colds because they cause me to be wildly unproductive. You can find me this week on my couch, a jug of orange juice in one hand and a super-sized box of tissues in the other hand. A pathetic sight.

I read this quote by Jason Fried last week in an interview he did with Brian Clark, Founder of Lateral Action and author of Copyblogger. Upon reading it, I thought, “Yeah, right. Do less? In this economy? I don’t know anyone doing less.” And this type of reaction gets me into trouble with the universe. It tempers my strong-willed “give me a break” attitude quickly, this week with a cold. Just take a look at my horoscope.

So here I am on my couch, thinking, pen in hand. Maybe doing less isn’t such a bad thing, and maybe it’s even possible for me to accomplish. I’ll consider the possibility, that’s all I’m promising. I guess I can’t run myself down filling up every single moment of free time. That won’t benefit anyone. But universe, could you at least let me have my fun times out on the town with my friends? I promise to give up some other things in return. Really.

The image above depicts the mucus monster from the popular Mucinex ads.

change, luck

Step 167: More on Luck and Chances

Christa Avampato

“I’ve found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.” ~ Brian Tracy

“Playing it safe isn’t really safe at all,” Brian is fond of telling me as we work on charting a course for my life going forward. “The safe road just gives us the illusion of safety.” My yoga teacher tell me this, too. Safety is a little trick our minds use to help us get from day-to-day. If we actually came to grips without how much uncertainty we have in our daily lives, we’d have one long and major meltdown. The safe road is actually the one paved with the chances we took in our lives.

When I younger, I used to throw caution to the wind on a daily basis. I didn’t have a lot to lose back then. My chosen profession as a theatre manager was wildly unstable, I had hardly any savings, and I was used to living a life where I scraped by every month. Truth be told, I was kind of proud of my ability to scrape by. I thought it made me resilient and tough. I thought it was at the root of the definition of self-sufficiency, something I always wanted.

And then somewhere along the way, the elusive safety seduced me and made me more practical. Rather than getting an MFA, I got an MBA. Rather than following my heart after I finished graduate school, I followed the scent of a stable paycheck, a regular work schedule of 9-5 Monday to Friday, and a job title that many people respect. Now my career makes sense to others, but it doesn’t make sense to me.

A few weeks ago, Laurie Ruettimann, author of the blog PunkrockHR, wrote a post about making lists: q to describe what you would love to do for work, what you might do for work, and what you absolutely will not do for work. I think her post was addressing me personally. She hit some sore points that I’ve been turning over in my mind but have been a little frightened to articulate. I think it’s time to stop being so frightened. These lists are lens to evaluate new opportunities, and a tool to see differently should be celebrated, not feared. So here are my lists:

What I would love to do:
Writing and editing
Create products and services that are meaningful to people and the world
Research
Do some traveling
Teach
Support charitable causes
Yoga

What I might do:
Work outside
Work with kids
Fundraise for a nonprofit
Make coffee

What I won’t do:
Have a rigid schedule
Work in a gray cubicle
Collect a check without much meaningful work to do
Wait tables

These lists aren’t complete, but they’re a good start. Time to take more chances, be more active, and show up more often, even if I don’t know where it’s all leading.

home

Step 166: Becoming an American

Christa Avampato

“The things that the flag stands for were created by the experiences of a great people. Everything that it stands for was written by their lives. The flag is the embodiment not of sentiment, but of history.” ~ Woodrow Wilson, 28th U.S. president, quoted for U.S. Flag Day, June 14, 2010

Real Simple magazine ran a beautiful feature this month. It features 6 women who became U.S. citizens last year, and each describes why they chose to become American. This article had an intense effect on me because last week I went on a date with a guy who pronounced how not proud he is to be an American. I replied, “The why don’t you leave?” In case you were wondering, we’re not going on a second date. I can’t date someone who profusely explains that he is not proud to be an American and yet happily uses every government service at his disposal.

As I went home from the date I thought about some concrete reasons of why I am proud to be an American. If I had to choose just one reason it would be because here in this country we can dream as big and bold as we want to. Here are the lead in lines to the article in Real Simple that explain why these women became Americans:

“To live free of fear” ~ Lorraine Lamm, 31, from Kingston, Jamaica

“To be in a place where greatness is encouraged” ~ Monika Kochhar, 28, from Lucknow, India

“To escape oppression” ~ Than Than Aye, 51, from Yangon, Myanmar (formerly Rangoon, Burma)

“To be with my soul mate” ~ Avishag Mofaz, 44, from Tel Aviv, Israel

“To break with my past” ~ Michele Mitrovich, 28, from Volgograd, Russia

“To give my parents – and myself – a better life” ~ Maria Yoplac, 35, from Lima, Peru

The image above depicts a study pamphlet from 1907 that helped people to study for the exam taken by all perspective American Citizens.

creative process, creativity, decision-making

Step 165: 37 Tips from Hugh McLeod

Christa Avampato

I’ve heard Hugh McLeod’s name mentioned several times in the last week. My pal, Amanda, just let me know that the image I posted on my blog earlier this week was his work and I love it. Hugh has a daily cartoon and a newsletter that he sends out. Hop over there and sign up for some inspiration. You can also join him on Twitter and Facebook. In the mean time, here are 37 tips he lists on his website that have worked for his creative spirit.

1. Ignore everybody.

2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.

14. Dying young is overrated.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is changing.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.

18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irrelevant.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

23. Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic” is a complete waste of time.

24. Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

25. You have to find your own schtick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

31. Remain frugal.

32. Allow your work to age with you.

33. Being Poor Sucks.

34. Beware of turning hobbies into jobs.

35. Savor obscurity while it lasts.

36. Start blogging.

37. Meaning Scales, People Don’t.

37. When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.