Tag: change

creativity

Wonder: It’s time to be planted

Christa Avampato
Be planted
Be planted

“Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.” ~Christine Caine

Some of my friends are in a tough spot right now. They’re having a tough time seeing a way forward. They feel knocked down and dragged out into situations that they didn’t see coming and wouldn’t have chosen for themselves. This is a tough place to be. It’s uncomfortable. It feels hopeless. It’s disappointing.

In moments like this, I find that this quote by Christine Caine is most powerful. Take what you can learn from these awful experiences, even if they are lessons you had no interest in learning. Let them strengthen your resolve, refine your talents, and sharpen your skills of observation. Watch for actions and outcomes. Step back and clearly identify what you would do differently, and why, and how that might change things.

This is your time of incubation. This is a time of growth and evolution that can lead you to a personal revolution if you take the opportunity as it comes. Be planted so that when the light returns, you can shine.

creativity

Wonder: What if + why not = let’s go!

Christa Avampato

what-if-and-why-not“Knowledge emerges only through invention and reinvention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.” ~ Paulo Freire

I was talking with someone on Friday about the boxes we put ourselves in and the boxes other people put us in. Those boxes are unnecessary limits that stifle creativity and imagination. The only way to break out of them is to try something new, take ourselves out of the comfort zone, and explore. We’ll discover that we have new talents, interests, and ideas. We’ll realize hidden strengths and capabilities. Our lives are made richer through reinvention. The world is made better every time we look at the world and ask “what if” followed by “why not?” And in that intersection, we find the magic.

creativity

Wonder: Your growth is a gift to everyone

Christa Avampato

200338534-001

“The greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” ~Lao Tzu

Try something new. Take a class. Go somewhere you’ve never gone before. Stretch your limits in ways you never thought possible. Invest in you. Because when you grow and evolve, a ripple begins that resonates with your community and moves outward into the world. What makes you better, makes everything better. And that’s a beautiful thing.

creativity

Wonder: You are the universe

Christa Avampato
You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
You are the universe in ecstatic motion.

“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” ~Rumi

How many times have you wondered if you’re good enough for a job, a person, or just something wonderful? Understand this: you are enough. You are so much more than enough. Forget about being too young or too old for something. Forget about your regrets and self-doubt and fears. That thinking doesn’t serve you. You’re better than that. You’ve always been better than that. Now go get the life you want, the whole life you want, because that’s exactly what you deserve.

creativity

This just in: The gift of disappointment

Christa Avampato
Transform disappointment
Transform disappointment

I’ve been talking to a lot of friends this week. It seems that 2015 was a tough one for many people. Disappointment is a painful feeling because it leaves us both hollow and confused. I’d take just about any emotion over disappointment. It’s a tough one to get through and get over, though it’s also a gift in the truest sense of the word because it means a truth, however painful, has been revealed to us. And with truth we can create something new, forge a different path, and become a better version of who we are.

So if 2015 was a tough year for you, if you had your fair share of disappointment, think of it as fuel that can help you build a brighter 2016. Someday, we’ll look back and say this is the year that had to happen.

creativity

This just in: Pay attention to what ignites a spark in you

Christa Avampato
Spark!
Spark!

On Friday night I ran a product testing session at work. The evening was filled with excitement and more than a little stress. Once the event was over, I realized a very important insight that will serve me well in 2016: As I seek out new opportunities, I want to be actively engaged in the learning process of others. I felt a spark light up in me when a student discovered something new, and that spark is something I have to honor and nurture.

creativity

This just in: It’s time to grow

Christa Avampato
Grow
Grow

A few years ago, one of my yoga teacher training classmates choked up during her final presentation and wasn’t able to complete it the way she wanted to complete it. She got very upset (as anyone would!) and said she felt like a failure. Then our teacher, Jeffrey, said words I will never forget: this isn’t failure; this is growth. You might feel like things are falling down around you, and maybe they are. That’s certainly how I’ve felt this week. Jeffrey’s words rang in my ears yesterday, clear as a bell, like a gift from the Universe because that’s what they are and because they are exactly what I needed to hear.

creativity

This just in: What to do after you lead the horse to water

Christa Avampato

A horse at waterYou can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. What you can do is let it stand there and see its reflection. The person you are trying to help has to want to be helped, has to meet you halfway. And some people can’t, or won’t, accept your help. You can’t change that.

Yesterday wasn’t a great day in my world, but something great came from it. It gave me an opportunity to express certain things that have been on my mind. I said them respectfully and firmly. Most of my concerns fell on deaf ears, and that’s okay. I said them. I can sleep at night, and now I can move on knowing that I did what I could do to keep a ship from sinking.

As sad as I am about the situation, I trust the timing of my life. I imagine that a few months from now I’ll look back on today from a different vantage point and realize that this is what had to happened. I let my disappointment go, and turned my energy toward finding what’s next. I trust that I’ll find exactly what I need to find.

creativity

This just in: Don’t let innovation be the enemy of improvement

Christa Avampato
Photo by Elisabetta Foco
Photo by Elisabetta Foco

In the push for wild ideas that get public attention, we’re doing ourselves a disservice. What companies and products need to focus on is improvement, not innovation.

The iPod was a better looking mp3 player that could be personalized. Virgin America didn’t do anything beyond providing stellar service to customers who were used to an industry that treated them badly. Starbucks decided to serve strong coffee prepared to order and gave customers a comfy chair in its cafes to enjoy it. Those aren’t mind-blowing ideas. They’re elegant improvements in industries that badly needed any improvement at all.

So don’t chase far out innovations. Most of that is just a flash in the pan that gets a lot of buzz for a short period of time and then dies a quick and meaningless death. What you want is a steady hum of improvement that inches up a step at a time. And those steps will add up not only to a staircase of innovation, but a meaningful long-lasting impact that makes the world a better place.

creativity

This just in: Soul retrieval and the colors of Fall

Christa Avampato
The colors of fall in Cleveland Park are healing
The colors of fall in Cleveland Park are healing

Have you ever had a situation come up in your life and wondered “what the heck is the purpose of this?” This week Brian and I talked about the idea of soul retrieval—the Native American belief that when we go through a traumatic experience we leave a piece of our soul with that experience. Stay with me here; these two ideas connect because Native Americans also believe that throughout our lives we are offered opportunities to reclaim the parts of our souls that we’ve lost. These opportunities show up in the form of confounding situations, scenarios that require us to rise up, change, and do something that’s difficult. They often require us to break a long-held pattern that needs to be reversed.

I recently had a few events like this pop up and Brian did a brilliant job, as usual, of guiding me through them. Even though I knew it wouldn’t lead to the best outcome, I was tempted to act in a way that I’ve acted before when these types of circumstances arise. Brian counseled me to examine how I would normally react and then he encouraged me try a completely different tack. It was uncomfortable to react in a completely different way than I normally would, and I wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. Still, I followed Brian’s advice, tried these new approaches, and then waited to see how it would unfold.

Brian’s advice was spot on. I broke patterns that had long-outlived their purpose, and the situations resolved themselves in the most favorable way possible. And I woke up on Friday morning feeling more whole than I’ve felt in a long time. The air was balmy, the wind was soft, and the brilliantly colored leaves made me smile wide. I got some pieces of my soul back. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.