Tag: community

creativity

Wonder: A kindness story about my dog, a handyman, and Star Wars

Christa Avampato

I have a very special gratitude story today about the power of community and kindness. Nick is one of the handy men in my apartment building. He’s always helping people out and doing odd jobs around our neighborhood, too. He and Phineas are good pals. Yesterday, Nick was outside working with no gloves in single digit temps. I bought Nick some warm gloves and Nicole, the concierge in my building, helped me get that gift to him.

Nicole said he was so surprised and touched that he started crying. She said he hopped on his bike with the gloves on and headed off to help a friend who was having car trouble. Apparently, Nick stopped into our local Petco and asked what would be a good small toy for a dachshund. The manager of the Petco asked “Are you buying a gift for Phineas? He’s our best customer!” Nick said he was and told him about the gloves I bought for him. The manager at the Petco was so happy to hear this story that he gave Nick a limited edition Star Wars dog toy of Kylo Ren to give to Phinny. They put it in a gift bag, and Nick left it with Nicole for us.

Phineas started jumping around when we opened it in the lobby, and Nicole said he and Nick had the same reaction. I learned that Nicole’s been having a really tough year and she said today made her believe in the goodness of people and the meaning of Christmas.

Doing big things that help a lot of people is a wonderful thing. And there are also dozens of small things we can do right where we are to help people in our community. Kindness and generosity are two of the greatest resources we have. Let’s use them to make the world and our own little corner of it better for others. Today I’m grateful for my community and the opportunities I have to help my neighbors.

creativity

Wonder: The Jungle Book

Christa Avampato

“How many lives is a man-cub worth?” ~Shere Khan

After I saw it was nominated for a number of awards, I watched the live action version of The Jungle Book that was released this year. I can’t help but think about what a powerful allegory it is for our times. A community of wolves, loving and faithful to one another, protected a member of their pack, Mowgli, who was different. All they wanted was peace and acceptance for everyone. The member of their community who was different posed no threat to anyone, and yet a dictatorial tiger, Shere Khan, demanded that Mowgli be turned over to him to be destroyed. Mowgli left of his own volition for the sake of the pack, and still he was pursued by Shere Khan. On his way to the man-village where he will supposedly be protected and accepted, Mowgli makes friends who help him defeat Shere Khan.

Would we have the courage to protect someone who was different? Would we have the courage to standup for ourselves when faced with bigotry? When the moment comes to fight for what we believe in, would we back down in fear or would we rise and stand tall against injustice?

The Jungle Book is a story written for children, but its lessons have far-reaching implications for all of us. Literature is both a mirror and a teacher. It shows us what we’re made of. It gives us something to aspire to. It inspires us to become greater than we think we can be.

creativity

Wonder: The Booth of Encouragement

Christa Avampato

Remember yesterday when I told you that you could do anything? Well, I’m cooking up a way to help you out.

In my efforts to increase the amount of time I pause and connect in the real world in the coming year, I’m thinking of setting up a Booth of Encouragement a la Lucy from the Peanuts Gang. I’ve long been inspired by Lucy matter-of-fact advice. Come on in, have a piece of homemade bread (yes, I bake bread), a warm beverage, and give Phineas a pat on the head (because a snuggle from a dachshund seriously makes everything better.) For a nickel that gets donated to charity, you tell me what you’d like to do that you think you can’t do and I’ll provide encouragement and any assistance I have to help make it possible. What if I set up something like this in your city?  Would you swing by?

It’s a crazy idea, right? But I want to give it a try. If it’s going to provide encouragement and support to even one person, it’s worth a shot. I’m going to reach out to a few people who might be able to help me do a small, live test of the idea. If you have ideas, please let me know. The world needs more encouragement and I’m prepared to give it; let’s do this.

creativity

Wonder: The one reason I’m grateful for Donald Trump

Christa Avampato

Can we get real for a minute? Seriously, pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and let’s talk. How many times have you told yourself you can’t do something because of X reason? I want you to cut it out, and here’s why. The Donald, arguably the most unqualified person to ever run for any office, anywhere, whose ego is only matched by his bank account and his tangled mess of conflicts of interest, who is deteriorating foreign relations with his late-night Twitter obsession, who has had a perpetually bad hair day since the 70s, won the electoral college to be President of the United States of America.

And you, an intelligent, conscious, curious, compassionate, hard-working person who wants to make a difference can’t do something? Really? I promise you that you can do this, whatever this is.

I’m grateful to Donald Trump for exactly one reason: he showed us that we can do anything we set our minds to. So the next time the imposter syndrome sneaks into your psyche, please allow me to pop into your mind a split second later, knock the imposter elf to the ground, and tell you to get out there and do the work you’re meant to do. Your grace, talents, and passion are needed now more than ever. Please keep shining.

creativity

Wonder: Let your love be a resource for the world

Christa Avampato

“In one soul, your soul, there are resources for the world.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanks to the disaster that is the DC metro, I walked 18 blocks in the pouring rain during rush hour yesterday. I was angry and feeling very sorry for myself when I walked by a man who was hungry and asked me for some change to get a slice of pizza. I gave myself a mental “snap out of it” and then I bought him some pizza. Wherever we are, there is good work to do. We don’t always see it. Sometimes we’re so caught up in our own inner dialogue that we miss the opportunity in front of us. I certainly was. The man thanked me for the pizza, and I thanked him for letting me help.

 

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Wonder: Taking action with the International Rescue Committee and Planned Parenthood

Christa Avampato

I love how Hillary Clinton lived the words of her Methodist faith: “Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.” I took those words to heart this week as I signed up with the International Rescue Committee to assist families who are being re-settled from foreign countries into the areas around Washington, D.C. I also contacted Planned Parenthood about working with them at their office in D.C. that is only a few blocks from my home. It’s going to up to us to take care of each other and support one another through this administration. I’m going to do my part to show that there is goodness among all the muck.

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Wonder: And there is the first crack in the economy post-election, right at my doorstep

Christa Avampato

The first economic casualty of this election found me yesterday. My favorite staff member in my apartment building told me that my landlord is outsourcing the staffing of the building in preparation for a recession that they think will hit in the coming months. The staff is being offered the chance to interview for the outsourced company, though there is no guarantee of a job and even if they do get a job, their pay will be cut and their housing subsidy will be taken away.

“Even if I get the job, they’re going to cut my pay by $3.50/hour,” he said to me. “And that’s going to hurt a lot. My last day could be November 30th if I don’t get this job. I was wondering if you could do me a favor, Christa. Would you write a recommendation letter for me that I could bring to the interview?”

My eyes teared up. This man has been a good friend to me, and really makes my building feel like home. He’s professional, kind, and caring. He loves his job and the people who live in my building. I’d pay double my rent to help him and the rest of the staff who do such a wonderful job helping all of us. I was prepared to take out my checkbook right there, and instead what he asked for was a letter. $3.50/hour is a lot to him; it makes the difference between being able to pay his bills and not being able to pay his bills. Let that sink in. He lives in D.C., a very expensive city, and makes less than $35,000/year before taxes, and that could drop to $27,000/year. That’s what he’s fighting for. That’s what he’d be grateful to get. This is the working poor. Right. Next. Door.

The President-elect, ensconced in his 3-story, 24K gold penthouse on Fifth Avenue, doesn’t care a lick about people like my friend. But you know what? I care. I can do something, and I will. I wrote my heart out in that reference letter for my friend. I’ll be writing a lot of letters in the coming days, weeks, and months. I’m not going to standby and watch our economy and our country go to hell in a hand-basket at the hands of an inexperienced madman and his cabinet of ignorants. Deplorable? Yes. Unstoppable? No.

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Wonder: Breaking Bread Podcast with Food & Friends

Christa Avampato

If you’re election weary, here’s my uplifting podcast episode featuring Food & Friends, one of my favorite organizations in D.C. Please feel free to spread this good news far and wide! Food & Friends provides one million specialized nutritious meals a year in the greater D.C. area to individuals and families who are undergoing treatment for HIV / AIDS and cancer, and those who are in hospice care. It’s a mission I’m proud to support as a volunteer and as a donor. This year I’m spending Thanksgiving volunteering at Food & Friends to send out 600 prepared Thanksgiving dinners to help their clients celebrate this wonderful holiday. 

To learn more about Food & Friends and how you can support this incredible work, visit their website at foodandfriends.org.

creativity

Wonder: Taking action to get more kids into and through college at 826DC

Christa Avampato

Last night, I volunteered at 826DC to help teens with their college essays. It turned out that the essays were the least of their issues. The student I was helping turned to me at one point and said, “I’m so overwhelmed. I know I need to do this and I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t have anyone to help me.” She’s the first person in her family to go to college, she doesn’t have a guidance counselor who cares, and she feels a lot of pressure from her family to make this happen.

This interaction brought back all those feelings for me. I was incredibly fortunate to have a guidance counselor, Mr. Weary, who did so much to help me. I knew he was in my corner and he was rooting for me every step of the way. (When I didn’t get into Princeton, my first choice school, he called their admissions office and gave them a piece of his mind. That’s how invested he was!) He was a gift and I knew it.

Not everyone has a Mr. Weary so in that moment at 826DC, I decided that I needed to play that role for this student. We each took a deep breath, and we went through the online application step by step. It wasn’t difficult to explain the parts of the application; this student just needed someone, anyone, to be in this with her.

Then we got to the financial section and she got really nervous. She doesn’t want to take loans. To her, debt is a frightening prospect. And I get that, too. I started working at 14 to help my family, and then I put myself through college and grad school thanks to financial aid of every conceivable kind and a lot of part-time jobs in college. I know debt is scary though when it comes to college, it seems to be a part o every solution in which parents aren’t paying outright for college. I don’t know if I convinced her to reconsider this idea, but at least I could offer myself as an example of someone who was in her shoes and worked hard to get into and through school.

As I walked home, I thought about what I could do to help more students and parents, particularly ones who feel overwhelmed by all of it. And then I got myself caught in the train of thought that senior year is too late. Student need to have their eyes on the prize of college in late middle school and early high school. They need to learn about how to get in, how to stay in, how to graduate, and how to pay for all of it while keeping themselves healthy and sane during an insanely stressful time in their lives. Education, writing, yoga and meditation, finance, technology, and healthcare. I have all that professional experience, and I’ve been where those students are. And I know what it’s like to climb the mountain and then enjoy the view you never even dreamed was possible.

If you have ideas of how I could do more for students like the one I helped at 826DC, I’d love to hear them.

creativity

Wonder: In every career, you can strive to make the world a better place

Christa Avampato

“What I build can influence the way people behave in these spaces. For me, architecture is a social act.” ~David Adjaye, architect

In every career, we have the ability to build a better world. We can follow our deepest personal passions and serve others at the same time. For so long, I thought I had to choose between making myself happy and helping others. To now know that I don’t have to choose has given me a lot of freedom.

I’ve been watching a lot of videos and reading a lot of books this past week about David Adjaye, the architect who designed, among many other buildings, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He sees architecture as a form of justice, as a way to influence the behavior and mindset of a community. These may not be the end goals of architecture on the surface of the work, but they are the root of David’s work. It is a wonderful reminder to us that in every career there are ways to do well and do good.