plan – Christa Avampato

“What are you going to do in New York?”

It’s a logical question when you move to a new city. My neat and tidy answer catches people off guard: love every minute of my life. Someone cracked me up yesterday when they responded, “No, really. What are you going to do here?” My answer stands.

I do have some more specific answers for more specific questions. For work? I’m looking at many avenues that bring together my passions and my talents. For love? I’m dating. For my writing? I’m promoting my first novel, writing the prequel chapter by chapter, writing my second novel that is the next in the series about Emerson Page, and pursuing freelance nonfiction writing. For fun? Phineas and I will be enjoying our long walks in the park. I’ll be spending time with my wonderful friends here, and making new ones. I’ll be at the theater, in the museums, listening to live music, creating art, and following every interest I have. I’m hoping to teach writing classes, mentor young people, and volunteer in my community. I’m going to try to learn to play a real song on the piano.

Anything can happen here in New York City, and it often does. While the city has a reputation for making people hard and tough, I think it’s much easier, and more enjoyable, to be a little soft. People can be gruff and self-absorbed. You have to stand up for yourself and then shrug it off. This city moves fast and carefully crafted plans have a way of disintegrating at the most inopportune times. Flexibility is key. If your dream today doesn’t work out, tomorrow you’ll have a new one. That long night of disappointment in-between is a tough thing to endure but you have to endure and persist and be determined to keep rising in spite of it all. New York is a tall order, and it’s the only one that really fits me.

“The waiting. The meantime. The in-between. It all serves a purpose, even the delays and detours.” ~Anonymous

My friend, Katya, posted this the other day and I think it’s a really powerful and comforting reminder for all of us. We are all in a process of becoming, and becoming something requires a bit of waiting. Progress in anything is achieved one day, one step at a time. And in each of those moments we are learning exactly what we need to learn. Everything that we’re going through now is preparing us for what’s ahead. Every experience we’ve ever had has prepared us to meet this moment in front of us.

Right now, I’m in the midst of a lot of change. It’s all very exciting, and it’s also a lot. And in these next few weeks, I’m in a bit of a holding pattern. Normally, I would be anxious in a time like this and instead I’m enjoying it. Learning every day. Setting up the tasks I need to do now to hit the ground running in short order. There’s a lot of planning.

Though the energy required to plan is different from the energy needed to act, it also holds its own happiness and joy to be looking ahead with happy and eager anticipation of what’s around the bend. Then will be here soon enough so let’s enjoy the journey to get there.