Tag: postaday2011

career, integrity, SXSW, work

Beginning: Be on Record

Christa Avampato

At SXSW I had the great accidental pleasure of hearing Gary Vaynerchuk speak. To be honest, I had no idea who he was until SXSW. He was making an appearance at an event I went to early on at SXSW and I like the title of his new book, The Thank You Economy. During one time block at SXSW I wasn’t quite sure which session to go to and when I saw Gary was giving a keynote, I decided to go over and check it out. I didn’t know that I’d be in for such a treat of a stand-up comedy routine coupled with good sound business advice that I’ve been truly taking to heart for the past decade. Gary’s talk was a great validation of the way that I’ve approached having an opinion in the workplace: “Be on Record.”

Lessons from Broadway
When I was in my early 20’s, I was one of the first people hired to put together the Broadway show The Full Monty. There’s a lot of excitement around a new show; everyone is optimistic and the sky’s the limit. Immediately upon the Broadway opening, we started putting a tour together. Contrary to trends at the time, our booking agent was setting up 3-6 month sit downs in very large markets like LA, D.C., Philly, and Chicago. This made me nervous. I was a fan of doing shorter runs, selling them out, and then returning to the city at a later date to cash in on the first success. It’s a more conservative approach and I felt badly being a naysayer to the excitement of the tour beginnings so I became a no-sayer, meaning I shut my mouth and just went along with everyone else’s opinion to book the long engagements.

The situation goes south
As the tour got going, the long engagement idea was not going well. We couldn’t sell enough seats in Toronto, our first stop, so we had to schedule a few weeks of lay-off before heading to Chicago, our second city. During our run in Chicago, the September 11th tragedy struck and the bottom fell out of the theatre industry. The show was canceled and would not be sent out again until the following summer, with new producers and many of the actors, crew, and logistics switched up. And shorter engagements. While the producers cast the blame to the tragedy of September 11th, that was only an easy scapegoat. Truthfully, we couldn’t make the long stays work because we couldn’t sell enough tickets in advance of each city. The engagements needed to be shorter. I was right, and got no credit for my opinion because I didn’t say a word as the tour was being set up. I was just an employee following orders. At the ripe old age of 25 I learned a very valuable lesson that a decade later is more relevant in my life than ever. Being on record, even if my opinion isn’t shared by anyone else, is a valuable thing to do.

A second chance to learn a lesson
The Universe has a way of testing us. My friends Derek has said to me that the Universe is a very generous place – it gives us the same lesson over and over again until we learn it and don’t need to go through it any more. The Universe gave me another go this week when someone asked me to get the IP of a start-up I work with so that I could pass that IP on to a corporation that would build the exact same capability in-house and not need to pay the start-up for a partnership. I could have done it, lost my personal integrity, and been praised for a job well done. I didn’t. I went on record saying that I wouldn’t do that to the start-up who was working so hard to get a very good idea to take hold. They needed to be compensated for their IP. It didn’t win me any points with the powers that be, but I got to keep my integrity and sleep well at night.

And a third chance to make sure the lesson really sticks
Then the very next day I was asked to talk about a recent service that my company launched that I frankly find embarrassing. The customer experience is awful and it’s just a copycat of a service that one of our competitors has. For over a year I have been on record about how the service should have been fixed before being launched to the public. Either the feedback fell on deaf ears or they just disagreed with me. Regardless of the reason, when I read the analyst reports and blogs and was asked to comment on the launch at my staff meeting, I felt vindicated. The analysts and heavy-hitting blog writers said the same things I’ve been saying for over a year. I didn’t resort to a childish “I told you so” but felt that I could speak from a place of confidence because I have been on record with my opinions for many months. And again, I could also keep my integrity and sleep well at night.

The trade-offs of being on record
At the outset, it can be hard to be on record. It’s sometimes not a popular move. It can certainly stall your career at a company or get you fired if people in power don’t like your opinion. I’m okay with that. I’d rather be a person of conviction than a person who just says, “yes, sir” and falls in a line not of my own making. Mine is a more difficult road. Sometimes it’s lonely, and in the short-term it may not earn me a spectacular salary or a fancy title. However, when it’s all said and done I’d rather have to walk away having said my piece than get a seat at the table where everyone just nods in agreement. Integrity isn’t a trait; it’s a choice we make every day, at every moment.

home, meditation

Beginning: A Meditation to Take You Home

Christa Avampato

Yesterday I wrote a post about one of my students at New York Methodist Hospital. In it I referenced a meditation technique that taught, and I got some emails from readers asking if I could send the technique to them so they could practice it at home. For your reading and practicing pleasure on this fine Tuesday, here is a meditation to take you home. This meditation is also available as a podcast if you’d like to listen to it rather than read it. It lasts for 7 minutes.

Meditation to take you home
Come to a comfortable seat, either in a chair or on the floor. You could also be lying flat if that feels more comfortable to you.

Bring attention to the even inhale and exhale of your breath. Begin to arrive at a place that you treasure – a favorite vacation spot, your home – past or present, a place you go to regularly that brings you comfort. Maybe it’s a place you’ve never been to but dream to see. Let yourself go there. Slowly begin to trace your mind’s eye to take in a 360 degree view of where you are. With every inhale, bring more and more detail of the place into focus through the five senses.

What colors do you see? Is there vegetation or wild life nearby. Are there other people around? Are you in the company of others or are you alone? Is there activity happening or is there complete stillness?

What sounds do you hear? Are there voices of loved ones or the sounds of nature – a bird, maybe a pet whom you love. Is the wind blowing or the rain softly failing? Is there music, and is that music nearby or far off in the distance? Do you hear the sounds of ocean? Or is there no sound at all except the rising and the falling of your breath, the beating of your heart?

What scents are present? From flowers or fruit or the salty air. Maybe there’s that deep, rich scent of an ancient forest or the scent of rain. Maybe you’re baking a favorite food. Or is there a scent nearby that you associate with someone you love.

What do you taste? Is it just the clear air that you take in on every inhale or is there a strong flavor associated to this place memory? A favorite meal, a special gift made for you on a special occasion.

What are the tactile textures of your memory? Is there sand or water that you can touch? Is the sun shining on your face? Are you wearing a favorite outfit, and how does that fabric feel against your skin? Are there flowers or plants or rocks that you can glide your fingers along? Is it another person that you hug and can you allow yourself to actually feel that hug again as if it is happening right now, in this moment?

And now take all of that detail and bring it inside your heart. How does this place make you feel? Calm and peaceful? Adventurous and alive? Comfortable and safe? Allow yourself to really be present in that place, to take in each of its dimensions.

And now to slowly come out of the meditation, with every exhale allow the picture of this place to slowly fade, to softly recede into your memory where you can return to it at any time. Release it by counting backwards from 10 to 1. Slowly open the eyes and be thankful for the opportunity to have such a beautiful memory in your heart.

Namaste.

happiness, home, hope, meditation, yoga

Beginning: Finding Your Way

Christa Avampato

San Marino Island, Croatia. http://www.find-croatia.com
“Blessed is the person who finds what she’s meant to do with her life.” ~ Sonia, one of my meditation students at NY Methodist Hospital and a caregiver

I met Sonia at NY Methodist Hospital this past week during one of my meditation sessions in the Physical Rehab Unit. She is from Croatia and is now caring for her elderly mother. Her journey as a child refugee out of Croatia ultimately landed her in Park Slope Brooklyn, where she has lived ever since. That evening we took a traveling meditation in which we focused on a specific place as a point of concentration. Sonia emerged from the meditation with teary eyes and a peaceful heart. Though she has been in Brooklyn for so long, she misses her Croatia even now. Its beauty, its history, its people. “If you go through this life and never see Croatia, you are missing out,” she said. With that kind of endorsement, I dutifully added it to my list for future vacations.

We also got to talking about my work at the hospital. I told her about the transition I’m hoping to make, and surprised myself when I freely said, “I wish I could be doing the work I do here every day.” For some reason that statement made me both sad and glad. Glad that I had that kind of clarity, and sad that it is not yet my reality. Maybe Sonia sensed that wistfulness in me, because she offered up the simple quote at the top of this post. I may have offered her a meditation that night that allowed her to go home for a few moments, but she gave me much more of a lesson. To someone who’s lived a life of struggle, it seemed to her that my clarity of purpose was more than enough of a reason to be happy, to feel whole.

change, nature, yoga

Beginning: Long Day’s Journey Into Night – A Lesson from 5 Days of Teaching Yoga

Christa Avampato

From http://redbubble.com
I taught yoga for the last 5 out of 7 days. Ironically, they were some of the worst days I ever had and some of the best nights I ever had. At work, every day felt like a Monday. During the yoga classes I taught, every night felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. These two parts of my life stood in such sharp contrast to one another it was impossible to ignore the insight.

There’s something to be said for practicality, for being grounded and logical. And there’s something equally as important to be said about following your gut and your heart, two very wise centers that are difficult to wrap up in logic. Here’s what I’m sure of – when the gut and the heart find themselves in sync, there’s some kind of magic moment that’s arrived and deserves to be seized with both hands.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the topic of transitions and I found myself teaching the lesson of transition in my yoga classes this week. As we move back and forth between two counter poses in a yoga practice, we’re sometimes so focused on the two end states of the postures that we don’t fully appreciate the transition. Each little movement in a transition is important. It deserves to have its say, to be appreciated for what it is all on its own and where it’s helping to take us.

My life feels like that now as I ratchet down the activities that feel like Monday and pump up the ones that feel like Friday afternoon at 5:00. Eventually, my life will reach a tipping point where the activities that don’t serve my greater purpose fall away. And those that bring energy and gladness will be all that’s left.

I think about this transition into the wellness field the way I think about the fun my niece, Lorelei, and I have at the beach. We toddle along the water’s edge looking for jellies that wash up on the sand with the incoming tide. Lorelei loves to look at those jellies. The water doesn’t come barreling in for high tide. The tide rolls in and rolls out one small inch at a time, bringing with it new and interesting gifts. It creeps forward to give us time to adjust.

This method of slow, purposeful change has worked for nature day in and day out for many centuries. Why should the rhythm of change in our own lives be any different? Welcome the transition and let each small step forward have its chance to shine and be recognized.

art, creativity, film

Beginning: Sketches of Frank Gehry

Christa Avampato

http://www.sonyclassics.com/sketchesoffrankgehry/main.html
Over the weekend I watched the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry by the brilliant director Sydney Pollack. This was Pollack’s first documentary and he starts the movie by freely admitting that he knows nothing about making a documentary and nothing about architecture. “That’s why you’re the perfect choice,” laughed Gehry. I was struck by how much of the documentary dealt with the topic of beginning. “At the moment of beginning, I’m always terrified,” said Gehry. “It’s just me and this enormous task, and I delay and procrastinate because I’m afraid I can’t do it. And then I start, and I realize I actually can do this.”

Two other poignant points about the idea of beginning happen in the middle and at the end of the film. Towards the middle of the film, Pollack shares his feelings about his early career as a director. “I always felt like I was pretending when I first started. I felt like I was faking it for a long time, and then eventually that feeling went away and I was just a director,” he said. “That happened to me, too,” agreed Gehry. Toward the end of the film, Pollack asks Gehry, “Do you ever look at one of your buildings and wonder how did I do that?” “Every time,” replied Gehry. “Every time.”

Two giants, one in architecture and one in film, talking about their own uncertain beginnings in their chosen professions and their continued and consistent beginnings in all of their creative projects. The beginning process is terrifying. It’s you and a very blank canvas at the start of every day at the start of every project. It can be overwhelming. Take some advice from Pollack and Gehry – just begin. Give it a go. It worked out okay for both of them. There’s no reason why it can’t work out for you, too.

choices, creativity, luck, nature, religion

Beginning: The Long Shot of Life

Christa Avampato

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathoov/2429733088/
While in Austin, I started reading the book, The Case for a Creator. My brother-in-law lent it to me after we watched the lunar eclipse together in December. Lee Strobel, the author, starts the book as a devout atheist. He speaks to scientists and researchers to examine their views on the origins of life. Though they have divergent views, there is one thing that they all agree on – the odds of life being created in its first instant were a case against all odds. The numerous conditions that had to come together to give life its first breath is nothing short of a miracle. Life, as we know it, was a long shot from the very beginning.

I thought about this idea over the weekend when Kira Campo, a Twitter friend of mine and Founder of The Creative Practice, were talking about creative projects we’re both pursuing. She asked if I thought they were a long shot. I absolutely think they’re a long shot, just like everything in life. As Brian so often tells me, “We get what we settle for.”

If nature and life itself have anything to teach us it’s that we have to believe that the long shot is possible. Somehow the necessary elements conspire and catapult us into a life we imagine. The turning points aren’t always obvious and often entirely unplanned. If we live long enough and look back on the moment that really make our lives what they are, we realize just how coincidental and synchronous life really is. Go for the long shot that you really want – it’s just as likely to come to fruition as any other possibility.

experience, healthcare, learning

Beginning: Let New Experiences Be New

Christa Avampato

http://www.sevenof.com
“You can’t use a Western mind to understand Eastern philosophy. To really understand it, you have to change your mind.” ~ Dr. Nan Lu, OMD

Dr. Lu used this quote to close his talk about Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium earlier this month. It reminded me of how often we try to understand a new concept based upon our past learning. Of course, this is entirely logical. Our experience gives us a language and lens by which to process novel ideas. Though just because this pattern is logical, doesn’t mean it always serves. What’s perhaps more powerful, and yet more difficult to do as we get older, is to just take a learning as is without trying to compare it to what we already know.

This is how children learn. They’re little sponges. No prejudices, no judgements, no nagging voice in the back of their minds that is chattering away. They take a new lesson as just that – new and to be appreciated in its own right.

What if we could do that as new situations and experiences come into our lives? What if we could set aside that chattering, monkey mind, and just take in the new information for all the glory it has in its own right? If we could do that then I am confident that there isn’t a single challenge in all the challenges our world now faces that we wouldn’t be able to solve.

entrepreneurship, finance, philanthropy

Beginning: Grameen America Partners with Kiva to Support Entrepreneurs

Christa Avampato

A group of women in Bangladesh helped by microfinance loans from Grameen
For a number of years, I’ve written about and donated to Grameen America and Kiva. Both organization provide microloans to entrepreneurs. Kiva works in the developing world and Grameen America works right here in New York City. Given my support of both organization, I was thrilled to get the information below in a recent email from the organization that explains the beginning of their new partnership.

If you have an interest in supporting entrepreneurship as a way to give lower-income individuals and families a greater chance for economic independence and freedom, please read on and consider supporting this partnership.

“We’re excited to tell you about two huge developments with Kiva and Grameen America.

First, there’s a new film featuring Grameen America showing for just one night on Thursday, March 31. To Catch A Dollar: Muhammad Yunus Banks on America tells the story of how the Nobel Prize winning Dr. Muhammad Yunus and Grameen America are helping bring the microfinance revolution to bear on addressing poverty in the United States.

Second, we’re proud to announce that we are partnering with Dr. Yunus’s Grameen America to provide financing to low-income entrepreneurs in the United States.

Elizabeth’s Story

Thirty years ago, Dr. Muhammad Yunus began a quiet revolution. He found that poverty could best be alleviated in his native Bangladesh not through charity, but through unleashing entrepreneurship. By grouping rural women together, he was able to provide financing for businesses that banks weren’t interested in serving.

Fast forward thirty years, and Dr. Yunus is working to bring group lending to low income entrepreneurs in the United States.

And Kiva is going to be there to help. Through our new partnership, entrepreneurs like Elizabeth, pictured to the left, are able to grow their businesses and communities.

Browse Grameen America’s loans, and learn more about Elizabeth and other Grameen America entrepreneurs.

To Catch A Dollar

Speaking of Elizabeth, she is featured in To Catch A Dollar, along with several other Grameen America entrepreneurs.

The documentary introduces viewers to Grameen staff and borrowers, as they work together to prove that the group lending model can work in the United States. Following the documentary, there’s a special panel, recorded earlier this month in New York, featuring Robert De Niro, Kiva President Premal Shah, financial guru Suze Orman, Dr. Yunus, and CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo.

The film will be showing at over 200 theaters across the country. Remember, this is a one-night-only event, so please get your tickets now!

A strong showing on Thursday will help guarantee international distribution for the film and get the word out about microfinance, so buy a ticket and take a friend. For those in the San Francisco Bay area, the Kiva team will be attending the screening at Embarcadero Cinemas. Drop by and say hi!

Dr. Yunus

Grameen and Kiva are in many ways a natural fit. The inspiration for Kiva came during a lecture by Muhammad Yunus at Stanford in 2005. His experience in Bangladesh inspired Kiva’s founders to travel to Uganda and begin the long journey of building what would one day become Kiva.

We’re thrilled to announce that earlier this month we passed $200 million in loans made on Kiva. This would have never been possible without Dr. Yunus’s inspiration, and for that we’re eternally grateful.

Speaking of microfinance in the United States, Kiva will be co-presenting the Microfinance USA Conference in New York on May 23-34. For more information, click here.

One final note: don’t forget we have borrowers from over 40 countries who are looking for loans every day.”

art, health, healthcare, music

Beginning: The Music Stays With Us to Our Last Days

Christa Avampato

From http://www.rockandtheology.com
On Saturday morning, I started a busy week of yoga teaching at New York Methodist Hospital. I went to the Geriatric Psychology Unit. Because it is an acute care facility, I always have a different group of patients whom I work with in a small group class. Their cognitive and physical abilities vary widely. This weekend I met a woman, Ruth, who spoke very little and though she could hear me speaking, my questions didn’t register in her mind. Their illnesses are both fascinating and heart breaking to witness. My mind can’t help but go to the thought that some day I and / or the people I know and love may find ourselves in this same situation of loss as the years tick by.

There was a piano in the room where I was teaching the class. Ruth slowly shuffled to it and played a church hymn that she probably learned as a young child. Her shaking that was prevalent throughout the yoga class completely stopped. Color came back to her cheeks and for a moment she seemed aware again as she played the hymn. I was astonished and asked Caroline, the recreational therapist, why Ruth could play the song perfectly but not answer the question, “how are you?” Caroline had a very simple answer, “Music is the very last thing to go from the mind. Cognitive abilities, math skills, and speech can be completely gone but music sticks with us until our very last days.” I had no idea.

I’m certain that there is a very sound, neurological reason for this. Perhaps musical ability is stored in an area of the brain that is not affected by the loss of cognitive ability from aging. The writer and philosopher in me finds this notion to retaining music as a beautiful, powerful justification for making creativity and the arts a very necessary part of our lives at every age. When everything else falls away, and I mean everything, we can take comfort that music will become our final voice to the world.

art, books, change, choices, imagination

Beginning: The Ambiguity-loving Nature of the Imagination

Christa Avampato

“Imagination sometimes has to stand in for experience.” ~ Steve Martin, An Object of Beauty

I just started reading Steve Martin’s latest novel, An Object of Beauty. From the first 10 pages, I was hooked, as I always am with his writing. Lines like the one above are common place in his writing and have such an inspirational effect without slapping the reader in the face.

Just as I started to read An Object of Beauty, I also saw the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car. It’s the story of how GM pulled its well-received electric car from the market in 2005 and the conspiracy behind the decision that involved politicians and oil companies. None of the parties involved could imagine a world beyond their gas-guzzling vehicle experience.

A large company that I read about frequently is making some horrible investment decisions. Despite all of the market trend and competitive intelligence they have, they are refusing to invest in new technology. The new technology wouldn’t be that expensive to invest in. It wouldn’t even be that difficult to implement. They aren’t investing in new technology because the company’s leaders aren’t personal fans of new technology. They would rather plod along on the same road that has carried them to success up until now rather than try something new. As an investor in the company and a huge fan of the brand, I find their decisions frustrating. I can only imagine how their more progressive team members feel.

Experience has its place in our decision-making. It can be a helpful lens through which to view opportunities, though where I draw the line is when experience is used in place of imagination. What made us successful in the past will not always make us successful going forward. Times change, customers change, the world changes. And to stay relevant and engaged, we need to change, too. Experience doesn’t like change. The imagination embraces change, is fueled by change. Make good use of the imagination’s love of ambiguity. The only certainty we have in this world is that sooner or later, everything everywhere changes.

I found the image above here. I wouldn’t recommend any of these reasons.