Tag: quotes

creativity

How to use your front door to inspire your life in 2024

Christa Avampato
My front door for 2024. Photo by Christa Avampato.

I decorated my front door for the new year with my 2024 word for the year, a Rumi quote I want to carry with me every day, and a handmade house blessing for my new apartment from my dear friend, Kelly Greenaur.

My word for 2024 — vulnerability
Instead of resolutions, I adopt a word for the year to guide my thoughts and actions, and I write out some of my wishes I hope the word helps me take. In 2023, my word was clarity and I did find more clarity in every area of my life. In 2024, my word is vulnerability. By embracing my own vulnerability and supporting others doing the same, I hope I can bridge the divides in our society, and between people and nature. By recognizing and naming my fears and concerns, I can alleviate them. I can only solve problems and challenges I’m willing to have. By recognizing and naming my hopes and dreams, I can realize them. I can only climb the mountains I’m willing to attempt.

My word for 2024. Photo by Christa Avampato.

Letting myself be vulnerable opens me up to experiences I need and want, and otherwise wouldn’t have. I don’t want to leave anything unsaid. I want to take more chances and risks, asking for what I want, explaining how I feel, and sharing what I believe. I’m excited to see who and what I’ll find on this adventure. I want to be open to the world, and whatever it has to show and teach me, even if that breaks me and cracks me open. With those cracks, more light will find its way in, as Rumi wrote and the late great Leonard Cohen sang.

Rumi
The Rumi quote, “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.”, is one I want to use this year to help heal others and the world. We have so much capacity to help each other through this life, and I want to make sure I use mine to the fullest. I’m hopeful the light I find by being more vulnerable will be light I can share with others.

Rumi quote. Art and photo by Christa Avampato.

A handmade house blessing
Kelly sent me this house blessing talisman for Christmas, along with a stitched bracelet and an ornament that says, “I wish you lived next door.” (Me, too, Kel!) They were made by two women — Dau Nan from Myanmar and Bina Biswa from Bhutan — who now live in Buffalo, New York and are part of Stitch Buffalo, a textile art center committed to empowering refugee and immigrant women through the sale of their handcrafted goods, inspiring creativity, inclusion, community education, and stewarding the environment through the re-use of textile supplies. These passions of helping people and the environment are ones Kelly and I share, and I’m so grateful for her friendship, love, and support.

Stitch Buffalo crafts. Photos by Christa Avampato.

I hope 2024 is everything you want and need it to be. This year will be turbulent, and holds opportunities for progress, joy, and love. Onward we go, together.

creativity

Joy today: Winter stars

Christa Avampato

“Though my soul may set in darkness,
it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too fondly
to be fearful of the night.”
~Sarah Williams, poet and novelist, “The Old Astronomer”

If you’re a stargazer, winter is your season. With more nighttime hours and the brightest, clearest, and most beautiful skies of the entire calendar, winter is something to celebrate. Having more time with the stars is one of the main reasons I love this season. So if cold temperatures and long nights have you down, look up. There’s so much out there to love.

creativity

A Year of Yes: How the book A Wrinkle in Time is giving us strength in trying times

Christa Avampato

“Stay angry, little Meg,” Mrs Whatsit whispered. “You will need all your anger now.”

No matter what happens next week, these wise words by the brilliant Madeleine L’Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, remind me that there is so much work ahead of us to build a better world. And we can. And we will‬

creativity

A Year of Yes: Why I gave up perfect

Christa Avampato

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.” ~Gilda Rader

The older I get, the more I’ve learned to love the imperfections of life and of people. The crooked path, the flaws, the messiness. Those things are what I remember. Those are the things that taught me what I needed to learn. Perfect hasn’t given me anything except anxiety and fear. Imperfect has given me possibility, opportunity, empathy, and compassion. Which would you prefer?

creativity

A Year of Yes: The best lesson from Maya Angelou—I’m with you, kid.

Christa Avampato

“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, ‘I’m with you, kid. Let’s go.’“ ~Maya Angelou

I’m so glad Maya Angelou got her stories down, that she left us with such a legacy of hope, encouragement, and the unbridled belief that ordinary people can chase down extraordinary dreams. This quote that she tossed out onto Twitter about a year before she passed continues to inspire me. It’s one of my favorites, and it’s the only place where she ever wrote it down.

It conjures up a mental image for me that’s empowering and action-oriented. The very best helping hands we have are at the ends of our own arms. Use them. Build the life you want. Yes, you can do this.

creativity

In the pause: Don’t stumble over something behind you

Christa Avampato

“Don’t stumble over something behind you.” ~Seneca

Whenever I’m faced with something disappointing, I feel is deeply and and immediately. I strip out that phase of denial and move right into grief. While grief is a painful, my willingness to feel every ounce of it jumpstarts the healing process. Grief is a lens I use to refocus my energy and get clear about what I need and want. It’s not fun, but it’s necessary. The great benefit of this brutal process is that once it’s done, it’s done. I don’t look back; I let it go and move forward. I have many times in my life that I’m glad I’ll never repeat, and I’m also grateful for all of the learnings that those times held. They have given me empathy, strength, and courage, three of the things I value most.

 

creativity

This just in: Every day, find what needs to be known

Christa Avampato

My new morning ritual
My new morning ritual

Over the past week, I’ve been trying something new. When I wake up, the first thing I do is read this quote: “Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known.” ~Carl Sagan. And then I get up, get ready, and try to find that one thing that I’m meant to learn that day. Some days, it’s wonderful. Some days, it’s not so wonderful. But it’s always incredible because day by day I’m learning about another small layer of life. I trust that the lessons I get are the ones I need and that they appear exactly when I need them. Maybe this is a profound practice. And maybe it’s a fool’s errand. But I do know it helps me go out into the world, no matter what, with a sense of purpose.

creativity

This just in: Walls and tables

Christa Avampato

Love this!

My friend, Sofia, posted this beautiful quote and it really got me thinking how often we seek to defend what we have rather than share it with others. The truth is that the more we share of anything—ideas, wisdom, energy, patience, kindness, love, compassion, empathy—the more we receive. Scarcity of goodness is a complete myth. If we have the courage to give, we’ll find ourselves richer in the ways that matter—love, friendship, trust, happiness—than we ever thought possible.