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Step 246: Opportunity is Where You Are

September 3, 2010 by Christa

“The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.” ~ John Burroughs

I’ve spent most of my life looking forward, seeking out new opportunities, professionally and personally. At times, I’ve even toyed with the idea of chucking an ordinary life and going back to my gypsy theatre ways. My former boss, Bob G., once said to me, “You know, if you stick around long enough, everything changes.” It explains why he stayed at the same company for 25 years. The amount of change and growth that happened during his tenure was staggering.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized how right Bob is. A city, a job, a relationship – they are all changing in small ways every day and it’s only when we look back along an extended period of time that we see the cumulative effect of continuous change. If we can tap into the direction of change and get ahead of it a bit, we can find opportunity wherever we are. that’s not to say we should never move – I am a big proponent of movement and growth. What I’m reconsidering if whether movement is the only way to experience change.

My friend, Sharni, writes a blog with the tag line “The grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s greener where you water it.” Brilliant. Opportunity does lie out there in the great beyond and we should absolutely pursue it, but we can actually grow opportunity right under our own two feet, too.

Posted in change, opportunity | Leave a Comment »

Step 245: Back to School and Life Lessons

September 2, 2010 by Christa

“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.” ~ Tom Bodett, American author and humorist

I love school. Weez is always kidding me that if I could find a way to be a student for the rest of my life and get paid for it, I’d do it. In truth, I kind of do that now. I’m an information junkie. Lots of data served up with a heaping side of industry reports please. All industries welcome. My education has followed me into the workplace and then follows me home, to the gym, out to dinner. Every experience become an opportunity to learn – and become writing material.

I went to my local CVS yesterday and nostalgically walked through the school supply aisle. Advertisements abound all over the city, in every retail window, saying “stock up for school here.” School is part of why I love the Fall – back to school might just be my favorite holiday. Everything is shiny, new, and full of promise. Sometimes people ask me how I did so well in school and managed so many extracurriculars. Some people even warned me that I was taking on too much, that I couldn’t possibly get it all done. People are funny and they project.

To be sure, I studied a lot. Kid geniuses really fascinate me because I wasn’t someone who just knew everything the moment I read it. I am a really good student, work very hard, and have a dangerously high level of curiosity. Truly, I can ask “why?” until the cows come home and never be satisfied. (Ask my mom.) I had to study and practice all the way through business school. I study and practice now, and love it. I learn the lesson, really learn it, get the test, pass. Simple. Linear. Logical. It’s true of school, and mostly true of work, too, so long as I’m working for someone else.

This whole paradigm changes, as Tom Bodett explains so brilliantly, when we leave behind school and work and just have to live in the world. Or when we start our own business or some kind of personal endeavor. Relationships of every kind fall into this class, too. You can’t study or think your way through them. You really do have to give it a whirl, maybe screw up, maybe succeed, and take note of the outcome so the next time around you can improve. It’s not fair, I know, but that’s life. You take the test, hand it in, and then figure out how it shoulda, coulda, woulda been done if you had known better. But you didn’t, and you can’t, so you just show up and do your best. Welcome to a life of improv.

A lot of my life now is about being tested and then receiving the lesson. Yoga, Innovation Station, my writing. I can study and read about these subjects all I want (and I do!), but eventually I know I’ve got to take off the training wheels, go careening down the road, learn from my mistakes, get up, and try again. I didn’t know anything about social media 3 years ago, so I started this blog. I didn’t know how to write a book, so I wrote Hope in Progress. I didn’t know how to swim so I jumped in the pool (with a lifeguard nearby) and paddled around. That’s life, too – try your luck and see how it goes.

I’ll be thinking about this idea over the next few weeks as I see the school buses become part of our traffic patterns and kids skipping home with backpacks and lunch boxes in tow. We’re all learning – students of school just have the benefit of a better sequence of events than students of life.

Posted in books, children, education, learning, nostalgia, quotes, school | Leave a Comment »

Step 244: August Accomplishments and September Goals

September 1, 2010 by Christa

The summer is slowly fading into the distance, even if the temperatures outside don’t seem to be subsiding. In a month or so, we’ll be digging out some slightly warmer clothing, starting a new school year, and making holiday travel plans. We may even see a leaf of two put on its own colorful wardrobe. So long summer, until next time.

Fall is my favorite time of and always has been. I always feel most alive during these last months of the year, and it’s always been a time of great change and accomplishment for me. I revel in it. I expect this Fall to be no exception to the norm. I will “celebrate” the 1 year anniversary of my apartment building fire that set off a year of change and transformation, and spend as much time reflecting as I do looking forward. Later in September, I’ll head up north to see my family and celebrate my mom’s retirement and her impending move to Florida with my stepfather. Times, they are always a changin’.

So here’s what’s been cooking over at Chez Christa as the summer winds down and what I’ve got on order for the coming month:

August Accomplishments:
1.) Kick off my viral, guerrilla, and social media marketing class at LIM College

My class fell through at the last-minute, which was a disappointing turn of events. I didn’t stay disappointed for long – as a result, space opened up in my life this Fall for some other wonderful activities and people. For more details, check out my post on the class cancellation.

2.) Make a decision on my apartment lease renewal. I’m thinking about a possible move to Brooklyn and doing some research before I notify my current landlord one way or the other.

I decided to renew the lease on my current apartment. The thought of packing and hauling myself to a new neighborhood wasn’t appealing since I couldn’t find better space for less money in a neighborhood as convenient as the Upper West Side.

3.) Make some headway on my out-of-school education project, Innovation Station. I recently made some valuable partner contacts to keep this idea moving as we head into the school year.

Moving right along and having more conversations with potential partners. Now that school will be back in session this month, the conversations should start to translate into actions.

4.) Do some marketing of my e-book, Hope in Progress.

I did some marketing which yielded some good results. As of August 31st, 413 uniques have downloaded the book. The book has been out for about two months so I think 413 downloads is a pretty decent number considering I haven’t done a big marketing push and the summer is a historically slow sales time. Now that my summer travels have passed, I’ll be doing some more work on marketing the book this Fall. (See #1 below in September’s goals.) To download a copy, click here.

September Goals:

1.) E-book marketing and expansion continues for Hope in Progress. My friend, Dan, asked me to get the book into as many formats as possible as fast as possible. He also said that the book may benefit from a new cover. I’m going to talk to my artist brother-in-law about helping me with the new cover. I like the image on the current cover but Dan’s right – it needs more pop. More formats and marketing on the way…

2.) Secure some more sub or regular teaching gigs and private clients for Compass Yoga. I’ve been added to the sub list at the Downtown Community Center, and there’s also a sub possibility brewing at Columbia University. Now that the summer is ending and people are returning to their routine lives, the yoga should pick up, too. I’ll also begin to more marketing on this front to get some additional private clients – so far I’ve stay close to home on drumming up business. Now that I have more time this Fall, I can devote more time to Compass.

3.) Online writing portfolio needed. I have a page on this blog with links to my freelance writing. With all the links, I now need a more formal portfolio. I’ve been in touch with several different services and now I’m weighing the options. More to come when it’s up and running.

4.) My apartment needs a makeover. Now that I’ve decided to stay in my apartment for another year, I’m going to add some color and new touches to my place. I’ll also take some time to de-clutter and reorganize myself after a whirlwind summer.

5.) I need to put some more time into my new book idea around yoga and personal finance. My friends, Dan and Sara, were very encouraging of the idea over the past few days. I think I’ve got something here…

6.) Continue to grease the skids of Innovation Station. As the school year kicks into high gear, I want to make sure that by next Spring I’ve completed a pilot program of some kind to really put some training wheels on this idea and see if I can get it to go.

Happy Fall, y’all! What are you planning?

Posted in goals | Leave a Comment »

Step 243: Celebrations and Legacy Building

August 31, 2010 by Christa

“A nation reveals itself by the people it honors, the people it remembers, and the people it celebrates.” ~ President John F. Kennedy

While Dan and I were in Philly over the weekend, we stopped into the U.S. Mint to see where the money’s made. Because it was a Saturday, the manufacturing floor was not operating but we could take a look at the machinery and the self-guided plaques told us about the process.

As we were leaving the Mint, there was a small section dedicated to commemorative coins. Off to the side there was a display of memorabilia that the Mint produced to commemorate Charles M. Schultz, the creator of Peanuts, one of my very favorite set of characters. I went to Schultz’s house in Santa Rosa, California, a number of years ago and was blown away by his creative process and the simplicity of his life. One time a reporter asked him if he could confirm the rumor that Charlie Brown was actually a reflection of his own personality when Schultz was a child. He replied, “Of course he is. And so is every one of the other characters. They’re all me.”

In the Schultz display at the Mint, the JFK quote at the top of this post appears next to a listing of quotes from famous artists who commented on Charles Schulz’s passing and his tremendous influence on American pop culture. In Santa Rosa, a similar display appears, though it spans roughly a 100 foot long, floor-to-ceiling wall.

Charles Schulz was loved during his lifetime, and has remained well-remembered and celebrated long after his passing. I dare say that his memory will continue on for many generations to come. The fact that we continue to celebrate a man who remained so tapped in to his childhood throughout his life gives me great hope that we can do the same, and want to do the same.

That got me thinking about the subject of legacy, the efforts we put into the world now so that we will have a last impacting long after we cross over. The people we hold up as examples of inspiration and admiration says a lot about the people we mean to be, which in turn tells us a lot about the kind of world we wish to live in, which again in turn tells us about our collective values and purpose.

Once we know our purpose, then legacy-building isn’t a chore – it’s a natural process. Charles Schulz woke up every day to turn his attention toward the concerns of the world, and mad those concerns bearable through the stories and experiences of the Peanuts kids. This says to me that we do care about the common human experience. He made us all recognize just how connected we are, and while we all have our own unique quirks, much like the Peanuts gang, we all want to be loved, accepted, and encouraged to practice. We all want to find out way. And that is an act worth celebrating.

Posted in art, celebration, children, legacy, memory | Leave a Comment »

Step 242: Philadelphia Stories

August 30, 2010 by Christa

This weekend, my traveling pal, Dan, and I went to Philadelphia. We stayed with Dan’s friends, Jeremy and Reese, who could not have been more gracious hosts. They also have a bulldog, Dolly – an added bonus. Jeremy took us on a tour of the neighborhood around Penn, my alma mater, and we went through neighborhoods that I haven’t thought about in over a decade. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have recognized them on my own. Philly has come a long way since the 1990′s.

Philly’s an under-appreciated city; it has been for a long time. Great food, art, culture, easily navigable, with a relaxed, casual feel. We had several great meals at local restaurants and gastropubs, went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, checked out the U.S. Mint and the Magic Garden, a public art installation of found objects. Some of the best education and medical facilities in the country are located in Philly. It takes 90 minutes to get to New York by Amtrak – even faster on the Acela train. Slightly longer to get to D.C. And did I mention that it’s affordable and filled with exceedingly kind people?

So why aren’t people moving to Philly in droves? Simple – business, sadly, has no incentive to move there, limiting economic opportunities. Philadelphia has a ridiculously high gross receipts tax and city wage tax for all business owners based in the city. These fees have been around forever, and different factions have tried over many years to reduce this burden on business owners in the hopes of spurring economic growth. All to no avail. Apparently Mayor Nutter’s administration is considering another fix to these fees. Like President Obama, Mayor Nutter was left with quite a bit to fix in Philadelphia before he could get started on new initiatives. It’s my hope that he will be successful in jump starting more businesses to set up shop in Philly.

I have a personal interest in seeing Philadelphia rise up to get all that it deserves. It is a city that has had a difficult, important history. In many ways, I came of age there as a Penn student. I had some of the very best, worst, happiest, saddest, proudest, and most disappointing moments of my life there. I learned how to love and care deeply about people and community. I discovered that one person really can make an enormous difference in the world. I learned how to fail, fall, and get up again, growing stronger every time.

When I graduated my friend, Derek, gave me a photo frame with a quote inside it. “Years from now, you’ll remember and you’ll come back and hang a plaque. This is where Christa began being what she can. ~ Stephen Sondheim, Merrily We Roll Along” I didn’t know how fitting that was until the trip back this weekend. I haven’t yet hung a plaque on any wall there, but I really did begin a journey of possibility there.

Philly and I have a history intertwined. I didn’t recognize the campus as I toured through the neighborhood on Saturday. Through the eyes of my 22-year old self, I wouldn’t recognize the me of today either. Philly and I have both grown and changed in dramatic ways, mostly for the better. And I’d like to believe that for Philly and for my own life, the very best of our days have yet to be seen.

Posted in dreams, good fortune, journey, travel | 4 Comments »

Step 241: Big Choices

August 29, 2010 by Christa

The through lines of our lives can be drawn between our tipping points, those moments and decisions that are so influential that they end up shaping our path forward in a dramatic way. I’ve had a few of those moments: my choices to try to create a career in theatre and then to leave touring theatre companies, moving to Florida and then DC, enrolling at Darden for business school, and then moving to New York City post-graduation without a set job.

Now I feel poised on the very edge of another turning point, with a window of opportunity that holds a lot of promise. That window won’t remain open forever. I have a limited amount of time to crawl through. If I choose to let it close, then I am certain that another window will open, but the opportunity will not be the same. Unlike my previous tipping points, this one makes me a little more nervous. I have more to lose now. Finally I’ve gotten to a comfortable point in my life, and I’m thinking of shaking it all up for the shake of a far-reaching dream.

My decision is eminent. In the next few weeks I will have to make some tough and interesting choices. My gut is conflicted, which rarely happens and which indicates to me that this decision is multi-layered with greater complications than my previous tipping points. I promise to disclose all of the details once I’ve made a choice. Until then, I’ll be turning the options over and over, looking for more information, hoping that my gut once again can show me the way.

While I’m thinking about this tipping point, I’d love to hear how you’ve made these types of choices and what the outcome was.

Posted in choices, decision-making | 1 Comment »

Step 240: Spiderman the Musical and Nostalgia for the Theatre

August 28, 2010 by Christa

Yesterday I was in midtown to get a pie as a gift for my hosts this weekend. My pal, Dan, and I are heading to Philly for a weekend – our third long weekend of travel together. (The other two were to Portland, Maine and Nashville.) We’re staying with Dan’s friends and I’m bringing a pie from The Little Pie Company as a gift for them. I went to college in Philly and haven’t been back in a number of years. Dan has never been. I’m excited to see what we find – Philly holds a mix of emotions and experiences for me, some of the very best and very worst of my life.

As I headed back to the subway from The Little Pie Company, I walked by the theatre where Spiderman the Musical will open on November 14th. The stagehands were outside the stage door having lunch. I asked them if they were working on Spiderman, they said yes, and asked if I’d like a tour of the theatre. I gladly accepted.

It’s been a while since I’ve stood on a Broadway stage. It used to make me so nervous. I’d do whatever I could to avoid standing on the stage – I have had a life-long struggle with stage fright. Or at least I used to. Today standing on the Spiderman stage didn’t make me nervous at all. It kind of felt like going back to my hometown after being away for a long time. Some things were different and all in all it felt very familiar.

I know and understand all of the reasons I stopped managing Broadway shows. I’ve never considered going back. That was a chapter of my life that I’m so glad I had, and I’m so glad I left when I did. It was still the best business training I’ve ever had, and I was so fortunate to have that experience. But for just a split second, I imagined what it might be like to go back. I could feel the exhilaration of starting something new and unique, helping bring a new vision to delighted audiences. Maybe there’s a way to weave it back into my life, not in the same way as I did all those years ago, but in some new form that better fits my life and outlook today. I’ll mull that over and let you know what I find. I find it ironic that I would have this experience just as I’m heading to Philly, where I first considered a career in professional theatre, and on the same day that I received an invitation in the mail for a New York City theatre event sponsored by my Philly alma mater. Universe, what are you trying to tell me?

For the record, Spiderman is going to be a crazy, wild production. It will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen. That’s all I’m saying so as to protect the artistic integrity and the magic of life on the Great White Way. Grab some tickets before they’re gone!

Posted in New York City, art, nostalgia, theatre | Leave a Comment »

Step 239: The Ease of Stepping Out and Up

August 27, 2010 by Christa

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ~ Henry David Thoreau, American Author

There was some little snap inside me this week. I’m not sure what it is – could be that the heat has just gotten to me. (After this blistering summer heat, I truly can’t wait for sweater weather!) It might have to do with some shifting tides at work – all good and different. Brian would probably say that finally, finally, finally I am trusting my gut enough to let it have its own voice. Or he might say that the prana really loves me and therefore uses me every chance it gets. Whatever the reason, this week, for the first time in a long time, I was unmistakably me. My friend, Col, also realized this trend and wrote about it on her blog this week.

I have what some people have termed as a bold personality. Though for the past few months I’ve tempered that, particularly in public forums. My friend, Blair, gave me the nickname “Scrappy” (yes, as is “Scrappy Doo”) some years ago. Lately, I’ve lost a bit of that spiciness. This week it came shining through on several important occasions.

On Wednesday morning I had a meeting about a new initiative that I’m particularly passionate about. A lot of people gathered around a table to offer up feeble, same-old same-old opinions. So rather than tuning out and going to my happy place as I often do in meetings with people who have fancy titles and not much to support them, I spoke up. There were some arched eyebrows around the table, a few sheepish looks, and while I certainly remained professional and courteous, I pointed out that doing what we’ve always done just isn’t working and we should do x, y, and z instead. And then I produced the data to back up my opinions. I think a few people left the room at the end of the meeting saying, “and who was that woman and what part of the company does she work in?” in a positive way. I do like to encourage curiosity and push people’s boundaries.

The funny side to my boldness is that I’m also a pleaser. I do like people to like me. I like to be helpful, to strangers and friends alike. And I’m good at sharing, listening, and empathizing. I paid attention in kindergarten and got a good foundation of social skills. But pleasers have a rather dangerous lot in life – as pleasers, it’s easy to lose ourselves.

There’s a balance between boldness and pleasing, to be sure, and in the past I have often veered too far to one side of the spectrum or the other. This week, I got that balance right, dead on. While I did want some new audiences to like me, I also made it a point, without even trying, to also have some tough conversations with those parties, not for the sake of being tough but for the sake of really helping them and making our interaction a valuable use of their time. It was easier than I thought it would be, certainly easier than it’s been before. I cared less about being liked by them, and more about helping them think more clearly and contribute in a more meaningful way.

Brian told me that adolescence actually lasts into our early 30′s. Now at the start of my mid-30′s it’s no surprise to him that I’m beginning to rise up in every area of my life – personally and professionally. I do feel that after so much work of laying the foundations of my life, I’m now building castles in the air – exactly the opposite of the order that Thoreau discusses in his quote above. After this week I’m now wondering whether a good foundation naturally supports and builds a castle on its own simply because that’s what a foundation is meant to do. And by comparison, if we spend so much time working on who we are at our very core, all of a sudden do we step into the light just because that’s where we’re now ready to be?

Posted in clarity, communication, courage, feelings | 3 Comments »

Step 238: Virtuous Feedback Loops and Doing What We Do Well (and Love)

August 26, 2010 by Christa

“In the last analysis, the individual person is responsible for living his own life and for “finding himself.” If he persists in shifting his responsibility to somebody else, he fails to find out the meaning of his own existence.” ~ Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, poet, and author

My Uncle Tom sent me this quote just as I was online researching virtuous feedback loops, an operations term that describes a system that is built to educate itself by doing the very act it was created to perform. (There really is no end to my nerd-dom.) With virtuous feedback loops, a system constantly learns and improves. It’s a technical paradigm that at its core supports the old adage of “practice makes perfect”, at least “practice makes better.”

I thought about how we build systems into our lives that function as virtuous feedback loops. Certainly music, sports, the arts, and cooking are examples of these loops – we improve these skills just by practicing them, learning something from each new shot we take at it. Except when we hit a wall. Improvement ceases, we get stuck, and then grow to hate the activity altogether.

I was a saxophone player when I was in school, and I was truly mediocre. I would practice and practice and practice and really never make any great strides. I finally got so frustrated with the lack of progress that I decided to be a jazz fan and turn my artistic energy toward writing, design, and business (which, yes, is most certainly an art). It was a wise choice on my part. I’ve turned out to be a much more productive and happier writer, designer, and business woman than I ever would have been a jazz artist.

We have only so much energy and years to while away on this planet. Thomas Merton implores us to take a look at our lives from our own perspective, not anyone else’s. Take stock of what really matters, what we love to do, and where we can be useful, and action against that. Build virtuous feedback loops in our lives that do what they’re meant to do – help us get better at something we’re meant to do. I wasn’t meant to be a saxophone player. And as disappointed as I was to realize that at the time, I’m glad I didn’t spend years trying to hack away as a mediocre musician.

That move took some serious serious self-analysis and more than a little humility. I had to let go of what I loved but couldn’t improve so that I could find a new happiness and passion. I had to quit to succeed. Sometimes that happens, and it’s okay.

So if you find yourself stuck in a rut, working at something that just isn’t improving and that you’re actually growing to dislike as a result, then maybe it’s time to find a new passion, one that you can improve upon as you practice. Just make sure that if you do get a new dream, you’re the one making the choice. This is your time after all, and you only get one chance to be you.

Posted in art, choices, decision-making, impact | 3 Comments »

Step 237: Do You Want to “Arrive”?

August 25, 2010 by Christa

I always know that something is afoot in the universe when the subject of a conversation I have with a friend is echoed in a conversation I have at work the very next day. Last night I had dinner with my friend, Courtney, and we talked a lot about “arriving”, both in a professional and work sense. I met Courtney through my yoga teacher training and as new teachers we’re both trying to find our way through the complicated maze of the wellness industry. She and I are both contemplating full-time career moves as well.

We talked about relationships and living in New York City, a city whose residents strive to arrive in every aspect of our lives and yet are also always reaching for that next rung up. After all, most of us moved here to prove we could make it here, and therefore make it anywhere. (Thank you, Frank, for writing that succinct, poetic line to describe our complicated, collective goal.) Because we live in this delicate balance of thriving and striving, it’s hard to know when we’ve actually made it.

I work full-time as a product developer for a premium financial institution. Like many luxury brands, our brand halo has always had the understanding that once you carry our brand in your portfolio, you’ve made it big time. It’s a sentiment that’s served us well except for one tiny, recent glitch: many young people (young Gen X, Gen Y, and Millennials) don’t feel like they’ve made it yet and therefore don’t have a sense of belonging with our brand as they do with many others. It’s a tough nut for us to crack since we’ve spent over 100 years touting ourselves as aspirational and a recent market study showed that young people today are choosing to grow up later in life than previous generations. The real risk for us is that if we don’t grow loyalty among the youth segment now, we actually won’t be relevant to them once they do feel like they’ve made it.

I’m a cusp Gen X / Gen Y so I understand this mentality. In truth, I’m not sure that I’ll ever feel like I’ve arrived and a large part of me doesn’t want to feel that way. I live in New York City because I actually love striving, pushing my limits, and the feeling I get from growing, intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and professionally, every day. Honestly, if you’re not interested in growth and change, I would recommend living someplace else. New York City is just too difficult a place to make your home unless you love to push yourself every day. I love New York City – I’m probably a lifer – but it is not for everyone and I understand why people choose to move. There’s no shame in that at all; it’s just a matter of priorities.

When I think about the youth dilemma facing my company, I think we’ve got one clear choice: Do you want to be a brand that rewards people once they feel like they’ve arrived at some idealized financial state or do you want to help people strive, accomplish, and push their boundaries no matter where they are on the “arrival spectrum”. That’s a very different kind of brand attitude that requires a new overarching brand strategy and quite a shake-up at my company. It’s a question worth pondering and acting upon – living in a state of limbo and identity crisis doesn’t help anyone, and in actuality it’s a sure-fire way to become irrelevant. Eventually, you’ve got to say “this is who I am” and be with the people who support that.

Posted in New York City, goals, marketing, priorities, work, youth | 1 Comment »

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