Being able to ask brave, candid, painful questions is a life skill. It requires a special sort of strength - the strength of being, of staying, in a liminal space without running away towards calrity and decisions.

Personally, while I was always a question-asker, I was still very much in love with clarity. Work and life have taught me that while I love being decisive (the clarity, the satisfaction, the ability to view myself as someone who “just goes for it”), it would serve me better to surrender to the unkown for a while. Breathing into this gap is frustrating and bribgs up a lot of vulnerability and hard feelings - but it also makes room for beautiful, important insights.

In episodes 2 and 3 of LLW season 2, I had two very different conversations, both revolving around asking questions and daring to be open and soft - but also subsequently confident in what works for you: in life, in your career, in parenthood, in faith…

I hope you’ll enjoy my converstaions with Dr Yakir Englander and with Sivan Shachnovitz. I can’t wait to hear what thoughts and emotions these episodes bring up for you.

ps. 🎗️ It’s been 165 days. Bring them home now.

It’s been a while. Two years to be exact.

Since October 7th, I don’t really know how to ask people how they are. So I’ll just say I hope you’re safe, I hope you’re with your loved ones, I hope you have what you need to take care of yourself.

Let me dive right in - I know I’ve pulled a disappearing act.

First, just from this newsletter - the outro of my podcast kept asking you to check out the newslettwer but it proved too challenging to update it regularly - and then, from the public stage in general.

I dive into it all on the new episode of Looks Like Work (which is back for season 2!) but let me give you the TL;DR version: I got divorced and my life imploded in ways I couldn’t have imagined in my worst, most vivid nightmares.

Does it have to be this way? No it does not (in fact, I believe divorce can be a gift - and so does my friend Olivia, the CEO and Co-founder of Fresh Starts Registry, who guest hosted this episode.) But getting divorced when you are part of a closed, religious community can be messy. I didn’t think it would, but it was - and I go into it on the episode, which is now out.

Basically, I learned that when gaslighting gets real, you start gaslighting yourself as well and find it hard to use your voice. Even if you’re a vocal piece of work like yours truly (she smiled through tears while typing.) So now that I’m back, divorced and so much better in all the ways that count - I’m committed to helping more people maintain and in fact, broadcast their voice.

Joining Nivcharot’s steering committee is one of the ways I’m doing this. Nivcharot is a feminist haredi (Jewish ultra orthodox) women’s movement, dedicated to helping women participate in decision making. I’ve been involved from the sidelines since its founding, and taking a more active part is giving me hope. I hope to also have the CEO on the podcast soon, so stay tuned!

I’ll share more about other initiatives that are giving me hope these days (like Smol Emuni - you can catch a glimpse here) and my upcoming book next time, but meanwhile: I’m so glad to be back here. I hope you enjoy the episode, and don’t miss next week’s episode as well, it’s a really special one.

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been able to think about much else than what’s going on in Ukraine right now. I’m not going to try and expand on this, since there are many people so much more knowledgeable about this terrible war than I. A colleague from Ukraine shared this link as a good resource for organizations you can donate to. I already did, and hope you’ll join me.

—

Liron grew up in Haifa, a Jewish-Arab city in Israel. One day she realized how strange it was that she doesn’t speak Arabic, the language of her neighbors. Spoiler alert: this realization resulted in Aravrit, an experimental writing system presenting a set of hybrid letters merging Hebrew and Arabic. Each letter is composed of Arabic on the upper half and a Hebrew on the bottom half.

In Aravrit, one can read any chosen language, without ignoring the other one, which is always present.

aravrit

A post shared by Aravrit | ערברית | عراڤريت (@aravrit)

Years ago, I saw Aravrit in its first iteration - as a graduation project at Shenkar school of design. Liron’s professors didn’t believe in this project, and it was hidden behind a door. Nevertheless, she persisted.

A year ago, we met for a conversation you can now hear on the podcast. We spoke about everything: vision, passion, burnout, being a multi-purpose, multi-passion, multi-talent creative, and having your identity and career so closely intertwined. Incidentally, I’m writing this as I’m about to see Liron again, for one of our soul-filling brainstorming and coffee sessions :) I hope you’ll enjoy this episode as much as I have.

—

With everything going on in the world, I feel very much like the below pic by the super talented Max Bahman. I may be a shiny disco ball at times (especially when I dance to Just Dance), but the daily grind and the news are tough. How do you deal with fatigue, despair and our old friend, Mr. burnout?

max164

A post shared by MAX164 Art - Max Bahman (@max164)

I’m reading so much on burnout these days and getting lots of inspiration from my podcast guests. If you feel like listening to episode 3 this week as well (yes, we’re at episode 3 already!) my dear friend Yali Harari, CEO and Co-founder of Innovesta, speaks so empathetically and intelligently on this subject as well as true leadership. I could listen to her for hours, but the episode is a few minutes short of 1-hour ;)

I’m also listening to the following books on Audible (I balance them with all the Olivia Dade and Casey McQuiston I can muster):

• Burnout by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

• Can’t Even by Anne Helen Petersen

• Out of Office* by Anne Helen Petersen**

*Incidentally, that’s also what’s written on my favorite cap

**Why, yes, I am a devoted AHP fangirl. Check out her newsletter.

__

This week has been A LOT. How has it been for you? Please share your thoughts and feelings in the comments below or on my Instagram. I’ll be back next week :)

Yours,

Chedva

9 years ago, Elsa famously sang “Let it go”.

And 2 years ago, I finally did.

The story of closing my first tech startup during the first wave of Covid is long and painful, but I find myself revisiting it often lately. As I observe Shmita (mainly by letting my plants grow wild) I keep thinking back to this idea of simply letting go every 7 years. Letting go of your possessions, of your daily tasks, but even more so - of such a key part of your identity as the person who owns them and who does them.

A few weeks ago, my friend Noa Hilzenrat, a community manager at Startup For Startup, asked me to write my story. As part of their Failure Month, she wanted me to share what led to closing Emerj and any takeaways I could share with fellow entrepreneurs. It was one of the hardest things I ever wrote in my life (and I’ve been writing since the age of 4). The amount of outpouring support and respect (or you know what, sheer feedback) I received was overwhelming. But it was one thing my therapist said that got me.

“I wonder how they got you to share your story as a failure,” she said. “Because to me, the fact that you were willing to let go is an amazing success. Something that causes me pride and joy.”

You know what? We’re both right.

These are exactly the pillars I’m looking forward to explore in this newsletter and in my podcast, Looks Like Work. There are already so many great podcasts, newsletters, blogs and books (and yes, TikTok videos!) about entrepreneurship, about grit, about “making it”… But I was missing a more honest conversation about the things that make work worth it. Yes, the money (and during the pandemic, so many of us got closer to understanding how that’s not something you can tale for granted). But also - purpose, identity, curiosity…

And what happens when we get burnout? When we are simply exhausted or in a funk? When we’re not sure our dream job is so dreamy - or when we are, but still there is so much else to figure out?

I’m so lucky to have access to some amazing humans, who are willing to open their hearts and their careers and have frank discussions on all of the above.

In our first episode, my dear, dear friend Hamutal (Tula) Schieber, CEO of Schieber Research, shares her unique path. We talked about being passionate in life and business, looking for homeostasis in marketing and in living, how sometimes you choose burnout, living with a hard to pronounce name, and so much more. I freaking love Hamutal, and have been looking up to her ever since I found her by accident on a blogging platform that doesn’t exist anymore - 15 years ago.

I can’t wait to hear what you think. Give it a listen here.

Thank you, Hamutal, and thanks to my producer Amelia and to Michal from the Rooms & Words team.

Please ping me on Instagram stories and share your thoughts – and I’ll be back next week :)

Yours,

Chedva

Sign up now so you don’t miss the first issue.

Subscribe now

In the meantime, tell your friends!