fear | i could cry but i don't have time

Tag Archives: fear

October 12, 2023 · 4:43 pm

Never Again

Never Again. We were raised on these words. We were sure that this could never happen again. This past week so much has been written that I did not feel the need to add my voice to this repetition. Until I realized that as a Jew I have an obligation to not remain silent.

We are Jews. We are Jews before we are our nationality. We are Jews before we are our professions. We worry about the safety of our children and grandchildren, our elders, our peers, because no one appears to be spared. We have lived our entire lives knowing there are places we are not comfortable for they are filled with the hate and rage of those who want us dead. For centuries.

We did not expect our homes to be one of these places… again.

We don’t own this space. But what we do fear is that even those who have had to suffer a similar plight, or those who habitually speak out in their defense, are finding it hard to stand by us. The knowledge that this is going to get much worse sickens us. That other innocents will suffer in the wake of our only option for survival is counter to all our beliefs.

Our collective shock from the terrorism is horrifying enough, but the reactions that reflect how truly broken our country and our world have become; these are what frighten us most.

I am left here, to bring to our lives the only thing that can help us bear what has happened.

Hatikva (The Hope). I hear this anthem and I am brought back to the Hebrew school days of my childhood. When I complained about having to attend and now I am so very grateful to my parents for giving me a solid Jewish education.

Now I get chills when I hear the soldiers waiting to go into battle singing this in unison. When I read of communities around the world gathering to chant these words together. NYC organizing to sing this out their windows at a set time the way they cheered for healthcare workers each night during the pandemic.

HOPE. All caps. Because when there is chaos the only antidote is hope.

Please note: commenting will be turned off for this post, because… I would like to end with hope.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

The title of this post is an Eleanor Roosevelt quote.

If you have ever received an email from me you know that I use this in my signature. Sometimes just waking up and answering the crap shoot of personal and professional phone calls of late is something that scares me enough, thanks.

What does all this have to do with my trip to Vegas for Blogworld and New Media Expo you ask? (Or not if you did not know I was here).

I turned 49 this week, twice the age of many at this conference, I might add. Not that age is something that concerns me all that much as I am certainly more current than many of my peers and plastic surgery is not one of my top 10 topics of conversation. Nonetheless, it is both exhausting and exciting to be in the midst of such a huge shift in communications and content delivery.

Back to the Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas issue. Leaving the basement office is not something I do all that often. And Vegas has surely not ever been on the top of my destination lists.

But blogging has changed me. The way I think. The way I think that I want to move forward professionally. And personally. It is like I have been waiting my whole life for this medium. And here I am in a room full of like-minded thinkers. Pretty cool, right?

Being here in the midst of all the early-adopters with their buzzwords and depth of knowledge can be a bit intimidating. It is also extremely invigorating. And to be honest, as much as I thought I did not know about this, in the 5 months that I have been doing it I have learned an awful lot. I fall into the category of late-early-adopters, perfect for me as I am notorious for being 10 minutes late.

How I feel about blogging keeps spilling out of the mouths of all the speakers. It is about passion. It is about relationship and community building. It is about harnessing that enthusiasm and translating it into a business model.

To my peers who keep asking me what a blog is and why they need to read them or have their businesses consider them, here is my takeaway from day one:

1. whether you are paying attention or not, people are talking about your business or product out there, it would be wise to start listening.

2. I have always said that if you are an asshole in real life then you are an asshole in business.

3. This conference is confirming for me that if you are sincere in real life you can translate that into growing your business passionately and whole-heartedly by developing an honest relationship with your customers.

4. For those who are not interested in the business aspect of blogging, if you are passionate about something, it is a way to connect with others who are just as passionate as you are. And certainly if you like to laugh or be amused, then of course you are reading MY blog and others on my blogroll and that is enhancing your life ; )

Now really. What is so scary about that?!

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