Hi friend,
‘Twas the week of the Tonys and I thought I knew exactly what I’d be writing about, but then life happened to happen. But let me backtrack a little bit. Here’s what we’re going to discuss:
Looks Like Work is back in full swing
The Cynthia Erivo of it all
Time Travel and gratitude
Friggin 3am sirens
I’m very tired, so these reflections might be a bit snappy, but here we go.
It’s Good To Be Back
I love podcasting. I really, really do. Hosting Looks Like Work reminds me that though I have many skills and some fields of expertise, where I truly shine is shining a light on others and asking them questions. This has been true when I was a blogger, when I was a journalist, when I was a marketer, a content creator, an entrepreneur whose strongets tool was surveys and listening, a manager, a mentor — and now this. I love it. </end gushing>
We’re diving into the second half of Season 3 with an incredible line up of guests: a documentary filmmaker, a career coach, a diversity advocate, an intution and leadership expert, a workshop facilitator… and each of them is so much more than their title. I really can’t wait to share these episodes with you.
But first, I jumped in with a solo episode reflecting on my own journey, including an expanded version of my thoughts on Gypsy: no, not the Audra-Patti so-called feud, not even Audra McDonald’s Joy Woods’ incredible performances; I’m speaking about the parallels of the Mama Rose story and Hustle Culture. Which brings me to…
Cynthia Erivo and Bald Pride
Tonys night was A LOT. In all the best ways. The Hamilton anniversary reunion. The performances. The “that was rude” sign (have I told you I also saw Death Becomes Her when I was in NY? Iconic.) My friend Casey (past LLW guest!) and the Bivoices crew singing with Cynthia Erivo:
The CYNTHIA ERIVO of it all. I won’t go into detail about how perfect she was: messaging, wardrobe, tone, performance and all. But I will say this: Seeing a proudly bald artist on such a major stage, leading with such grace, without the need to wear a wig or eyebrows: WOW. I can’t help but think about 12 years old me in my Bat Mitzvah, wearing a wig but not having the means to conceal the lack of eyebrows or eyelashes, feeling (and hearing) that I look like an alien or like a fish. I am deeply deeply moved by Ms Erivo, I don’t think I can even put into words to what extent. I’m especially moved by how joyful and proud the sentiment was.
I don’t think I wrote about this a lot here, but I’ve had Alopecia Universalis since the age of 7, and I only started wearing my bald head out loud this year (I’m 39). Here is a reel where I go deeper into it (or check out the full highlight on my Instagram):
You can imagine, then, how meaningful Erivo’s performance as well as her entire tour promoting Wicked have been for me. And I see it in my own behavior. For example, after years of not taking photos without a wig or at least a baseball cap on, I asked to include bald pic in the photoshoot we just did for Consider’s upcoming website.
Travelling Through Gratitude
Which takes me to my next point (I’m sorry the segues are so clunky today - I’m very sleep deprived.)
As I was leafing through the photos Tamar sent over, I was overcome with gratitude over our journey together.
But Tamar isn’t my only frequent collaborator who’s known me through iterations, industries and identities (well, not really identities plural - but yes, versions). I go deeper into that list on my Linkedin— but the gist is that I feel extremely privileged to not only know incredible humans but to time travel with them through life and work.
Sirens (Not the Show)
Back to those friggin 3am sirens and the reason I’ve been so tired. You might have heard about the Israel and Iran of it all. And you know what? I’m tired. Tired of being a deeply optimistic person in a desperately pessimistic timeline. Tired of being in a chronically ill body in a timeline that tortures my nervous system. Tired of being in a land that I love with a heritage that I am so proud of but being forced by a delusionally hateful government to just live in parallel to atrocities happening every day. I’m even tired of being relieved to be home last night as opoosed to out in the desert under the skies like I was last time.
Take it From Here Scotty (or however that reference goes)
This week begs many many questions, but I’m too tired to give them to you. sorry :) Why don’t you pop this newsletter or your own journal / encounters from the last week into the free CuriosityGPT and see what questions come up?
Also, the fancy and beautiful Consider website goes live in about 10 days, which means you still have a chance to check out the horrible job that I did DIY’ing a landing page! While you’re at it, you can sign up for the Curiosity Lab waitlist - it’s completely commitment free but it does mean you’ll get early access to Curiosty Lab spots PLUS a free week of hands-on support from me as you implement your next steps.
Until next time,
I love you for being here.
Chedva x