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Hopes and Fears – A Glimpse Inside

By on November 16, 2012
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From The Desk Of New

Friends,Rated PG

I enjoy using this column as an outlet to let you in on the development of Jewrotica, and bring you along with me to witness the continuing evolution of the project. Today I’ll give you a glimpse inside my mind, and share some of the hopes and fears that I – and many social innovators and entrepreneurs – experience.

The past six weeks have offered tremendous highs and achievements. The project launch was a marked success with an influx of submissions, a swath of positive press coverage and tens of thousands of visitors. The press, submissions and visitors all continue to pour in and, as of this week, Jewrotica has scored a solid Google ranking as well. People who want to follow in these footsteps may want to audit your website to help along the way, but it is a tremendous achievement for anyone to manage.

That said, starting any project can feel a bit like an emotional roller coaster and there have been moments in the past weeks where I have dealt with doubt. What is Jewrotica? What are we doing here? What are my goals? How do I handle the fact that while some people absolutely love us, others think that the project is base? By taking on a project this bold and by making Jewrotica a part of my portfolio, am I limiting my potential to work with other organizations in the future?

These questions are compounded by the fact that many of my friends and family members are quite conservative. One of my very best friends was conflicted about Jewrotica at first, but eventually came around and saw tremendous value in it… until I posted the first XXX piece. And my immediate family is marvelously supportive in private, but do they tell friends at the Shabbat lunch table what their daughter / sister is working on? Not exactly.

I recently had a conversation with my quite-religious mother during which this gem emerged:

“Mom, some people are making me feel like I’m off my rocker. Have I gone totally crazy?”

My mom paused for a moment to think, and then thoughtfully replied: “Hmm… No. No more than usual, sweetie.”

I took a strange comfort in being reassured that I was keeping up with a longstanding personal tradition of pushing boundaries and thinking out of the box.

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Founder and editor of Jewrotica, Ayo spent the past two years full-time RVing North America with her Jewish educational film program. Ayo alternates between intensely pursuing fun new experiences and equally intensely trying to do good by people. She would love to hear from you.
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