InKredible Kids
A podcast with Kosher content geared toward empowering Jewish kids of all ages. We interview kids from around the world and have many interactive segments for all kids to enjoy. While having fun and learning new skills, kids will hear about responsibility, empathy, confidence, and more!
InKredible Kids
Push A Little Harder | Today's Music is Deeper Than You Think
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This episode started with a car ride, a 24six playlist, and one song that completely took over our house.
After hearing Rabbi Kalish speak about the importance of listening to the music our kids connect to, I decided to follow my daughters’ lead into the world of this generation’s music… and it led me to Zevi.
In this powerful conversation, Zevi shares:
• how one audition changed his life
• the story behind “Push a Little Harder”
• how music can reveal emotions we don’t always know how to say out loud
• what “celebrate the love and fear” really means
• and why sometimes the biggest victory is simply realizing you have something meaningful to share with the world
We also talk about grit, vulnerability, creativity, fear, confidence, and why today’s music might actually be revealing something very deep about this generation.
Thank you to our amazing sponsors for helping us continue creating meaningful content and conversations for kids and families.
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From Trending To Meaningful Music
SPEAKER_08She said, well, I was bored of the chinning music, so I just scrolled all the way to the bottom to the Z section. I found this guy Zevi and I was like, I love this music.
SPEAKER_00It's so interesting the music of each generation, and we all have our songs. Every generation has its own. And it's interesting to talk about feeling to your other new storm that is coming. I think if we want our generation here, our storm, we have to listen to their stories.
SPEAKER_08Hey kids, welcome back to the next episode of the Incredible Kids Podcast. My name is Maurice Theory, and I will be your host through this incredible journey. We are going to meet many incredible kids. They are going to share with us their stories. Some of them super cool and different like we've never heard before. And some of me today are just ordinary, but all of them incredible. If you have great ideas, email me today at iKidspodcast at gmail.com. And now it's time for Inside! It's time for the joke of the day. Yay! Today's joke is brought to you by Esther Rochel S from Clifton, New Jersey.
SPEAKER_15What's up a baby bobbing list? A baby center.
SPEAKER_08Hi everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Incredible Kids Podcast. Before we get into this episode, I want to thank our sponsors who make this episode possible. We play by SR, your primary destination for picking a new place at for your family's backyard that will last for many years to come. Also, welcoming a new sponsor, which everyone is gonna be so excited to hear about, TDK Jr. Biker Holim now has, or Beaker Holem of Baltimore, as we know in Baltimore has had a family uh intergenerational boys' bike ride for all ages. Family friendly, community-wide. And if you're not from Baltimore, take notes because you might want to be coming in for this. More about that later. And today's episode, honestly, is a very special one to me because today's music is a lot deeper than people think. And I actually want to explain why. You just heard Rebbe Kalish from Waterbury Shiva. Anyone who knows me for long enough knows that I am a very, very big fan. And Rebbe Kalish has a lot of wisdom. So I was listening to one of his Shiorim on my own time, and he spoke about a car ride he had with his son. He said that for the whole drive, he let his son be the DJ. You pick the music. For the whole hour, we were going somewhere and back. Instead of saying, no, let's listen to what I want to listen to, which is what a lot of people would say, especially if they're the driver and they want to just, you know, stay awake or whatever, he really listened to it. He didn't just listen to the music, he listened to the music. He listened to Zusha and Ekiv. Different music than his generation would have wanted to listen to when they were younger. And he shared something that stayed with me for the last few weeks. He said that if we want our kids to hear our music, oh, let's sing Balbabi Mishkan Evne, let's sing Achinu, let's sing Leave Tahar, Barali Yellow Kim, all these gorgeous songs that we sing at the Komzet's 30 years ago, we need to first be interested in the music they want to listen to. Once we can connect over their world and their music, which we're gonna realize represents their world, then the children will be more interested in hearing from the parents. So that's really a sub-message for parents out there listening. But for you kids, if it helps you express yourself, then there's a lot of beauty to the music choices that you have in Jewish music. A lot of adults think that kids just want to listen to entertaining music or silly voices. That could be great. But then we have the depth and the music that really talks to our nishema, and your nishema is very much alive, even when you're a kid, especially when you're a kid. Now, I just want to say you're gonna hear a lot about Zavi, and you're gonna hear a little bit more about how I picked this interview's view with Zebi and I went after to find him. The words in his song are don't be lazy, don't be a baby. So I just want to make a disclaimer that we never use this song as a way to tell someone else, don't be a baby, don't be lazy. He created the song to motivate himself and pick himself up when he felt like he really should break out of a habit of laziness or taking things too seriously. He's not being hard on himself. He's rather telling himself, you got this. You don't have to sit in that state of laziness or being extra emotional about something. Pick yourself up and push yourself harder. That's the idea here. And it really is like the grit that I so badly want to teach kids and teach myself, push harder, push yourself to do something that's a little uncomfortable for you. But we never ever say that to someone else. Just like with any growth in our life, we never tell someone else, you need to change and do this, this, and this. We can look at ourselves and say, How can I change? And maybe, maybe if I make a change, it will like kind of spill over to other people. We can't fix any other people. So we also can never tell somebody, don't be lazy, don't be a baby. You know when you're not tapping into your full incredibleness at that moment. That's the time for us to say, all right, I gotta get up and move. And we all have that inner voice. And we all have times when that's really difficult for us. And maybe then it wouldn't be appropriate to tell ourselves, don't be a baby, don't be lazy. So before we meet Zebi and this episode that I've said too many times how excited I am about, you know what it's time for. We
Kids Share Strength Songs
SPEAKER_08asked our listeners, what's a song that makes you feel stronger? Or you can read it, what's a song that makes you feel stronger? Emphasis on the you. Here's what they had to say.
SPEAKER_17Hi, my name is Sila Basala and I'm 12. And the song that makes me feel strong is Friends by Mordecai Shapiro.
SPEAKER_09Hi, my name is Chaim Beeman and I'm 12 years old. A song that really inspires me is Kivinu by Mordecai Shapiro. It really connects me with Hashem and gives me spiritual strength and helps me to keep going when times are tough.
SPEAKER_17Hi, my name is Jack Bush, and I'm sick. And a song that makes me be stronger, I can be stronger.
SPEAKER_06Hi, my name is Beth Shaba. I'm 12 years old, and a song that makes me feel stronger is I'm trying my best by more high hair because it makes me like remember that everyone's trying their best and it's totally fine if we make a thank you.
SPEAKER_07Hi, my name is Esther. I'm 12 years old, and a song that makes me feel stronger is Holding On by Shandy Potter.
SPEAKER_05Thank you. Hi, my name is Hyla Black, and I'm Tierra and I'm 14 years old. And my favorite song that makes me feel stronger is Hanging by Shandy Potter. Thank you. Hi, my name is Jimmy Shimeli, and I am 13.
SPEAKER_15The song that makes me feel strong is Ayekka by Ty. Hi, my name is Ihuba.
SPEAKER_14I'm 12 years old, and the song that really makes me feel strong is Ayekka because it has such strong and powerful words and a very special meaning.
SPEAKER_02Hi, my name is Shom Mo. I like to hear the song to make me shrunk.
SPEAKER_08Okay, first of all, I just need to point out that three different kids from different places, different stages of life mentioned the song Ayaka by Ty Gersberg. Do you get that? Like, that is a deep song. Ayaka, where'd you go? It's the call inside my heart. The man looking back in the mirror is not who you are. Like, what? Like, amazing. The fact that you guys are choosing that, I know that to be true because I see on 24-6 that that's been like a top-trending song since it came out, basically. But like, that's so deep. That's so unbelievable that you can connect with that and really listen to the words of the song and let it change you. So kids connecting to music is teaching everyone around us that this generation, the kids of today, is filled with soul, nashama, deep connection, huge potential for greatness. Huge. Do you guys get it? And if you're a kid listening right now and you feel things deeply and you connect to music deeply, maybe, if you write poetry or you write in a journal, or you think about life a lot, don't be embarrassed of it. It's a gift. So after hearing Arbakaelis talk about listening to the music of this generation and after hearing how deeply kids connect to songs with meaning, I decided I need to understand the soul behind the song that completely took over my family's car rides. So I tracked down the singer, and guys, this conversation got deep.
Meet Zavi New Dad In Israel
SPEAKER_08Meet Xavy. Glad to have you here. Zavi, just give us an introduction about you as a person.
SPEAKER_12So my name is Zavi Kamiansky. I live here in Israel. I'm 23. I'm married. I actually just had a baby two weeks ago, baby boy. Mazuko. Mazuto, Mazuko, Mama, Mazuko.
SPEAKER_08This is number one?
SPEAKER_12This is number one, Borgasham.
SPEAKER_08Whoa. So thank you for doing this. This is like a crazy time for you.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. So crazy. Perfect time.
SPEAKER_08What's it like to be a father?
SPEAKER_12Oh my gosh. I'm still trying to figure that out.
SPEAKER_08So am I, and I have five barbers on. I mean, trying to be a mother, not a father. But yeah, tell me more about yourself.
SPEAKER_12I learned in colo, both in the morning and the afternoon. And um I'm I'm also into music. And I've been uh I've been singing my whole life. So at night, sometimes, you know, I'll bring out the guitar. Um, from time to time. I also DJ. So sometimes I DJ at like bar meat's and stuff.
SPEAKER_08First of all, which part of Artisral are you in?
SPEAKER_12I'm in Ramapi Chemish. It's Ramapi Chemish Dalin.
SPEAKER_08Okay. And you grew up there?
SPEAKER_12Yeah, so I'm actually originally from Chicago. We made Aliyah when I was eight years old, my whole family. And uh we came here, no family, just my parents decided it was the right thing, and we came here, and I've been here ever since, and I love it. Best place in the world.
SPEAKER_08What's your placement in the family? Are you the oldest?
SPEAKER_12I'm the oldest, yeah.
SPEAKER_08Your parents probably were like, we're not sure if we should go. We have a son who's eight years old. Is it hard for him to adjust? Was that part of the discussion? Do you know?
SPEAKER_12I was pretty young, so I really don't know, but I'm assuming that was probably like uh a conversation they had.
SPEAKER_08Hopefully.
SPEAKER_12But I know, I know. Honestly, I think they say that like that is the threshold. Like after eight, it's like it's harder to move. Yeah. Yeah. Took me time to adjust. It wasn't just one of these things you just run into and everything is just fine. Took me probably about a year till I actually like, you know, learned the language, got the lifestyle. But Bar Hashem, I love it.
SPEAKER_08Wow. So I've done two episodes on Incredible Kids featuring kids who made Aliyah recently or a bunch of years ago, and how it's been. And I continue to get emails from Israeli kids, Olim specifically, kids who made Aliyah with their family. Now, kids usually don't get a say in the matter, right? Like when a kid by the way, everyone listening, this is not the topic for today, but I feel like I have to ask this because I know how much people want to hear more. I literally
Aliyah Advice: Find Your Friends
SPEAKER_08got an email yesterday from a girl saying, You made Aliyah from Ursa, whatever. I would love to hear more stories of people who made this adjustment. It's like such a specific type of move and it's a difficult one, and it's a beautiful one. But again, kids are not part of that decision usually. It's usually a parent decision, and it's like, this is what we do in our family. You're coming with us. You don't have the option to stay back when you're eight years old. If you could just give like a minute of advice for kids who are new Olim or they're going soon, it's the end of the year. Maybe people apply in for the summer. What would you say to them?
SPEAKER_12Well, that's a great question. If I could think on the top of my head, I think for myself, what was like the key factor that really like made me feel comfortable was just finding a good group of friends. I think a good group of friends, no matter what's going on in school, whatever the teacher is saying, you might not understand, and you probably won't. And it took me time to understand the language. I got these friends, they spoke English. They were they actually were they were born here. We made this little click, they gave me a lot of support and it helped a lot. When you go to school, I think this is in general, but the key thing in school, I think friendship, that is key. Everything after will just come. If you feel comfortable where you are, the knowledge will come in and after.
SPEAKER_08It's like an unpop- I don't want to say it's an unpopular opinion, but it's in like an unspoken opinion. Do you know what I'm saying? Like it's so important to have friends. We underestimate how important that is. And I think that we have to learn more about that. How do you make good friends? Like that we could talk about that forever. But kids, if you have trouble finding those friends, ask an adult for help, really. Because if that's the one piece of advice that you said, I put people on the spot, Zavi. So now you know what you're getting. Are you ready? Buckle up.
SPEAKER_12Don't worry.
SPEAKER_08So Xavy's nervous because I I sent you like a list of things we might talk about. You're like, this was not on the list, but I will start off with something not on the list. Not one thing that was on my leave. So that's very powerful. Thanks for dealing with my last minute intro.
SPEAKER_12When you do a last minute thing, then it's the real true honesty that's coming out. You know, I could have I could have written it down, given you a whole speech, but you know, this is I like I truly think that this was a real answer. That was uh pretty good. You really did.
SPEAKER_08Right? It represents the true you. Whether you like it or not on Incredible Kids Podcast, your authentic self will come out.
SPEAKER_12I love that.
SPEAKER_08I think you want to do a journey into your own self that maybe you don't even know.
How We Discovered Push A Little Harder
SPEAKER_08But what we're gonna talk about today is I'm so I don't usually say this. Maybe I do, but I'm very excited because music is a huge part of my life. It always has been. I'm so happy that my kids also connect with music. Many people do, many, many, many people do. But not everyone's like obsessed with music. But my kids all are obsessed, all of them are obsessed with music. Bar Hashem. It's such a healthy outlet to either create music or to listen to music or sing with the music or whatever it is. Music has helped me through some more difficult times in my childhood and my adult years. To find an artist, when we call people are like, what do you mean you're an artist? An artist does more than painting, but to find a musical artist like yourself, I see a lot of greatness already from our tiny conversation on the phone a few days ago. Bear with me while I just tell everyone how Zavi got here. Okay, Zavi?
SPEAKER_12They need to- I want to hear about this.
SPEAKER_08I'll say it again, and maybe this time I tell you because I told you on the phone, but maybe this time more stuff will come out that I had forgotten to tell you then. But the story goes like this. I was in the car with my kids. I would say like 75% of my job as a mother is driving my kids' places. And we're in the car a lot. We often listen to music. We have 24-6, and my kids like we're getting bored of like the trending music. 24-6 has a feature on the top where there's trending music. So anyone listening is nodding their head if they use it. Basically, it's just like you hear the same songs a lot over and over because it's like right there, easy to find, the great feature. But my oldest daughter, Devora, was like, I don't know, I'm getting bored of this. And also she said to me, she said, you know, mommy, it's not really my type of music, some of that music. You know, it's more like you like that music, she told me. Like it's your it's more like from my generation, that style, let's call it. I'm like, that's cool. So she made her own playlist, and she specifically made a playlist for the car. So we listened to her playlist, and she has great songs on her playlist, and that's how I get introduced to new music. So I love it. We're listening to her music, and one song just like kept going on. And I'm like, what is this music? I don't even know what's playing. It's about push a little harder. I'm not gonna say all the lyrics yet. And I'm hearing it in the car, and I'm like, wow, this is like, this is an amazing song. It's like a mantra. Like, I love that my kids are singing, don't be lazy and don't be a baby and push a little harder. And like, I'm like, what? Like, I can tell my kids from today till tomorrow, like, come on, don't be lazy. I don't like to say that in general, but like they're telling themselves, they're singing this song. They don't even realize what they're saying. I'm like, this is brilliant. And then when they left the car, I keep singing it myself, obviously. And I'm like, who's the singer? So I look it up and I says Zevi. No last name, just Z-E-V-I, Zebi. So my daughter comes home from school one day, and I'm like, D'Vorah, how did you know about this singer? Like, who is he? And she's like, I don't know. I found him on 24-6. I had you find him. She said, Well, I was bored of the trending music, so I just scrolled all the way. I went through the artist and went all the way to the bottom to the Z section because it's alphabetical order. I found this guy, Zevi, and I was like, oh my gosh, I love this music. And I listened to all his songs, but there's this one song I like the best. So I was like, hey, we need to find him. Who is he? I put on my WhatsApp status on Friday, Arab Shabbos. I just screenshotted your profile picture. It said Zevi, Zehu. I sent a screenshot to my status and I said, maybe someone in the world knows this guy personally and I can get his number. So I put on my status, and guess who texts me back?
SPEAKER_12Did I tell you who was the one who No, I didn't even hear this part of the story.
SPEAKER_08Oh, yeah, yeah. And I waited a few hours and then I got a text from Bumpadum, Noam Zuroff.
SPEAKER_12Oh, of course, yeah.
SPEAKER_08Shout out to Noam. He's awesome.
SPEAKER_12Shout out to Noam. DJ Niaz.
SPEAKER_08What?
SPEAKER_12I think he's a D he's his name, he goes by DJ Niaz, I think.
SPEAKER_08Is that how you pronounce it? I don't know how to say not Naze or something.
SPEAKER_12Naze, maybe. Maybe DJ Nazi. I don't know how to say it. I don't know.
SPEAKER_08I never said it out loud, but he's like, I know him. He's a DJ in Ramat Be Chamesh.
SPEAKER_12Yeah.
SPEAKER_08He sent me your number, and I texted you, and here we are. And I love how you were so open to jumping onto something that's like so random because like you get a call from me. What did you think when I called you?
unknownI'm just curious.
SPEAKER_12I was honored. I was honored. As I mentioned to you earlier, when I after I saw that video of uh that boy who was talking about his experience with Tfillin and how he's so fortunate that he, you know, he gets to wear Twillin. I was like, wow, this is the real deal. When you sent me a message, I was like, wow, that's awesome. So I got it.
SPEAKER_08The timing was pretty cool. Cause like you had seen the clip like right before.
SPEAKER_12And this is like my first podcast ever.
SPEAKER_08Maybe the first of many. We'll see where this takes you. So I want to hear more about background and music specifically, and what inspires your music. And I want to specifically focus on this song. For me, it's such a beautiful way of expressing the real struggle of fighting the desire to just stay put, you know? And that's like what's easy for us. So I once heard someone say, I think this was actually it was the Ramchal.
SPEAKER_12Love the Ramchal.
SPEAKER_08Like I'm like about to quote like a person, like I just remembered right now it was in the Masayas Asharam. So it I learned the Masayas Sharam. A person is made from Adama, a person is made from earth, a person is an adam, they're from earth. So I had this thought, bear with me. I had this thought that when we say that someone's a couch potato, okay.
SPEAKER_12You mean it?
SPEAKER_08No, we are. Hashem made us potatoes. We are from the ground. So perhaps that's where the expression couch potato comes from. Because when we're in that quote, I'm gonna call it lazy just because we you use the word lazy, I don't like saying that people are lazy necessarily, but sometimes we tell ourselves that so that we can break out of it. Sometimes when we're quote, lazy, we're doing what we were made to do. We are being a couch potato, and Hashem made us from the very ground that grows potatoes. Potatoes are literally grown under the ground in the earth. I think it's an empowering thing to say, not as an excuse, not to say, like, well, I'm a potato, what do you want from me? It's more like, no, now, since Hashem gave you life, you have the ability to stop being a couch potato when you want to. Maybe sometimes it's okay to be a couch potato, but then sometimes you gotta do something to jumpstart to get off the couch. So tell us how you got off the couch and and a little background.
SPEAKER_12Well, I just want to add just two things on what you said. Number one is with the dirt, we come from the ground, just like, you know, physically, we're drawn to just go down, down to the earth because we come from the ground. People, you know, as you were saying, it's it's not an excuse that people could say, I am a potato, you know, there's let me just be a potato. It's our goal in life is that, you know, we come from a place where we we just rather sit. And our goal is to push through that feeling, being able to go above and beyond that. We have to start from somewhere. So we start from the ground and then we climb ourselves up.
SPEAKER_08I love that you just added that element to it because if we're naturally being pulled down, then we have to actively try to push ourselves up and do and do. And I also think that people who have the tendency to be lazy, let's say, or couch potato eat, or lack of doing, those same people, once they're doing, once they put themselves in motion, they're unstoppable. Very often it's together. So tell me like the background of your music in general, and then we'll talk specifically about this song.
Talent Show Leap And Finding Your Voice
SPEAKER_12Okay, so I love music my whole life. I think my parents, as soon as I was born, they just turned up the speakers, and I've been listening to music since a little kid. I've always had rhythm. I was always into dancing, and singing's been my passion. I sang in choir, no longer exists. It was uh like a break off of Miami Boys Choir in Israel. It was called Miami Mizrach. I was in like sixth, sixth grade, yeah. Had some solos, it was really fun. I was in other local community choirs here. I just love singing.
SPEAKER_08Who were your musical favorites as a kid?
SPEAKER_12We used to love the YBC, NBC, all the boys' choirs.
SPEAKER_08What was your favorite YBC song? You're a different generation than me, so I don't even know that we would be like listening to the same Yishi voice choir.
SPEAKER_12We used to love Oma Rabia Kiva Zekla Domataya. That was a big one. Shisha Shema Shama Shama. We used to just listen to that stuff on uh on repeat. Yeah, so I was always into music, as I was saying. The reason I started putting out music myself, I never thought I was gonna be a singer or put on any songs. That was never like an idea. So what happened was I was driving in my car one day. I was on my way home from Colo. I usually listen to music on my phone. For some reason, my phone wasn't working, or maybe I left my phone at home. So I turned on the radio. And I know this is not in America, but in Israel, when you turn on the radio, you have Jewish music on some of the radio stations. Shout out to uh Kul High Radio. I was listening to the music and you have commercial. Just like you know, the radio in America, there's commercials, and the commercial said like this. In Hebrew, it was like, what's you near Tah Ribo Akadash? Which means like, do you wanna be the new Yishay Ribo? I wanna be like Rebo telling the truth. I was like, interesting. Basically, it was an ad for a talent show. Supposedly, this talent show is like yearly through this uh radio station. The criteria were you had to send in a video of you singing, that's how you would apply, and then if you got accepted, they brought you into the studio and you would compete against all these other guys, have your turn to sing in front of like five judges, big judges. I'll walk you through the story. So basically, I was like, Oh, interesting. So I didn't think I was gonna enter it. So I come home, I tell my wife about it, because like just you know, I was just thinking about it, and she's like, Oh my gosh, you should totally join. I was like, nah, there's no way I'm gonna get in. So she's like, No, you gotta do it, you gotta do it. So I was like, okay, fine, I'll send them a video.
SPEAKER_08Is that like her personality, your wife?
SPEAKER_12Is she like the she will push me, she will push me to do the biggest things.
SPEAKER_08Love that. Okay.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, bark hush. I'm very blessed. So this song, Push a Little Harder, I wrote before the contest. So I sent them a video of me playing Push a Little Harder on my guitar. And the funny part about it is that the low part of Push a Little Harder used to be in Hebrew.
SPEAKER_08Really?
SPEAKER_12The words were the opening to the Shulchanarch is Gaber Kari. Love is I don't I can't quote it exactly, but the point was exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very good. I felt like that was really appropriate for the song. Getting up in the morning like a lion, pushing against, you know, your nature of just staying in bed, not wanting to get up that day, and just going against gravity. So I felt like it was appropriate. I thought it was, you know, the typical Jewish song where you're gonna mix with the Hebrew and the English back and forth. So I sent them that video of me singing that song. Like, whatever, I forgot about it. Shut my computer, forgot about it. Two and a half months later, I get a message from someone saying, You've been accepted. I'm like, accepted to what? Accepted. What does I apply for? What do you mean? To to like to the contest. I was like, which and then I'm like trying to think, oh, wait a minute, the contest. And I was like blown away. Like me, like, there's hundreds of people that apply, the whole Israel.
SPEAKER_08What's your wife's name?
SPEAKER_12Tehila.
SPEAKER_08That's my baby's name. Um I love I'm I'm in a Tehila stage of life right now. Everyone needs a tequila in their life. I just want to throw that into the story. Whether it's their wife or their husband or their child or their parent or their teacher or their friend, everyone needs a teila. Everyone, someone who's gonna push them to do a crazy thing sometimes. Yeah, continue.
SPEAKER_12She's unbelievable. So yeah, so I I was like, oh my gosh. And even then I was like having second thoughts. My wife's like, no, you gotta do it. You gotta do it. So I was like, okay. Yeah. So I just I felt like this little guy coming from like, you know, the suburbs. I drove into like you go into Tel Aviv, Ramagan area, these skyscrapers, you know, I'm this little guy, like, whoa, what do these people want from me? I come into the studio, you know, it's like the real deal. And I show up, you get into the waiting room, and all these guys are like, you know, they have their guitars out and they're singing. I'm like, wow, these guys are amazing. These guys are great. And I'm like thinking to myself, like, I don't stand the chance. Finally comes my turn, and I get in the room, got all these eyes all staring at me, like, what is this guy gonna sing? And you know, they're very honest, these judges. They'll tell you exactly how they feel about you. I get up there and everyone's singing an Israeli song, like a Hebrew song. I have an easier time, I think, singing in English in general. Uh-huh. I thought, like, also it'd be cool something different. So I sing Animing by Thai.
SPEAKER_08Great choice.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. So I get up there, just like, they tell me that I'm holding on. And like all of a sudden, everyone's just like, whoa, where did this guy come from?
SPEAKER_04I will give up inside. I won't get lost in the dark of night.
SPEAKER_12I finished my part. I had my eyes closed the whole time. I cannot look at the judges. Good move. I opened them up, yeah, and they're all like just staring at me, like, whoa, who are you? Like, where did you come from? And I'm like, I was like shocked. I was like speechless. And like, it was so cool. There was like five episodes. I was in the fifth episode, I think there was another five after me, the first judge. He's a big producer in the Jewish world, Ellie Klein. And he's like, You've been the best contestant we have had from the beginning of the show. And I'm like, What?
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_12I was blown away. They all, Bar Hashem, gave me a thumbs up on the performance, and I just walked away from the studio thinking, like, oh my gosh, like, wow. Did I hear what I just heard? I was just shocked. And then finally, when the video actually went out and people saw it, I was getting all this feedback and I got this eye opener that, like, wow, maybe I have something that I could share. Maybe I have something bigger than what I thought I had. It was a very, very like cool, cool experience. And I decided that, like, okay, I have to make my next move. I'm gonna put out a song.
SPEAKER_08I'm sure you've heard of imposter syndrome before.
SPEAKER_12It's where like people think that like they're not good enough for some people or something.
SPEAKER_08Right. It almost feels like I'm not in my own body. Like, how did I even get here? So sometimes, like, in order to get to like a bigger level, so like you could, like you said, you were in choirs, you did even the Miami Misrah, which was probably fun and cute and like good for your self-esteem at the time. But then you're like, okay, I'm a singer, but like I'm not a public singer, I sing in my family. And then all of a sudden you're like, wait, like maybe there's an opportunity for me to like influence on a different level to make a jump like that. And this is for anything, this could be for someone's business, it's taking a risk. It's like I'm putting myself out there, it's scary, and you just did it. You sent the video and it was too late, right? And then once they tell you, you know, it's like when people donate kidneys, they sometimes are like scared to do it, but then they just like take a test. They're like, whatever, I did it, and you forgot about it. I've asked people before, like, you donated a kidney, that's huge. And they're like, Well, it just kind of happens because like I sent the thing and then it was too late because they told me I'm a match, and then like now I'm so happy I did it. Sometimes we do something that's like a little crazy and we just get there. And then we're like, wait, how could this be me? Is this happening to me? Yeah, yeah, it's you. And guess what? Like, every person in the world who ever did a great thing or became famous or big also had to make a jump of some sort. Like an imposter is someone who doesn't belong, you're in the wrong body, you're in the wrong place, you're in the wrong something. So you're not. It's it's a made-up thing. It's normal to feel like that, but it's fine. It's like you're a person, everyone's a person. We all had experiences where we felt like we were doing something that didn't make sense for us specifically.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, so it was just really eye-opening. It was like, okay, I gotta make a move here.
SPEAKER_08Okay,
Sponsor Break Then Back To The Music
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SPEAKER_08And now back to my conversation with Zebi.
Releasing Songs With Real Meaning
SPEAKER_12Before I like decided to put out my own songs, I was trying to send my songs to other singers and stuff like that to see if like they would sing my songs, but I wasn't getting any uh responses. So I was like, okay, I gotta just do this for myself. So I wrote another song also before Push a Little Harder or right after Push a Little Harder that I felt like it was more appropriate to come out with this song first. Days of Love. I don't know if you heard it.
SPEAKER_08My daughter likes it better, she told me actually.
SPEAKER_12She Oh really?
SPEAKER_08She was like, Mommy, you're obsessed with push a little harder, but I like Days of Love. And I'm like, okay.
SPEAKER_12It kind of like covers the same message. I think Days of Love also gives the Nakama that like you're gonna work hard. The first line of the song is the quote from I just I translated it from before benching on Shabbos. Hazorim Bidima Birina Yikzaru. Those who sow in broken tears, they'll reap with a song and cheer.
SPEAKER_11They who sow in broken tears shall reap with song and cheer.
SPEAKER_12Meaning the planting will be hard, but eventually things will work out. Sometimes when you know things are gonna be okay at the end, there is a finish line. When you see that glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel, that's a big chama for a lot of people. I think everything in life, when you know that something good is gonna be out of this, sometimes kids have a hard time in school, but they know summer vacation is coming up, so they have something to look forward to, and it gives them chizuk throughout the school itself. Yeah. That was my first message, Days of Love. That was the first song. So I put that out and it was just cool. And it wasn't anything big, you know, compared to the big guys, but like just for me, you know, like I just thought my friends and family would listen to it. It was really getting all this exposure, especially people in Israel. Then all of a sudden you hear people in America are we listening to it, you know, even you, like the fact that you're listening to my song is a shocker for me, you know. Like, how can how can my song over here in Israel get to you guys in America?
SPEAKER_08Well, I'm sure I really hope everyone listening now is gonna go listen because it might touch me too. I would love to see your numbers shoot up in America and other places too. But it's a surreal experience. I could relate to the experience because I kind of have a similar thing with the podcast when I started. I didn't start as a well-known person at all. Nobody outside of my community knew who I was or why they should trust me or why they should be interested. And sometimes you just do these crazy things or you've released something and you see where it goes. And it's a very weird experience. Like, why? Like, why you you know what I'm saying? Like, do you want to hear more? You want to hear more music, you want to hear more whatever you're offering. It's very cool. But now you started, so you're both probably a little bit more comfortable hearing about that now, or like the impact that your music could have. I happen to think it's very, very, very rare to find a blend of two things. Number one is the songwriting ability, like to write your own music, and then also have a good voice. Because this is a genuine compliment. Like you mentioned Tai on Imam by Thai. He's also like that. He's another example of somebody who sings beautifully, and the fact that he writes, you know, you could tell. You can tell the difference.
SPEAKER_12I know him personally, we were in Yeshiva together, and he's such a special person. Every word on that song, there's depth and heart in every single word I would say.
SPEAKER_08But that's why he could put out more music, and the next song will also be a hit and really resonate with people because they know it's coming from a human who's talking about like the experience of life through the lens of a Torah yid. Him and you are both such good role models for boys and for girls in different ways, but especially for boys who are learning any Shiva, like you said in the beginning, like I'm a Kolal guy, like that's who you are, at least right now. I don't know, I don't know how many years you plan or whatever, who cares, right? It's the identity of who you are. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_08So it's very, very cool that you also prioritize putting out music because it really is a source of strength, probably for yourself and for the listener. So let's
The Real Story Behind Push A Little Harder
SPEAKER_08go into the song Push a Little Harder. Does that have any correlation with your experience in school as a kid or in life as a kid? What was your intention behind it?
SPEAKER_12So I'll let you in into a little secret. Tell me a secret.
SPEAKER_02No, I'm not gonna tell you a secret. Why not? I want to.
SPEAKER_12When it comes to writing a song for me, you know how you asked me before, give me some advice that you tell kids you were making alias. I think usually if you're very honest with yourself and you're just very calm, anything that will come out of your mouth is something that comes from a place inside of you. Sometimes we could trace them back to exactly where it comes from. Like, for example, in music, I'll tell you what I do. Basically, I'll take out my guitar and I'll just start strumming.
SPEAKER_11And all of a sudden, like, you know, I'll just I'll come up with a line that, oh I know if I push a little harder.
SPEAKER_12And then it'll take me like maybe another few minutes to figure out the next line.
SPEAKER_11Wow.
SPEAKER_12It's something that like in the moment I might not be so aware of what I'm saying, but then like, wait a minute, I look back at like my last week or I look back at my last month, and I'm like, wait a minute, you know, you didn't have such an easy beak, you didn't have such an easy month. And no wonder, like, you're saying stuff like this. It's there. Those words were here, and music allowed me to bring them up to here to really realize where I'm holding. That's how all my music has been written.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_12Where it just it comes from a place where I'm holding right now, or something I've been holding back, and I'm able to just bring it up with my music and really be aware of those lyrics and those feelings. Wow. So that's how it came to be. For sure, the high part of the song. Like, oh I know if I push a little that part till don't be a baby, never again, lazy, be a little crazy.
SPEAKER_11It's okay.
SPEAKER_12I remember I wrote it, and then I just like was able to just look back at myself and like wow. And the funny part about it is that what happened was I was in a rush. I remember I was at home, I was playing the guitar. The way it works is it's four chords, and I like the pattern. So I I recorded it. Then I we had to like go to the grocery store. So my wife was doing the shopping, and I was just walking around the aisles and I was listening to the recording on and on as the mu you know, the guitar is going, and I started writing the song like in the grocery store as I'm like walking around. I had nothing better to do, you know.
SPEAKER_08When the inspiration comes, you can't snooze.
SPEAKER_12Yeah. I think I was in like a different world at the time. I probably wasn't even aware of my surroundings, but like, yeah, as you said, when it comes, it comes.
SPEAKER_08I heard a story about Yehuda Green. You know, Yehuda Green has that song, The Kolmi Shauskin, but Sarkitsubar. You know that song?
SPEAKER_12Sure. The Uskin. That one?
SPEAKER_08Yeah. I heard from someone who's very close with him. That song was composed while he was driving in the Garden State Parkway and it just came to him. I again, I don't know why. I I don't know why those words, whatever. But that's an iconic song that like almost every shoal when they start singing it, the whole shoulder joins along. He said he pulled over to the side of the highway and was like, quickly, someone record this. Like and like the guy said he's like, We we recorded it. Like, I don't know how they have it was before probably, you know, it was way before voice memos or whatever. I don't know how they recorded it, but either way, it was composed on the Garden Sig Parkway. So it doesn't surprise me like creative people who it's coming from their Nishama and it's like MS coming out of them. It could strike at any point.
SPEAKER_12Right, it really can. You'll you'll be surprised where you come up with music. It's just like it was a funny thing. I remember waking up, I promise you, from a dream with a niggin. A niggin in my head. It was weird. It never happened to me before. I dreamt of a niggin, but I remember I woke up in the middle of the night, I quickly recorded what I thought I was listening to, and then the next morning I listened to it, it was just a disaster. I remember I woke up, I like like I'm like as I'm like falling asleep, you know, recording it. And then I woke up the next morning and it was just, you know, I don't know if I deleted it, but it's not the most pleasant thing to listen to.
SPEAKER_08That's hilarious. No, because I've totally had that before where I've gotten ideas in my sleep, and I woke up in the morning and I because you know you forget these things, like dreams, like you forget them, and I quickly wrote down the idea. When I woke up, I thought it was the best idea in the universe. Right. And then later you're like, What? Like, what was that? And when I woke up, I quickly wrote it down, and then I rem I don't even remember what it was anymore. I just remember laughing at myself and I looked at the idea and I remember thinking, like, who would even get credit for this? Because like, was it me? Like, imagine that was a good song. Like, do you feel like honest saying that you wrote it?
SPEAKER_12Like I would feel like a nubby, I think, at that point.
SPEAKER_08Right. It's weird.
SPEAKER_13If we don't have dreams, we wouldn't be able to notify our minds into wonderful things or horrible things. But the question is, can we do that while we're sleeping? Yes, if we dream. Dreams kind of help you really in life, really. They give you like clues of the future, but very hard clues.
SPEAKER_08When you wrote the song push a little harder, do you remember like emotionally what was going on in your life that like may have been an inspiration or you never even thought about it?
SPEAKER_12There are a few things in the bigger picture. There are moments that you feel like there's a cycle and they're just not, nothing's working out. You know, you try this, you try that, just nothing is working out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_12As opposed to days of love, there's the light. You know, in push a little harder, there was no light necessarily at the end of the tunnel. But I think when I brought out the push a little harder, even within the hardness, there was something strong and something worth fighting for. Even though I didn't see like necessarily the light at the end of the tunnel. And I think sometimes that's good, you know, when you're able to see the light. But even within the emotion, within the hardship, to really just be able to just like right now, in this place of hardness, be able to, wait a minute. If this is my goal right now, to push harder, that's already making me feel better.
SPEAKER_08Wow. You realize how deep that is? It's I'm telling you, I've heard experts say that. And not to say that you're young. I don't want to say I'm like, ugh, I'm such an old lady, like like you're 23 years old, and to be able to have that insight is I feel like you probably as a kid, I I wish I met you as a kid. I'm so curious to know what you would have said if we not to say that you were like well known or anything or articulate. Just like a lot of kids have so much going on in their heads that we just don't get to hear. And I would love I would love to meet the kid version of you if I can go in a time machine.
SPEAKER_12I would also love to. That's deep.
SPEAKER_08It's true. It's true. I have so much that I would tell myself. Yeah. I have so much like love I would give myself and encouragement. And I wouldn't say to do anything differently. I just would give that little girl. And I guess you would give it the little boy version of yourself just you know, just some support. Bar Hasham, we could do that now for this generation. All these amazing, incredible kid listeners, that just like if I can give anything to them, I try to give them these gifts of these podcasts where we have an opportunity to really just build you up. Like you have so much capabilities, so many capabilities, I should rather say. But I wanted to tell you, Zevi, that I listened to a podcast recently. I don't remember who was talking. It was like one of these things I saw on someone's status, and you know, like people like post like clips of people, and you're like, who is that guy? I never saw him in my life. So I did like a deep dive into this guy. He was like, oh, he had like long hair and he was like very hippie and like talking slow, and it was like kind of like a vibe. And I found him online and I was like, Oh, I found his full podcast, and I was listening to it, and it was like so transformative. And it was like I know somebody in my family walked into the room, they're like, What are you listening to? And I was like, whatever. And what he was saying was exactly what you were saying in different words. Sometimes when we're in a dark place, someone's parents are getting divorced, someone is struggling in school with reading the Aleph Bays, could be anything that presents as a challenge in your life. Sometimes in those dark, dark spaces, we're trying so hard to climb out of them. But we need to sit in those dark spaces and figure out how this is gonna help me grow. Like how am I going to shine a light afterwards? Like, what am I gonna gain from the darkness? And sometimes we don't think that in the moment, but if we can focus on sitting with our feelings, we're gonna become big from it. And winter, the season of winter, people think is a dead season. Like you look at a tree in the winter, it looks like a dead tree. There's nothing on it. It's bare, it lost its leaves. But if you study what's going on inside the tree, there's actually the greatest growth happening in the winter. And I've been thinking about that a lot. It took me in a little bit of a rabbit hole into my own memories, and I was meeting my high school self. This is very deep, very deep. I had a crazy memory. I never thought about this. I haven't like shared this with anyone before, but I think it's appropriate to share. I found my high school yearbook. Anyone here who's in high school, if you happen to be listening, you know that the girls' schools are very into themes. So the theme of the yearbook was seasons. It was required that you had to write like an essay or some sort of literary piece, like a writing about seasons, and it was gonna go into the yearbook as like your piece. The teacher who was in charge was like, everyone has to do it. So I wrote what was in my heart. I wrote like a piece of poetry and I handed it to her. I was in a place where I didn't feel so good about myself, and I gave in this paper, and the teacher looked at it. She read it with her eyes, and she's like, Are you sure you want to give this in? I never read it again in my whole life until last week. I went to my yearbook, I found it, I opened it up, and I read it, and I cried and cried because I was meeting myself in high school. I never read it before. It was the most beautiful piece of literature. I don't know who wrote it. I think it was me. I think it was me discovering growth. It's crazy to think that somehow I understood that concept already. Bar Hashem, I realized it myself. The whole like line that kept repeating itself was without the ability to grow and to change despite whatever you're going through. And it was a very beautiful piece. And I honestly was like, wow, me as a teacher, if a girl will present poetry like that to me, if any incredible kids listeners out there send me an email with your poetry or whatever, I would notice the greatness in them that second.
SPEAKER_12I think kids are the most amistic of people out there. When they're writing what they feel and how they feel, and they'll tell you exactly how you feel. That's truth. And you know, we all wish we could be in that space. We could learn so much from kids just in that concept. Being able to just be completely honest in the way we feel. And then, you know, as adults, being able to treat it in a responsible way.
SPEAKER_08Wow, that went deep for a minute.
SPEAKER_12I could do this all day.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. You know, they say that after you have like a deep discussion or something, it is good to play music just to kind of like let your brain like process. Do you do that ever?
SPEAKER_12That's what the Fabringans were all about. The Rebbe would say, you know, his spiel, and then in order to process them, you know, it's not you can't just, you know, sit there in silence. You have to be able to like really appreciate it. You let it flow in. Also, I say about music, you know, the difference between talking and music is that talking comes in straight. You're just talking. There's no like harmonies, there's no singing. And when you when you go in straight, so sometimes if the hole is not big enough, so it's not really gonna go in. It could just bounce off. But with music, it could slowly seep its way in after you hear such beautiful things. It's standing there and you should let the music bring it in and allow it to really get inside of your soul.
SPEAKER_08Wow. It touches people who are not easy also to penetrate, or really anybody. Many of us are not easily inspired, and music could do that. Music could really do that to a person. Maybe that's why I like the song so much now, and I keep like letting it go on repeat because I'm listening to it and it makes me want to do things. You did have a line in the song though that my daughter asked me, a different kid in my family, asked you have two lines. One of them is be a little crazy and it's okay. Be a little crazy, it's okay. You seem like a pretty normal guy. Do you ever get crazy?
SPEAKER_12You're seeing me on my good days. No, I'm kidding. No, no.
SPEAKER_08Like I'm saying you look so normal to me right now. Not to say normal's relative. Like, I don't even know what normal means. Like, no one's really normal.
SPEAKER_12No, there's a lot behind that. Be a little crazy, it's okay. I think that's very like I think that's like that's that's like probably one of the main things I'm trying to point out in the song, actually. Being a little crazy, unfortunately, we define normal as going just very just everything just needs to happen perfectly and like nothing, no twists, no turns. But that's not the case. That's crazy. Being able to just go straight, that's crazy. In life, in order to push through anything, you have to be crazy. You have to do things that you didn't think you were gonna do, you have to make decisions you didn't think you're gonna do. People are gonna tell you off, this is not a good idea, you don't stand a chance over here, you don't be crazy. Sometimes you have to just be a little bit crazy, and that's good. It's coming from a good place, it's okay. A lot of times when we're crazy, it's really defining who we actually are. And that's normal. That is normal. Crazy is normal. Normal is not crazy.
SPEAKER_08I'm loving this. Keep talking. You're getting better.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, no, to me, that's like a key factor. The fact that things are not going right, what's normal is what the world defines normal is to sit on the couch and continue doing nothing and giving up. That's normal. But push a little harder, get a little stronger. That's something that you have to be not normal to do. And that's being crazy. I should add, it's not even okay, but it's it's amazing, you know? That's that's amazing. Being crazy is good. Go after your heart.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. The other line I wanted to ask you about was you mentioned fear. What was the line around fear? Thank you for the fear. Was that one of the lines?
SPEAKER_12Oh, so I'm glad you're asking. That part is based off of a muscle from Reb Nachman that I once heard.
SPEAKER_08Tell me the line again.
SPEAKER_12But hear me out, gather all the doubt, celebrate the love and fear.
SPEAKER_08Yes, celebrate the love and fear. Hear me out, gather all the doubt, celebrate the love and fear. I think I know what you were like thinking, but I want you to explain it directly. My 10-year-old daughter asked me, like, how does that make sense? Why should you celebrate fear? So I said, you know what? I'll ask Zebi for you.
SPEAKER_12Okay, so basically, there's a muscle from Rav Nachman where he wants to explain the concept of Simcha. And he brings a muscle and he says that in Shool, when it gets really labedik and the Khazan decides, that's it, we're gonna start dancing around the bhima, most of the Kila gets involved. But then sometimes what happens is a lot of people get involved, but then there are those who are not feeling it, they tend to be pushed away. They push themselves away from the circle. You see, in Shool, is you have guys who are really into it, really, really into it. They pull in these people, Balkorcha, they he says, you know, forcefully. He bring in these sad people into the circle forcefully. So he says, you have this tremendous amount of simcha. And what you do is you push away all your fears. Nothing else is in the world. Everything right now is all simcha. But those things still exist. Those hardships, those sad times, those days that weren't the best days, they still exist. He's saying the next part of what he calls the Miley Sarah, to really practice the simcha is to now take all those bad hardships that you know were separated from the circle when you got really excited and celebrate them. And now the happiness and the fear to celebrate that, and it's all good. All these feelings are all yours. The bad ones, the good ones, they're all yours. They make you who you are. This happy person you are right now, the fear is in there too. They make you who you are. I remember hearing that muscle and I'm like, wow, this really, really hit me. And I felt like I gotta put that part in a song.
SPEAKER_08Wow, I'm sorry I asked because there's like hidden secrets in this song. Like the inspiration. You know what's also cool? That means that whenever you learn that piece of Torah from Rabin Ahmed, like put it in your back pocket and you're like, okay. And it like meant something to you. It like talked to your nishama so that when your nishama was expressing music, you probably didn't even intentionally, you know what I'm saying? Like it just, it was like a line that just, oh, celebrate love and fear. I also was thinking that maybe, and you can tell me if I'm wrong, what's holding us back from doing something crazy? When I do something, we have fear. We could beat ourselves up and hate ourselves for it. Like, why am I stopping myself? Why am I being my own worst enemy, right? Like, don't I want me to be great? Why am I giving myself excuses? And we could say, Oh, it's Yitsar Hara. Yeah, fine, but it's me, you know? I I feel very in control, but we can't hate ourselves for it. We're not perfect. It's kind of what you're saying. It's like, also, some people would be like, I'm not a happy person because I'm so often sad, or I'm not a sad person because I'm I sometimes get happy. Like, there's no one, it's all. We are so complex.
SPEAKER_12The fact that you take this song one way, I might take the song a different way. Just because I wrote it with, you know, one intention, you know, the beauty of music is that everyone can hear what they want to hear. Everyone needs to hear at the right time, you know, what they want to hear. That's the beauty of music. My message was for myself. The song was for myself. What other people get out of it, I'm so glad. It's so cool to like hear your perspective, and I'm sure there's other people with other perspectives. And that to me is super cool because you're giving off something that you don't even know that you're giving off. It's eternity. There's never an ending to that.
SPEAKER_08Yeah. Wow. Well,
Closing Takeaways And How To Share
SPEAKER_08thank you so much for being so authentic and so real. I personally used to write music on my own that I never shared with anybody because I was embarrassed of it. It was very personal, and I was like, I don't know, people are gonna judge me, they're gonna think, I don't know if anyone cares. And I didn't tell anyone, like literally nobody. I even like recorded them as voice notes on my phone to like remember maybe one day I'll release them. And I never did. Maybe I will one day. It's very amazing. I don't take it for granted. We're lucky to be able to hear from another person who's Avid Hashem doing your job, whatever, kolal guy, husband, new father. And you're also sharing your very real journey on planet earth with us through your music and this podcast. So thank you.
SPEAKER_12Thank you for having me. This was very fun. And I got to learn more about myself also on this podcast. I think every time people have conversations, it's not only it's a time to, you know, get to know about the next person, but also you could stop and think about yourself, which is super cool.
SPEAKER_08Wow. Thanks for saying that. Great. I hope everyone listens to your music now and gets their own inspiration out of it, their own thing.
SPEAKER_12All right, I'm excited.
SPEAKER_08Before we end today's episode, I just want to tell you something. Me to you, every single person has hard days. Every person has moments where you feel stuck, not motivated, nervous, overwhelmed, or that's it. I'm just giving up. I'm gonna stay on the couch. I'm doing nothing today. And that does not mean there's something wrong with you. It means you're human. Congratulations. And one thing I actually really respected about Zevi in this interview is that if you noticed, he never really fully explained exactly what he was going through when he wrote these songs. And first I was wondering, like, wait, what was happening? What was his big challenge? What was what was this period of darkness? What was the cycle he was going through? Because I'm a curious person, but I'm also not a yenta. So the difference between a curious person and a yenta is that a curious person could wonder, but a yenta goes, what happened? Why are you not telling me? Right. So I respect that. If somebody wants privacy, I need to respect it. It's not my story to share. Then I realized I actually like it better this way because every person listening can plug this concept into your own lives. For one person, something might sound small. For another person, the exact same thing could be huge. And we never really know what another person is carrying inside of them. Sometimes people are fighting battles that no one could see. So instead of trying to measure whose challenge is big enough or hard enough or worse or I don't know what, I think that the message is that every person has those moments where they need strength, where they need encouragement, where they need to push through something difficult. And they're pushing but push harder. A few days after the interview, I suddenly realized that I never asked Xavier what happened with the talent show. We just got like onto the next conversation. Did he win? Did he go on to the next round? Like, did he drop out? What happened? So I messaged him, by the way, like whatever happened at the talent show, I never asked you. And I love what he said. He said, after the audition, he was a changed person. He's like, it did, I got everything I needed from the audition just from trying out. I didn't win anything. I didn't become famous from it. But for the first time, I'm like, wait, maybe I actually do have something meaningful to share with the world. Maybe what I have is really a gift. And I think that's a very powerful lesson. He didn't need to go on. He's like, I don't need it. I got everything I need right now. I got my experience. I had my, like we would say, Havaya. And sometimes the biggest moment in your life is not a trophy, it's not a prize, it's not recognition. It's a little shift, the little something that makes you realize sometimes the biggest moment is simply just feeling that you are so capable more than I ever thought I could be. And you don't need that acknowledgement after that. And guys, I really want you to remember this. Being strong does not mean always feeling confident. A lot of strong people have fear, they're unsure of themselves, we call it doubt, they're emotional, they're sensitive, they're nervous, but they keep going anyways. And sometimes push a little harder doesn't mean becoming tough or mean to yourself. It just means get back up, try again tomorrow, and do what you gotta do. Send the message to the person, do the homework, take the risk, talk about the thing that feels uncomfortable to talk about. And the most important, obviously, is believing that maybe you are more capable than you thought. And if you are someone who feels things deeply, never be embarrassed of it. If music touches you deeply, allow yourself to feel it, allow yourself to cry. If certain words of the song stay in your head for days afterwards and you think about it a lot, that's not a weakness. It's beautiful. And the world needs people like you. I hope after listening to this episode, the next time life is hard, maybe somewhere in the back of your mind, you'll hear this reminder. Push a little harder. And maybe it'll help you keep going. Thank you everyone for listening. And thank you to We Play by SR and TDK Jr. for being our sponsors today. Everyone, you are so incredible. I really hope you can feel my support through this podcast because I believe in you.
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SPEAKER_08Thanks for listening. And remember, you are all subscribed.
