Circle Time // 1.22.26

Arctic blasts, actions as antidotes to hopelessness, the book every Substacker is reading, my recent empties, and parasocial pipelines.

If you too, feel as though your mind is extra foggy this week and your body feels like it’s wearing a leaden snowsuit, you’re not alone— and it’s a symptom of being a caring person who is aware of the realities that surround us right now. Sending everyone some extra warmth and solidarity this week!

We’re also headed for an “arctic blast” over here this weekend into next week, despite already having half a foot of snow on the ground from last weekend— everywhere from Texas to the Northeast is expecting dangerously low temps and wind chill, with potential power outages, so be safe out there.

• The little joys have felt more important than ever, to be the anchors of my day: a slow pourover, getting locked into a puzzle, escaping to a fantasy world in my kindle at night, taking a break to feel the sun on my skin (even if it’s 20 degrees outside), training with Benny and seeing the joy on his face, the surprise ranunculus from J, an early 5:45pm dinner watching a show we’re excited about, time with my mom, a long shower, etc. Holding these things dear, as the glimmers in a darker time!

• So many batches of my classic chicken noodle soup (recipe here!), that make for the perfect lunch prep for busier days.

• Seeing Mikie Sherrill sworn in as the second woman (and 57th) Governor of NJ. I feel proud to have contributed to her campaign with their social media push, and despite having FOMO about not being able to attend her inauguration (being immunocompromised really sucks sometimes!), there is much relief in knowing my state has a competent leader during times of crisis.

This week has had a headache-inducing amount of headlines, which I’ll do in an abbreviated list, but this week, I thought I’d kick it off with a few action items and two videos I recommend watching if you are also feeling doom and gloom.

Action items, because action is an antidote to hopelessness:

• Call your reps and let them know you are against any increase in funding to ICE / DHS. 5Calls is one of my favorite sites / apps to help call my reps, because they provide easy scripts for every major issue on the table and the number to call.

• Inform yourself on what is actually possible versus getting swept up in all the yelling / hand-wringing happening on our side, aka continue to brush up on your civics education.

  • If you have also seen all the arbitrary comments and yells at elected officials to DO SOMETHING, yelling at Tim Walz to deploy the National Guard, etc., understand that it’s akin to yelling at an airplane pilot to just fly to the moon or yelling at a squirrel to cross the street in highway traffic. I KNOW the impulse to screech at our politicians (I am internally screaming every day), but understand that the Democrats are the minority party. They could introduce impeachment bills and invoking the 25th amendment all day and night, but unless Republicans decide to grow a spine, that legislature is just theater. Tim Walz deploying the National Guard (he’s already mobilized them, meaning they’re in standby but not deployed) would give Trump what he needs to employ the Insurrection Act and escalate everything.

• Help out Minnesotans:

  • This is an excellent page of mutual aid networks, fundraisers, and organizations that need donations.

  • This page has a great roundup of ways to help if you’re in proximity to Minnesota to do on the ground work, but also lots of mutual aid / resource links, and places to donate.

• Understand boundaries and self-care are important when it comes to exhaustion around our current climate, but tapping out is actually counter-intuitive and makes us feel worse. Research shows that exhaustion by all the bad news is best addressed by ACTION and getting involved — it’s a visceral reminder that we are not passive observers, but a reminder of our own power to coalesce. Sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom explains this beautifully in this PBS NewsHour conversation with Geoff Bennett, about the stories we tell ourselves about America (this specific section starting at 24:10).

If there is ONE political speech you watch this week, let it be this speech from Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, given at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland this week. The transcript is here to read, if preferred.

Let’s rip the band-aid off:

• Canned Tuna recall! Includes canned tuna from Trader Joe’s, Meijer, Giant Foods, Vons, in 9 states.

• Trump admits bid for Greenland is indeed tied to him not getting the shiny prize (the Nobel Peace Prize).

• Trump has now pocketed over $1.4 billion within the last year, by using and abusing the presidency.

• The world has entered a new era of ‘global water bankruptcy’ with irreversible consequences. The UN is saying the word “crisis” is too mild to describe the conditions. Mexico City is sinking at a rate of 20 inches per year.