Circle Time // 4.9.26

Surviving vs thriving, TED, Artemis II, my emotional support bald eagle pair, and an incredibly weird time to be alive.

As my friend Hitha Palepu said, “I’m really tired of starting these with ‘I survived!’, but that seems to be the theme for 2026.”

Re-fucking-tweet.

While I’m in staunch opposition to glorifying or perpetuating that it’s normal to feel in a constant state of overwhelm and exhaustion, there comes a point where if you’re a semi-conscious person living in these times, you can’t ignore the very large elephant on the world’s stage. And frankly, I don’t think it’s helpful to delude ourselves into believing we can mental health our way into feeling untethered from this— sometimes there are chapters in life when the theme simply IS survival. And it’s ugly. And it’s not aspirational.

I think during those times, energy is better spent taking care of yourself the best you can, tending to the places that remind you of your humanity and the good in the world, while not denying or turning away from the ugly. After contending with a number of immovable circumstances limiting and changing my life in certain ways, I’ve personally learned that re-enforcing cognitive dissonance and denying the ugly corners of reality is far more fracturing for my soul and brain than just embracing the mess and still showing up anyway.

I’m so thankful I proactively took last week away from this space because I unexpectedly had a intensive week with my health, as chronic illness loves to rear up and do an unannounced drop-by and says screw your schedule and plans! Am trying some new protocols and hoping to be able to have a more active spring and embrace a little whimsy.

Which is the perfect segue into the things filling my cup lately—

• When going through my first bout of therapy and figuring myself out in my early 20’s, TED talks were some of my favorite sources of human connection and learning to tap into (I feel like it was lowkey the young adult evolution for us millennials that grew up on Chicken Soup for the Soul books). This felt very full circle, being invited to join TED as a creator for a special event— and maybe one day, I’ll be speaking from that red dot!

  

• Spring is finally budding up and blooming! I’m impatiently waiting for my spring bulbs to flower after an ongoing battle with the woodland critters, and I’m looking a few busy weeks of gardening between hardening off my seedlings, transplanting plants, and planting my dear dahlia tubers that will be arriving soon— J got me a dedicated bed just for the dahlias this season, I’m so excited. Been working on making our outdoor space more pollinator-friendly with native plants and digging up bits of grass to reduce watering needs too. Thankful I picked up this hobby last year, as a way to be more in nature and off screens and also try to grow more of our own food since we’re a vegetable-intensive house. Gardening is also such a reminder that our actions have ripple effects and the cyclical, symbiotic nature of our world if we treat it well!

• All the things about Artemis II! A historic moon flyby that broke Apollo 13’s distance record, the images out of this launch have truly been so awe-inspiring— and naming a moon crater after their commander’s late wife?? The science, the leadership, the brilliance, the humanity, this has been a feat of the best of us.

  

  Reid Wiseman with his daughter, whom he shared with his late wife

• On Tuesday morning, Trump threatened to wipe Iranian civilization out, with Congressional Democrats (and not a single Republican) calling for his removal and for Congress to get back in session for a vote on war powers. Even the Pope openly condemned Trump. Hours later, a 2-week ceasefire was announced, which includes Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz (with fees), which had oil prices coming down for the first time since the war began. All sides are claiming victory, and Israel since then has already struck Lebanon.

• 🚩ACTION ITEM: Congress will be holding a vote soon (as soon as April 15) on AI mass surveillance with reauthorizing the FISA, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. If the bill passes as it currently stands, there is a “data broker” loophole that allows this administration can spy on you without a warrant.

  • CALL YOUR REPS to vote NO unless the loophole is closed, but here are the key players so ESPECIALLY call them if they’re yours:

    • Adam Smith, Washington DC. (202)225-8901
      Hakeem Jeffries, NY. (202) 225-5936
      Dan Goldman, NY. (202) 225-7944
      Gregory Meeks, NY. (202) 225-3461

      Pete Aguilar, CA. (202) 225-3201

      Katherine Clark, MA. (202) 225-2836

      Rosa DeLauro, CT. (202) 225-3661

• Automatic registration for US military draft to begin in December.

  • This will be done through the Selective Service System, which automatically registers eligible men for military draft, thanks to the automatic registration mandated last December as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The proposed rule is awaiting finalization by the regulatory affairs office.

  • Keep in mind that we “can’t” have automatic voter registration (and they want to put MORE hurdles to vote) or taxes paid… but automatic military draft registration? No problem!

• California’s Governor race to replace term-limited Newsom is a mess. Too many Dems are running, and it’s leading to a real concern that a Republican could take the race with no clear Dem frontrunners.