Signals in the Noise

What I’ve Been Thinking About: Crying When We’re Happy

Isn’t it strange that we cry when we’re incredibly happy and unbearably sad? Two emotions on opposite ends of the spectrum, yet they pull the same string in us.

It makes me wonder about other cycles in life: we’re cared for as babies, and again when we grow old. What goes around, comes around—sometimes literally. I’ve felt it in my own life: paying for my mistakes, being rewarded for small acts of kindness. I’ve watched generous people find their tribe, and takers end up with very little.

But is that really how the universe works? Or am I just stitching meaning into chaos—trying to believe life isn’t as random as it feels? Maybe fairness doesn’t fit into neat circles in one lifetime. Maybe it echoes across generations. Or maybe… there’s no sense to be made at all, and I’m just an overthinker looking for patterns in the static.

Am I going crazy? Was I always this way? Or—just maybe—are you, dear reader, the strange one for still reading this?

What I’ve Been Reading: Deep Work by Cal Newport

I’ve been trying to read Deep Work while actively not doing deep work. The irony is not lost on me. My focus keeps buckling under the weight of my phone, sudden urges to reorganize my bookshelf, or the siren call of a perfectly toasted snack.

The book is a necessary (if slightly painful) reminder of the value of uninterrupted, focused work. Now if only I could focus long enough to finish it.

Poetry / Freestyle: My Irrational Fears

• Dropping my keys down the garbage chute instead of the trash
• Someone telling a funnier joke right after mine
• Accidentally poisoning someone with my chai
• A passenger silently judging my carefully curated playlist
• Running out of things to write in this newsletter

Recent Joy

• Festival season in Toronto: This weekend was Word on the Street and the Toronto Palestine Film Festival—one of my favourite times of the year. Crisp walks, falling leaves, and finally pulling out my scarves.
• Quiet evenings with a book: No agenda, no guilt—just soft lamplight and turning pages.

What I Want to Share: Showing Up When It’s Not Trending

This week, living between the hope of the Toronto Palestine Film Festival and the reflection of Truth and Reconciliation Day, has been a lesson in active remembrance.

Progress is not a straight line. It’s built in the choices we make when the headlines fade, and the hashtags grow quiet. It lives in our continued education, our difficult conversations, and our refusal to let comfort override conscience.

Yes—Palestine will be free. Congo will be free. Sudan will be free. But freedom is not inevitable. It is earned through daily, deliberate action. It is forged when we choose to listen, to donate, to protest, to write, and to show up even when it’s hard.

Our collective liberation is a mosaic. Every email sent, every film watched, every truth acknowledged is a piece. Let’s keep building, even when—especially when—it feels like the world has moved on.

Like what you read? Keep the caffeine (and confetti) flowing by buying me a coffee! ☕️✨

Your thoughts, rants, or tiny joys are always welcome here. If you'd like more of these scattered sparks in your life, I'd be honoured to land in your inbox.