From Moon Joy to TED Joy and back again

How do we reignite what we might have neglected in ourselves since the pandemic?

By Caroline Stokes

Last week was TED Conference week. These events are immersed in new ways to understand our world. Almost everyone you meet comes away inspired and motivated to make change. 

When I attended TED in 2023, I was inspired by Nadia Tolokonnikova's anti-Putin speech which forced me to reckon with my emotional response to perceived threats. It helped me manifest an anarchic “Pussy Riot” energy to write my book “AfterShock to 2030: A CEO’s Guide to Reinvention in the Age of AI, Climate, and Societal Collapse”. Tolokonnikova helped me launch my three-year mission, or — as Safi Bahcall might describe it — a Loonshot.

With its theme “All of Us”, TED 2026 was even more special. The event coincided with the “Moon Joy” of the Artemis II mission, whose astronaut Christina Koch told us, “You. Are. A Crew”. Her message to people on Planet Earth: we all need to row together to solve planetary, environmental, and human-made challenges. 

On this, the final year TED was being held in Vancouver, I took the time to meet with some attendees.

First, a three-hour brunch with Annette Mason, a sabbaticalist and succession architect. It might sound abstract or individualistic, but this systems thinker is focused on ensuring organizations and their leaders protect their investment in human capital and their legacies. VCs and Boards — take note. Ping her to learn more. Your organization’s trajectory may depend on it.

Then Tony Martignetti, my travel buddy for May when we’ll be attending Jeffrey Shaw’s mastermind in Paris and the House of Beautiful Business forum in Athens. Tony hosted a dinner on “Finding Your Brilliance”.  In a world where we can be distracted, absorbed and overwhelmed by marketing, messaging, and doomscrolling, it was a rare invitation to sit with people to find out what inspired them during TED. What I didn’t expect was the question that Tony asked.

He invited us to find the thing inside ourselves that we need to return to. Or, what we had neglected in ourselves.

Truth be told, I felt a bit foolish asking myself, “What do I need to re-find?” — and that was the signal I needed. At first, I thought: I’m not really used to this level of self-reflection with strangers. What I quickly realized, as everyone revealed what dormant piece of themselves they wanted to exhume, was that I actually had lost something that I desperately wanted to rekindle. 

What had I lost? 

I’d lost touch with my own playfulness, quirkiness and my positive, slightly obsessive energy that creates a “bounce over mountains” energy in my mind. For others, I’m sure it can be completely annoying, but I had stopped being me.

And I think that’s a pretty natural outcome after the pandemic and writing a book about leadership in the AfterShock era. The rise of AI, the climate collapse and geopolitical turmoil, alongside asking CEOs to reinvent themselves in this era — these are all heavy. My “Pussy Riot" energy fuelled me to do what I needed to do after divorce in 2020. Then between 2022 to 2026 — three MIT courses, a business transition, my second book,  a podcast, and launching my disabled son into adulthood. But now my mind and energy need levity with a dash of epic, artistic and intrepid exploration.

The dinner with Tony and his guests was a wonderful gift. I listened to Safi Bahcall’s latest endeavours (side note: his recommendation for “AfterShock” can be found on the cover of my book).

I heard Sam Horn — an intrigue strategist — share her excitement for her manuscript completion this year.

I heard Andy Kitt speak with grounded passion on how to make organizations change.

Daniel Gomez Seidel spoke about his interactive art exhibit for House of Beautiful Business next month.

Teddy Zmrhal showed me the art of gentle inquiry and exploration.

And chemist Jacob Hooker spoke about his mission to solve the world’s anxiety with a new medication.

So, how did that realization at the dinner table with these people make me bring my playful, quirky, obsessive energy back?

The very next day, I re-engaged it in DisrupTV’s live podcast hosted by R “Ray” Wang and Vala Afshar alongside guests Paul Abbate (former deputy director of the FBI) and David Bray, PhD (Stimson Center, LDA Ventures).

Goodbye heavy gravity that inspires no one, least of all me. That TED dinner helped me re-find my own, lighter “Moon Joy”.  It was a pleasant reminder that reality is all in the mind and we have the power to change it with the right people around us.

Many thanks to Tony for changing my life last week. 

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Pictured from left to right:

Jacob Hooker of Sensorium Therapeutics. 

Teddy Zmrhal of Trimtab Design + Innovation.

Tony Martignetti of Inspired Purpose Partners

Sam Horn of Intrigue Agency

Annette Mason of Trilogy Design

Caroline Stokes of FORWARD

Daniel Gomez Seidel of Studio Gomez Seidel