Change is good

Break Free is back, but different. A good different.

Well hello there strangers,

Fall is here, and I suppose, so am I.

I’m slowly wading back into the waters after taking the summer off to hang with my littles, including our newest addition, who was born this past Spring.

As I type this, the baby is officially surpassing her previous record (8 minutes) by sleeping in her crib for a total of 13 minutes. If we make it to 20, will I weep? I won’t jinx it.

At a recent back-to-school event, another parent asked me how our summer was, our first with three littles at home. I thought about it, and I actually couldn’t answer.

What did we do? "Nothing really!" I replied to her look of confusion and pity.

We didn’t do camps, we didn’t go on any trips, we hardly left our town at all. We slept late, we stayed in our pajamas, we cuddled, we played in the backyard, we went to playgrounds and splash pads and the local pool. We stayed up late, we ate the same easy dinners every week, we grew tomatoes and ate them off the vine, we ate popsicles and ice cream and we learned we like celery. We went to the movie theater in the middle of the day, we took turns trying to make the baby giggle.

It was also chaos. There were fights (the big kids) and tears (all of us) and sleepless nights (again, all of us). I paid an exorbitant amount in overdue fees at the library. Without fail, I forgot something important in the weekly grocery delivery, requiring us to pack up the whole crew for a last minute trip to the store.

We learned how to be a family of five, how to navigate the world with another human in tow.

So to answer that parent, now, I would just have to say, it was a nice and simple and beautiful summer. We didn’t miss out by skipping the trips and the camps this year. We just had a different kind of summer.

Which brings me back here.

A good different

I have to admit, for the first half of the summer, I didn’t think I’d be coming back to Break Free. Last year, I had a lot to say about the Internet, about social media. After spending time away from it all, I had less to say. I grew this place to over 4k subscribers. I shared the Digital Detox program with 65 people. That felt like enough.

But as the baby grew, my brain cells started firing again. Funny how that postpartum haze starts to lift.

I decided I’m not quite ready to close this chapter.

I’m back here, but a lot different than before.

Cut to the chase, what’s changing?

There's so much noise on the internet, I don't want to clutter the airwaves. A weekly online newsletter about being online less? Good for growth, but not really on-brand. I'll share an essay when I have something important to say and that’s it. No content calendar, no weekly or biweekly updates. Just the stuff that really matters.

So what’s the point? Why come back?

Well, I'm reshuffling my focus to helping others navigate this messy landscape. I loved the experience of making the detox. I loved getting the “Unsubscribed because I broke free from the internet” emails. I put so much energy into learning how to reframe my relationship with tech, I want to continue to help others do the same.

To do so in a more productive way, I'm separating the course from Substack. It's no longer a paid benefit.

In fact, there's no longer any unique paid benefits. No more paywalled posts or exclusive subscriber perks. If you're a paying subscriber, you simply get my gratitude for supporting my work.

A new and improved Digital Detox Course

I’ve spent the last month moving the course over to a new platform so that it’s no longer email-only. This means that you can access the course anytime, in perpetuity. You can take it at a slower pace if you need to, you can pause, and you can restart at anytime. It’s also separate from Substack, so if subscribing to another newsletter isn’t the right call for your journey, it’s no longer a requirement.

This course isn’t just a “social media break” — it’s a program dedicated to teaching you to how to coexist with the technology in your life. I will help you detox from your unhealthy phone habits, take back control of your devices, and learn to use your phone as a tool.

If you’re ready to start making changes with your relationship with technology, you can join the program in the link below. The Digital Detox Course will have a one-time lifetime fee of $40.

This week only*, I'm offering the Digital Detox Course for 50% off!

*Sale runs from 10/16/2025-10/24/2025

I was talking to a different parent at a different back-to-school event (why so many??) and we got on the subject of technology and our kids and the mess of navigating that world. The parent said sometimes they just wish they could break the internet. The phrasing, of course, was familiar (but hi, let's break free instead of breaking anything). More so, it ignited me again. I can help you find a more peaceful relationship with tech, with your phone. You don't have to feel like you're wasting your life scrolling or frustrated at the experience of it all. You don’t have to throw it all away. You can find a new peace.

TL;DR

I'm back but different. Good different.

I'm writing less.

I'm here to help you.

You can now find the detox course here.

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One last note, for those who are currently paid subs or if you were a paid sub in the past, reach out to me by email or DM. I’ll set you up on the new platform, no extra charge.