What a week it has been, guys. Between sharing some of my most vulnerable moments with you all, hitting some massive new milestones, and spending hours staring at analytics dashboards, my screen time has been absolutely off the charts. Don’t get me wrong—I am endlessly grateful for the incredible community we are building together, and your support this week has meant the world to me. But sometimes, you just hit a wall.
You reach a point where your brain feels like a browser with ninety-seven tabs open, and the only solution is to completely shut it down, step away from the Wi-Fi, and go touch some grass. Literally.
The weather here in North Carolina finally decided to cooperate. After what felt like an endless string of gray, moody days, the sun came out in full force. The temperature spiked, the air felt crisp but warm, and it was essentially the universe’s way of screaming at me to get away from my desk.
So, I didn’t overthink it. I packed up the truck, dragged a few of my favorite people out of bed before they could make up excuses, and we hit the trails. Assembling a real-life adventuring party is always chaotic, but there’s nothing quite like the energy of getting everyone into the woods.
There is something deeply restorative about just being outside with people who know you and don’t care about your follower count. No ring lights, no scripts, no algorithms to worry about. Just the sound of boots crunching on dirt, the smell of pine, and conversations that go absolutely nowhere. We spent hours hiking, getting completely turned around at least twice, and not caring in the slightest. When you’re in good company, even getting lost feels like part of the plan.
By midday, the sun was really beating down, and the humidity was starting to creep up. We eventually found a rocky creek tucked away off the main path. Let me tell you, the water was freezing—straight off the mountain cold—but it was exactly the kind of shock to the system I needed to fully reset.
I sat on a boulder, dumped half a canteen of water over my face, and just breathed for a minute. It’s funny how a little cold water and some quiet can completely wash away the stress of the workweek. You stop worrying about algorithms and engagement rates, and you just focus on the fact that you’re sitting on a rock in the middle of nowhere, and life is pretty damn good.
But honestly? My favorite part of the entire day wasn’t the hike itself, or the creek, or the scenery. It was the aftermath.
You know that exact feeling when you finally make it back to the trailhead? Your legs feel like absolute jelly, you are covered in a fine layer of dust, and you just collapse onto the nearest flat surface—which, in our case, was the tailgate of the old truck. We sat there for another hour just laughing, debriefing the week, and enjoying the absolute stillness of the late afternoon. We traded stories, roasted each other a bit, and just existed in the moment.
Days like this remind me why I started calling today “Social Saturday” in the first place. It’s not just about interacting online or replying to comments; it’s about making sure we are staying fiercely connected to the people and the physical world right in front of us. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and today, my cup got completely refilled.
I’m heading into this new week feeling completely recharged, grounded, and ready to tackle whatever creative projects come next.
Over to you:
How do you hit the reset button after a crazy, emotionally draining week? Are you a “hike up a mountain and sweat it out” kind of person, or a “do not perceive me, I am watching movies in bed with snacks” kind of person? Let me know in the comments below! 👇
-Zachary Starr
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