Hey Get Free Fam,

Welcome to SPRING! Are we all still cursing the time change out of its name? Thankfully, I don’t have a little baby anymore, because that was its own unique form of fresh hell: adjusting a small human to a new time. Or rather, adjusting our adult schedule to the little one, because he gave zero damns about daylight saving, nighttime saving, or what’s-in-your-bank saving. Those eyes were wide open and locked in. I hated that for us. If you’re in the trenches still, you’re gonna make it. Just make like Wilson Phillips and Hold On. That really was a banger. Amiright?

Lots going on behind the scenes at GFG HQ as we get ready to launch The Get Free Conversation Series. We’re stepping out of the newsletter, and diving in with community. We’ll discuss all things work and life, and all the ways we can make things better. Get on the waitlist and be among the first to know when we go live! Click on the logo below…

So, we’re going to jump in this week because I’m doing a wild thing and setting a timer to complete this newsletter: written, back-read, and uploaded in 90 minutes. “Wait, how long does it usually take you?” Good question, friends. I love writing The Get Free Guide (yes, I write it - so any typo or grammar nonsense is all mine) but some days it takes too long. I’ll write, need a snack, need a different inspiration track, get distracted by said inspiration track, start again, change my mind on the topic. It’s a whole thing. So I’m adding a time constraint to see what happens. (Note: Total, utter, and complete failure. I’m sending this on Sunday, so that tells you all you need to know.)

Anywho, this week’s Get Free all started with a bagel...

For a little while, I’ve been examining our family meals, getting in some more fiber and protein, and keeping an eye on those sugars. As a household, we love cooking, but over the years my baking fell all the way off. It took too long, we didn’t really eat many baked goods, and the thing we did eat, bagels, could easily be bought in the store.

But I noticed that the bagels would stay “fresh” a little too long. Like, over a week. And that’s when I said, “Nah. You need to make these!” So off to Google I went, tracked down a good recipe, and voilà: fresh, chewy, crunchy bagels made with five ingredients I can pronounce, and a guarantee they will go off before I can say cream cheese and lox. Bonus points that the bagels got the seal of approval from my gentlemen. 👍🏿👍🏿

In short: I know what’s on the inside of those bagels. But sometimes it can be easy to forget what’s on the inside of ourselves.

Here’s an example: through baking, I unlocked a core memory of my youth. I would always be in the kitchen watching my mum and sisters bake, and then learning for myself. Almost every Sunday as a kid, I’d bake pudding, that’s Bajan sponge cake, and experiment with other baked goods. After some questionable experiments with scones and rock cakes (more rock than cake, to be fair. Bless my dad for always eating them. Never broke a tooth, though!) I improved. And then I got the gold star of baking assignments: the recipe for Mum’s Christmas Black Cake, fruit cake with a lot of rum. Baking is in my DNA, and it’s something that really brings me joy. But I stopped doing it. Something that was part of the rhythm of my weekend stopped. I think something went a little quiet on the inside after that, and I didn’t even realize it.

Here’s another thing: dancing. Months ago, Instagram got me. The algorithm served up a video of a very sweaty, half-nekkid man with a big beard and sunglasses whining up his waist to soca in a room full of women. (Quick explainer: Soca is fast-paced calypso music that is the soul of carnival on most Caribbean islands.) Turns out, he travels the world running soca workouts. I bought tickets on the spot.

Now, a quick pause: get your minds out of the gutter! I didn’t buy the tickets for him. I have a bearded cutie right in my house! It was for the music. Soca is home. It’s my family, it’s time back in Barbados, it’s community... it’s joy.

After months of waiting, the day arrived. I pulled out my Barbados T-shirt, put on my soca playlist, called my sister to tell her what was about to go down, and then I sweated my ass off for two hours and smiled, and laughed, and danced, and chatted with the one other Bajan sister in the room. Two percent representation. We must do better, lol!

Dancing is on the inside, but you’d never know it. I don’t dance very much because there’s always something that needs to get done. But dancing is joy! Honestly, I don’t even listen to music all that much because using my ears is what I do for my day job. But I DO listen while I’m writing the newsletter (check out The Get Free Playlist!)

So, between dancing and baking, this is what I’m chewing on: what’s on the inside? What drives us, delights us, slows us down, hurts us? Some days things can feel surface-level, and those deeper questions go unanswered in the busy-ness of life. Getting free means going back inside, even though summer is coming and we’re all trying to be outside.

This is simple: think about something you used to do often and loved doing, but don’t do anymore. What’s a low-lift version you can do this week? For example:

Everything doesn’t need to be pre-planned, organized weeks in advance, and put on the calendar. Keep it simple and just do it. Getting free doesn’t have to be hard. We just have to show up.

Let’s hear what you’re trying to reboot - email [email protected] or hit reply to this email!

🚀Get Your Life: Things to read, listen to, enjoy🚀

📚What I’m reading: It’s boring, but I’m reading a book about insulin resistance. Plenty of tips - will share more once I get to the end.

🎵 Soundtrack for the week: Keeping the soca vibes going: “Togetherness” by Alison Hinds and Square One from waaaayyyy back in the day. Seems fitting for where we are in the world today. Turn it up and shake ya bumper!

✨ If you’ve got a recommendation drop me a line. ✨

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See you next Friday (it will be Friday, lol!)