246 | What Happens When You Stop Performing Your Life Online
Description
What if the exhaustion you're feeling isn't just about being busy—it's about where your attention is actually going?
In this episode, I sit down with Amelia Hruby, author of Your Attention is Sacred, to explore what happens when we reclaim our attention from the platforms designed to fragment it. Amelia left social media over four years ago, and her journey from creator to someone who gardens their attention with intention offers both wisdom and hope for anyone feeling trapped in the endless scroll.
We talk about:
- The difference between paying attention and giving attention—and why this shift matters
- How social media creates "loops of similarity" that trap us in algorithmic bubbles
- The grief of leaving social media and the unexpected loneliness that follows
- Simple noticing practices to understand what needs social media is meeting in your life
- Why breaking free from convenience reveals what we're actually avoiding
- How attention becomes more textured and alive when we unplug
- The connection between our household relationship with money and scarcity economics
- Simple exercises to help you get out of your algorithm
Amelia gets beautifully honest about the full arc of leaving—the creative surge, the return to human pace, the work of rebuilding genuine connection, and ultimately, the gift of presence that comes from no longer performing your life online.
Whether you're considering leaving social media or simply want to cultivate a more conscious relationship with your attention, this conversation offers a roadmap back to yourself.
Resources:
- Get Amelia Hruby’s new book: Your Attention is Sacred
- Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
- Connect with Sara on Instagram