*Taps mic* Is this thing...on?

We're BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!

Well, this is awkward. Not me ghosting y’all for months!

I’m like the crush who you can’t help but go back to even though they’re so inconsistent. They apply pressure for a while, say and do all the right things, and then, just like that, they drop off the face of the planet. Only to watch all of your IG stories and then slide in your DMs with a “hey wyd” after 3-6 months. Omg, am I the red flag? At least I come bearing the gifts of good content, all your crush does is ask you to Netflix & Chill.

Well, is it cool if I just squeeze back into your inbox like I never left? Oh…you want an explanation on why I’ve been gone for 6 months? *Sigh* Fine. I owe it to you.

Let me tell you, life has been LIFE-ING.

I planned to take my usual summer break, but then September crept up and my life exploded. In both the best and worst ways.

• In September, I bought my first house (yay)…in Texas (boo). With this, I moved back home to save some money for all the work I needed to eventually do to the house.

• In October, I went through IVF and froze my eggs (which may or may not show up in an upcoming essay…)

• In November, I spent the whole month setting up my new house.

  

  Accra, Ghana

• In December, I went off the grid to go back to my ancestral home in Nigeria and partied the nights away during #DettyDecember in Ghana. It was a spiritual experience, and I wrote a round-up of the best things I did in Lagos for ESSENCE.

• In January, I quit my 9-5 tech job!

  

• In February, I commenced my month-long “Do Absolutely Nothing” challenge. I really had to unlearn the notion that doing nothing = laziness. Rest and finding ways to recharge are absolutely acts of resilience, and I needed to be resilient in this way for once.

• All the while, I learned that I have OCD and was going through exposure therapy to try and heal. I’ve learned that everyone deals with intrusive thoughts, but mine got stuck. You can imagine with this laundry list of extreme changes why that happened (also, I do NOT recommend watching Keep Sweet Pray and Obey on Netflix). I am so grateful to my therapist and my family for helping me through this.

Suffice it to say, the last 6 months have been…a lot. I feel like I’ve lived a minimum of 6 different lives, and unfortunately, that meant Carefree had to be put on pause. I hope you understand.

But now we’re back! I’m so excited for what’s to come. And what better month to come back than Women’s History Month? Am I the only one who felt like BHM wasn’t giving this year? And February was cold AF. March is already looking like she’ll be cute.

@anaykashe @anaykashe ♬ original sound - Anayka She

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I missed y’all so I just wanted to say hi! We’ll be back next week and all the weeks after that with our Carefree essays for you to indulge in. Make sure to save this email in your contacts so you don’t miss a story.

Also, we have a new website! Thanks to my boss babe designer friend Liane for doing the Lord’s work and revamping it. It’s beautiful—check it out and let me know what you think! Soon, I’ll be shifting away from Substack and using the website to publish stories; nothing will change for you except for the emails looking slightly different.

Speaking of—I’d love to hear from you all! How are you? What sort of content and stories do you want to see? Did you reconnect with your sneaky link on V-day? Talk to me <3

Take care,

Anayo Awuzie
EIC of Carefree

P.S. - Are you new here? Welcome to the Carefree crew. We’ve been publishing stories on life, love, adventure, and everything in between from Black girls around the world since 2020. Catch up on our past stories here, and tap the button below to share.

See ya next week!