👻 How to Ghost Your Own Life

The Creative Benefits of Breaking Up Your Routine — Plus, AMD Earnings and Crying Over Sports

Author

Katie Perry
May 08, 2025

Welcome to Tuesday Thursday Saturday! I share a snapshot of trending stories across business, tech, and culture three times a week. Subscribe and tell me what you want to hear about next! - KP

The Big Story: Why It’s Healthy to Run Away

If you know me, you know I love a good ~hypothetical scenario~. I can play the “what if” game with the best of ‘em, and for someone who has battled anxiety for the majority of their life, coming up with deeper, darker, and frankly more ridiculous derivatives of reality is a natural, God-given talent.

So at the end of yesterday’s Daily Rip Live, Shay and I were talking about AR and VR. Shay brought up how mid these experiences are in the grand scheme of things, and how everything could change if they became more realistic and immersive. Would people even deal with going to the airport to travel? If you could escape just by throwing a headset on, would you even want to physically change your location? It’s a wild thought experiment.

This is an extremely relevant topic for me. I suffer from what can only be described as “seasonal Don Draper Disorder.” No, this doesn’t mean that I am a morally vacuous asshole on a quarterly basis. By SDDD, I mean that every few months, I feel suffocated by New York and get this urge to go WEST. It really is that cliche. I need sun, I need space, and I need a change of scene. So a few times a year, I go to California and bop around for a bit before eventually returning to New York, tail between my legs, because the truth is I am too much of a sarcastic workaholic to actually assimilate here. I am unlike Don Draper in that sense, I guess.

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to get out of town for months and finally had the opportunity to do it, so here I am. I have some meetings out here before hitting a conference with some of my clients. Also, some of my favorite people in the world happen live in LA/SF, and seeing them if only for a quick Erewhon run (I’ve never been and I think that is a flex?!), will bring me joy for weeks to come.

Sidebar: As I write this, the Knicks just had another insane comeback to go up 2-0 in their series with the Celtics. This is a personal reminder to make an upcoming edition about why having a chip on your shoulder is such a competitive advantage.

Back to my escape, though! People have been literally and figuratively running away from their problems since the beginning of time. If you think about it, from the Mayflower to Manifest Destiny, it’s just a bunch of people (men, primarily) avoiding restraint and responsibility. 

So, I was curious: Is escaping the mundane of our day-to-day lives an effective way to boost creativity, happiness, and maybe even work output? Or, are we just tricking ourselves by pushing off things we want to avoid a bit longer while we alternate Zoom meetings with what can only be described as existential humility checks at Equinox West Hollywood? I looked into it, as I tend to do.

Here’s what I found: This long, fascinating history of humans packing up and dipping out when the going gets tough? There’s something to it. There’s a reason we romanticize running away. 

The Psychology of Escaping

Psychologists call this phenomenon “behavioral activation,” which is the idea that engaging in new, often physical activities can help regulate emotions and disrupt negative thought patterns. According to research published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, changing your environment can pull you out of cognitive ruts and boost your mood, especially for people experiencing anxiety or depression.

Novelty is a big part of it. Our brains are wired to respond to new stimuli. A study from University College London used fMRI scans to show that new experiences activate the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine — the same feel-good chemical behind, well, basically all of our bad decisions. 

Translation: Booking a trip to LA with an undefined return date might actually be better for your mood than forcing yourself through another gray Monday in Manhattan.

Escape as Creative Fuel

From a creativity standpoint, physical movement has been shown to directly impact mental flexibility. Stanford researchers found that walking increased creative output by 60% compared to sitting still. Combine that with the inspiration that comes from being in unfamiliar surroundings — what psychologists call “environmental enrichment” — and you’ve got a recipe for creative breakthroughs. No wonder all my best ideas come to me when I am in the middle of a run, and therefore end up as quasi-coherent voice memos on my phone.

There’s also something to be said for psychological distance. When we physically remove ourselves from the places where our stressors live, whether it’s a specific office, apartment, or, yes, even a person, it can be easier to think more objectively and solve problems more effectively. A study published in Psychological Science showed that people generate more creative solutions when thinking about a problem from a physically distant perspective.

But Are We Just Running?

Alright, so technically speaking, running away from one’s problems is nowhere close to being a permanent solution. But you know this, as do I. Escapism, when taken too far, can turn into avoidance — and, well, if you’ve encountered an avoidant personality type (or maybe it’s you!), you know how less-than-ideal this mindset can be.

The key difference is intention. If you’re switching coasts to clear your head and gather energy, that’s (hashtag) self-care. If you’re doing it to ghost your responsibilities (or your problems), well, that’s something else entirely.

Experts agree that running away can boost your mood, jumpstart your creativity, and help you see problems from a new angle. But they also say to view this as a starting point, and not the one and only attempt at resolution.

New York friends – I’ll see you when I see you! ♥

Daily Rip Live: Mikal Bridges Stole My Heart (Again), DIS Earnings Surprise, and Why Tariffing Services is a Slippery Slope

Catch us LIVE every weekday M-Th at 9 AM EST!

Every weekday, Shay Boloor and I run down the biggest market news and events LIVE on Stocktwits’ morning show, The Daily Rip Live. On Wednesday’s show, we were both in what can only be described as “silly, goofy moods,” and so what you got was an all-compassing conversation which basically hit on every key headline in the markets as well as a bunch of stuff with little to do with the markets. Recap below. Enjoy!

  • 1:55 | My co-host Shay Boloor — and more specifically, his growth portfolio — is going THROUGH IT this earnings cycle. He’s 0-for-7 on “green results,” so far. Good thing he’s a thematic investor in it for the long term!

  • 3:40 | POTUS says he has an "earth-shattering announcement" that he later clarified is NOT trade-related. Is Barron Trump entering the transfer portal?

  • 6:40 | We look at what happened during AMD’s earnings, and what it could signal for Nvidia’s read-out coming at the end of May. $AMD ( ▲ 1.12% )  $NVDA ( ▼ 0.61% )  

  • 14:20 | Investor pro-tip: Beware of commoditized businesses that look cheap. says Shay. And yes, he’s looking at you, Supermicro Computer. $SMCI ( ▼ 0.37% )  

  • 15:50 | Let’s talk film tariff implications given that the U.S. GDP is 77% services (vs. products). If we tariffed film, what does it mean for the rest of the economy? And is Trump OK with Tom Cruise hating him? I think not.

  • 23:30 | This month’s FOMC meeting came and went. A lot more “wait-and-see” from Powell and team.

  • 27:00 | Novo Nordisk reported earnings, and Wegovy is making a comeback, thanks to the FDA cracking down on dupes. In a related story, WeightWatchers is filing for Chapter 11. $NVO ( ▲ 1.42% )  $LLY ( ▼ 2.25% )  $HIMS ( ▲ 1.09% )  

  • 38:35 | Disney had a bit of an earnings surprise: streaming subs up, parks ripping? Who can afford this? $DIS ( ▲ 0.78% )  

  • 42:20 | Sports media is wild right now; what does Disney-owned ESPN need to do to stay relevant? Does Gen Z think Barstool Sports is cringe? Who will fill the void?

  • 44:30 | We discuss men crying about sports, and how this was a rampant issue at the University of Notre Dame. (Particularly in the Charlie Weis era.)

  • 52:00 | VR/AR’s impact on the future of the travel industry. And what about sports? Things got dark very quickly, but it also inspired today’s topic. A win’s a win!

🔌 Quick plug: I’ll be hopping on Cheddar News today at 11:30 AM EST with J.D. Durkin, one of my favorite business journalists around. We have about 247 topics to cover in 15 minutes, so tune in for my takes on everything that’s going down on Wall Street this week.

Now Here’s a Chart

A simple visualization from Bloomberg on the pricing impact of tariffs.

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Tuesday Thursday Saturday is written by Katie Perry, owner of Ursa Major Media, which provides fractional marketing services and strategy in software, tech, consumer products, professional services, and other industries. She is also the co-host of Stocktwits’ Daily Rip Live show.

Disclaimer: The contents here reflect recaps and summaries of pre-reported or published data, news, and trends. I have cited sources and context for the information provided to the best of my ability. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform and educate on larger trends shaping business and culture — this is NOT investment advice. As an investor, you should always do your own research before making any decisions about your money or your portfolio.