THIS IS AN ADVANCED READER COPY

You’re not broken. You’re overstimulated.

They sat on the beach with their backs to the ocean, faces in their phones, watching clips of someone else’s vacation. As Heather Henderson stood a few feet away, ready to capture the perfect Cabo moment, she realized we were promised more: more connection, more freedom, more possibility — not a life spent refreshing feeds.

Handed devices before we were taught how to live with them, most of us inherited this algorithmic world. We learned to let notifications and endless recommendations choose for us in small, quiet ways, until the choices no longer felt like choices at all, and we found ourselves scrolling through life instead of living it.

The problem goes beyond casual screen time. It is unconscious time — the moments we surrender without realizing the cost.

Drawing from her years inside major tech companies, including Google and Uber, Heather Henderson invites readers to ask:

Did I choose this, or was it chosen for me?

If you feel wired but tired, connected but lonely, or busy but empty, this book is an honest look at how we lost presence — and a guide to reclaim it.