Food for Thought – July 2025
Freedom, Desire, and the Life Between. This month is about longing, loosening, and listening inward. What if success is simply feeling more like yourself?
Hello from Morocco.
I’m writing this from Casablanca, where the days are long, the evenings are slow, and everything smells like mint tea and sun. Something about being far from home has a way of bringing you closer to yourself.
This month’s newsletter is a mix of questions, laughter, and things that cracked me open in quiet, important ways.
Let’s dive in.
📚 What I’ve Been Reading
A New York Times Top 10 Book of the Year, All Fours is a bold, tender, and hilariously strange novel about a 45-year-old artist who leaves behind her husband and child for a cross-country road trip, only to check into a motel thirty minutes later and begin a different kind of journey.
This book is about desire, freedom, and reinvention. With July’s signature weirdness and honesty, it asks what it means to want more from love, from life, and from ourselves. It left me wanting to hand it to every woman I know.
📺 What I’ve Been Watching
Sara Silverman: Someone You Love
This one surprised me. Silverman’s stand-up special is raw and real. She takes on everything from grief to politics to growing older, without ever losing her signature bite.
But beneath the jokes, there’s a tender undercurrent about what it means to belong, to forgive, and to evolve. It’s one of those performances that makes you laugh out loud then pause and sit with what was just said.
The Anti Social Century by Big Think
A fast but potent watch. Journalist Derek Thompson walks through how our everyday tech, TV, smartphones, even AI, has slowly privatized our attention. We’re not just more isolated, we’re learning to prefer isolation. He draws a clear line from dopamine loops to declining friendships, making this a powerful reflection on modern loneliness. It left me thinking: if we’ve rewired ourselves to crave solitude, how do we find our way back to connection?
🎧 What I’ve Been Listening To
Dokhtar Irooni by Sohrab Pakzad
This Persian pop song is pure joy and nostalgia. I found it during the 12 tense days of war between Iran and Israel, trying to stay hopeful. It reminded me of a lighter Iran—one filled with music, flirtation, and play. The title means “Iranian Girl,” and the vibe is exactly that: upbeat, colorful, and full of life.
Sokkar by Elyanna
Elyanna is a rising Palestinian-Chilean pop artist who’s bringing Arabic lyrics and culture into global music stages. I discovered her when she opened for Coldplay last month at Stanford Stadium, and she was magnetic. This song, “Sokkar” (“Sugar”), is about breaking free from drama, choosing sweetness, and living on your own terms. Her music feels like liberation wrapped in glitter.
💭 What I’ve Been Pondering
I’ve been thinking a lot about motivation lately. What drives us when no one’s watching versus what we chase because someone is watching. So many of our lives are shaped by external rewards: job titles, likes, praise, productivity. But intrinsic motivation feels quieter, more personal, and way harder to hear when the world is loud.
I’m asking myself: What would I do even if no one ever found out I did it? What makes me feel most like myself?
• Intrinsic motivation: Doing something because it feels good, aligns with your values, or sparks curiosity, joy, or purpose.
“I write because I love the way ideas come together.”
• External motivation: Doing something for a reward, recognition, fear of judgment, money, status, or approval.
“I write because I need likes, praise, or a paycheck.”
📸 Photo Highlight
A bright, sun-soaked day in Lake Geneva, where I spent time with family, old friends, and myself. Mornings began with runs along the lake, and something about the rhythm of my feet on the path, the sound of the water, and the sun rising over everything felt deeply grounding.
There’s something healing about returning to a place that holds both movement and stillness, where you can be surrounded by people you love and still find space to hear yourself think. This time reminded me that peace doesn’t always ask for silence. Sometimes it just asks for presence.
Let me know what’s been lighting you up lately or what you’re giving yourself permission to want, without needing a reason.
Until next time,
Dena 👋🏽
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