PERFECT HUNGER Link-Up: Beyond Binaries, Towards Wholeness
How war mentality flattens nuance, why novelty replaced rites of passage, my #1 cookbook for real life, eye health hacks, and more!
The PERFECT HUNGER Link-Up is my curated collection of what’s consuming me lately, featuring provocative listens and reads, latest obsessions, and the occasional rabbit hole. For the full feast, upgrade your subscription here:
Dearest Reader,
Welcome back to the PERFECT HUNGER Link-Up—a monthly series where I share what’s consuming me lately.
It’s 7 a.m. and sweltering here in Chiang Mai. I just finished yoga on my balcony, took a cold shower, and am already sweating. Fingers sticking to the keyboard, I’m sipping my morning coffee: medium-roast beans from a local shop, brewed as a pour-over, mixed with salted grass-fed butter, and shaken in a thermos until faintly foamy.
What’s your morning beverage of choice? Coffee, tea, something else? (I genuinely love hearing—it helps me picture you, the human, reading this letter.)
I have a few things in the works for you this month: a new practice that’s helping me focus, included in the next My Soulful Life dispatch; simple, accessible tips for improving eye health and vision in The Practice; and a heartfelt essay about why caring for our wellness matters when the world is in crisis.
Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy today’s link-up! I take much delight in creating these, and my perfect scenario? You’ll find one thread worth pulling, then meet me in the comments to chat. Up ahead:
Sober rebellion vs. reckless and numb
Pursuing novelty over rites of passage
Ditching self-sabotage, owning our patterns
Group-speak masquerading as moral authority
Moving beyond addiction to “us against them”
Practicing goodwill when you really don’t wanna
Getting back to the gym after a slump
Accessible, online Pilates for balance and strength
My #1 source of nourishing recipes (AND realistic meal plans!)
Simple, holistic ways to care for our eye health
The first three entries this month are on the house. For the full feast (plus The Practice, My Soulful Life, and everything else PERFECT HUNGER offers), upgrade your subscription here:
Recovery, Sobriety, Eating Disorders
FLORENCE WELCH ON ADDICTION, EATING DISORDER RECOVERY, AND FINDING TRUE HAPPINESS IN HER 30s.
When Tracey Sarah (whose gorgeous series on cannabis addiction I mentioned last month) sent me this article and called it “beautiful,” I clicked through immediately.
The most beautiful parts? For me, it’s the journey from being careless with one’s life to caring for it. Also the revelation that sobriety from alcohol and eating disorders is more than just “treatment” or “healing.” It delivers soul-level joy and bone-deep relief.
Plus, what Florence describes feels like the exact kind of presence—and courage—the world needs more of right now.
“I don’t believe in self-destruction as a means to creativity any more. And the less preoccupied I am with what I look like, or what I did last night, the more energy I have to give to my work. I managed to be successful despite my demons, not because of them.”
“It is an act of rebellion to remain present, to go against society’s desire for you to numb yourself, to look away. But we must not look away.” —Florence Welch
In related reading, Christopher Gage takes aim at the “dopamine crack pipe psychically stitched to your palm” (!!) and how perpetually seeking novelty has replaced rites of passage.
“At risk of sounding utterly reactionary, I’ll offer a thesis: Smartphones are the modern lobotomy. They pillage our ability for deep thought and connection. They plunder our ability to reflect, replacing it with compulsive novelty-seeking. Once tools for connection, they now fracture our attention and isolate us from meaning. In a decade or two, social historians will charge these devilish devices with infantilising culture, stoking mindless tribalism, and degrading us into hypnotised dopamine junkies.” —Christopher Gage
I consider Africa Brooke among the wisest voices in sobriety circles and far, far beyond. Her recent appearance on In My Non-Expert Opinion lays bare the brutal/beautiful work of emotional sobriety (relevant whether or not you drink alcohol).
Sharing intimate insights from a heart-wrenching breakup, Africa models what it means to take ownership—of our actions, yes, but also our deep-rooted patterns.