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Questioning Everything at 40: On Existential Crises and Creativity as Resistance with Dinah Alobeid
There's a photo of Dinah at age one, in Syria visiting family. Her hands are full of freshly peeled orange, juice glistening, about to drip off her chin. Direct eye contact with the camera. Fully present. Her zest for life started early — hands always full, finding the sweetness, already deeply committed to connection. She hasn't changed.
Dinah Susan Alobeid is 39, turning 40 this summer — and she is asking the question many of us are thinking but not many of us have the guts to ask out loud.
"What if I'm living the wrong life?"
She has the job. The kid. The husband. The whole resume. And yet — this persistent, devastating question burning through her heart.
But here's what you need to know: this is not an hour of existential doom. This conversation is bold, spicy, creative, and genuinely fun. I laughed till I cried in this episode. Dinah is one of those people who makes the big questions feel survivable — even joyful — because she's living her way into her answers in real time.
A tender trigger warning: we mention miscarriage and infertility.
In this episode, we talk about:
→ The question no one wants to ask out loud — and why asking it is the bravest thing
→ Music as medicine and creativity as resistance
→ Why sharing intergenerational women's stories is a radical act right now
→ Deprogramming the messages we've been fed about female value, desirability, and aging — and what it actually takes to unlearn them
ABOUT DINAH: Dinah Susan Alobeid is a VP at a tech company, a mom, a writer, and the host of Play This at My Funeral — a podcast at the intersection of music and existentialism. She's a Cancer sun and moon. She's turning 40 this summer. And she is standing at the threshold, letting us all watch. What a fierce f*cking almost-40-year-old. Here’s the playlist Dinah made for the episode.
Find her: @dinahsusan @dinahsusanalobeidwrites @playthisatmyfuneralpodcast
SUBMIT YOUR WISDOM: Your voice is needed in this podcast. If you're over 40: What have you learned, earned, and burned? What do you wish someone had told you? If you're under 40: What's the open question you're living? What longing, desire, fear, or dream do you want to put out into the universe? Add your voice here: the40portal.com/submit
SHARE THIS EPISODE: If this conversation moved you, share it with another woman who needs to hear it. The more of us who ask the real questions out loud, the braver and more beautiful this world becomes. New episodes drop each week - subscribe, leave a 5-start rating & review. You're the best!
📧 Substack: substack.com/@the40portal
🌐 Website: the40portal.com | catherinezack.com
📷 Instagram: @the40portal
CREDITS: Hosted by Catherine Zack | Guest: Dinah Susan Alobeid | Edited by Ruwantha Gunasinghe © 2026 The 40 Portal. All rights reserved.
GET THE GUIDE: ARE YOU IN A PORTAL?
JOIN THE NEXT PORTAL RETREAT: June 17-19, in the Hudson Valley.
View all episodes
By Catherine ZackThere's a photo of Dinah at age one, in Syria visiting family. Her hands are full of freshly peeled orange, juice glistening, about to drip off her chin. Direct eye contact with the camera. Fully present. Her zest for life started early — hands always full, finding the sweetness, already deeply committed to connection. She hasn't changed.
Dinah Susan Alobeid is 39, turning 40 this summer — and she is asking the question many of us are thinking but not many of us have the guts to ask out loud.
"What if I'm living the wrong life?"
She has the job. The kid. The husband. The whole resume. And yet — this persistent, devastating question burning through her heart.
But here's what you need to know: this is not an hour of existential doom. This conversation is bold, spicy, creative, and genuinely fun. I laughed till I cried in this episode. Dinah is one of those people who makes the big questions feel survivable — even joyful — because she's living her way into her answers in real time.
A tender trigger warning: we mention miscarriage and infertility.
In this episode, we talk about:
→ The question no one wants to ask out loud — and why asking it is the bravest thing
→ Music as medicine and creativity as resistance
→ Why sharing intergenerational women's stories is a radical act right now
→ Deprogramming the messages we've been fed about female value, desirability, and aging — and what it actually takes to unlearn them
ABOUT DINAH: Dinah Susan Alobeid is a VP at a tech company, a mom, a writer, and the host of Play This at My Funeral — a podcast at the intersection of music and existentialism. She's a Cancer sun and moon. She's turning 40 this summer. And she is standing at the threshold, letting us all watch. What a fierce f*cking almost-40-year-old. Here’s the playlist Dinah made for the episode.
Find her: @dinahsusan @dinahsusanalobeidwrites @playthisatmyfuneralpodcast
SUBMIT YOUR WISDOM: Your voice is needed in this podcast. If you're over 40: What have you learned, earned, and burned? What do you wish someone had told you? If you're under 40: What's the open question you're living? What longing, desire, fear, or dream do you want to put out into the universe? Add your voice here: the40portal.com/submit
SHARE THIS EPISODE: If this conversation moved you, share it with another woman who needs to hear it. The more of us who ask the real questions out loud, the braver and more beautiful this world becomes. New episodes drop each week - subscribe, leave a 5-start rating & review. You're the best!
📧 Substack: substack.com/@the40portal
🌐 Website: the40portal.com | catherinezack.com
📷 Instagram: @the40portal
CREDITS: Hosted by Catherine Zack | Guest: Dinah Susan Alobeid | Edited by Ruwantha Gunasinghe © 2026 The 40 Portal. All rights reserved.
GET THE GUIDE: ARE YOU IN A PORTAL?
JOIN THE NEXT PORTAL RETREAT: June 17-19, in the Hudson Valley.