à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Awareness
Collecting: Choice or Compulsion?
When I was four, my parents packed me and my two brothers into our pale yellow Chevy Impala station wagon and drove from Massachusetts to Mexico City for my father’s sabbatical year. Throughout those months we ventured to different towns and villages, each of which specialized in at least one distinctive craft, many of which my parents admired enough to buy. … Continue reading
Of Feldenkrais, Potatoes and Sex
Can potatoes be sexy? Can sex be potato-ey? And what does either have to do with moving slowly in a Feldenkrais lesson? First, can you recall a potato dish that made you swoon, salivate or succumb? Maybe potatoes mashed with butter until creamy, drizzled with truffle oil and dotted with beluga caviar. Or perfectly prepared french fries, thinly cut, … Continue reading
When Adventure Beckons, Pause. Then, Buy a Toothbrush.
Last weekend I attended a workshop at the Embodied Life School in Sebastopol, CA, in Marin County. It’s a 75 minute drive from San Francisco, the location of my Feldenkrais training program, far enough that I needed to rent a car, yet close enough that I couldn’t justify getting a room for the night. Marin, with its rolling hills and farmland that … Continue reading
Feldenkrais: Cartography of the Self
The map that is the unfolding self is not exactly leading anywhere. The arrow that says YOU ARE HERE is your first coordinate. – Jeanette Winterson I love maps, the paper kind that you can hold in your hand, that fold and unfold, revealing the layout of a place and how neighborhoods connect. Despite many declutterings, I’ve kept most … Continue reading
I Was Locked Out. Were Others Locked In?
In expensive cities such as Boulder and San Francisco, where unmarried adults often live together, some shared living arrangements resemble tumbler locks. For them to function properly, all the elements, or pins, have to align. These are the owner, the property, often the master tenant (the person who holds the lease), and the roommates (selected by the master tenant … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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