à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Identity
Repeat After Me: Introversion is Not a Communicable Disease
Imagine a world without the contributions of Emma Watson, J.K.Rowling, Audrey Hepburn, Rosa Parks, Meryl Streep, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein and Mahatma Gandhi, to name but a few introverts. Imagine, too, if the recently deceased Maryam Mirzhakani had been urged to emulate the American extroverted ideal by being an outgoing team player. Would she have become … Continue reading
Note to Self: Everyone is Always Learning
After a recent Aikido class I indulged my sushi addiction at a restaurant that offers 50% off on weekends. With a pencil, I marked a few boxes on the nigiri menu and handed it to the server, a young, cacao skinned woman who looked like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine. While confirming … Continue reading
Convoluted Kaddish for a Complicated Relation
[note: this post is 2-3 times longer than usual] “Oy, es iz shver tsu zayn a Yid!” — Oy, it’s hard to be a Jew The world changed in large and subtle ways in early November. The day before the U.S. election I received a short e-mail from a distant cousin in Munich. She told me that her … Continue reading
Of Feldenkrais, Goldsworthy and Forging New Pathways
We act in accordance with our self-image – Moshe Feldenkrais I first learned about the environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy from a life coach many years ago. At the time, I was about to leave a consulting job in a toxic work environment to do….well, I wasn’t sure what I’d do next. I just knew I … Continue reading
An Open Letter to Ivanka Trump from One Daughter to Another
Dear Ms. Trump, I, too, am a daughter of a complex if not difficult man, a man who, while he had loyal friends, trusted colleagues and loving family, was not universally understood or appreciated. He is no longer alive but, if he were, he might agree with some of your father’s political positions. I watched with curiosity as you introduced your father to the Republican … Continue reading
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