à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Introversion
When an Introvert Walks into a Bar…Learning How to Act Like a Local in Spain
Travel can reveal some painful paradoxes. While I visit other countries to experience different cultures and see how other people live and eat, I have less curiosity about my own country. I often feel estranged from Americans who are proud to be locals and have inherited or developed a pride of place. I never derived … Continue reading
Embracing Impermanence in Marrakech
Just over a week ago, I stepped off an airport shuttle into the thrum of the Medina, the old city within Marrakech, to join an Unsettled retreat. This company orchestrates programs that mix structure with freedom, connection with independence, and work with exploration for people who wish to adventure in community. One of my local hosts took … Continue reading
#MeToo: Thoughts on Vulnerability, Victimhood, Secrets and Privacy
During my freshman orientation at Bryn Mawr College, the resident advisor invited us into her dorm room to sit on the floor in a circle and get know each other. To break the ice and build connection, she wanted each of us to share something we were either bad at or nervous about (so I … Continue reading
Sushi is My Sheet Cake. Too Bad Neither Are an Answer.
Thanks to gluten and sugar sensitivity, I would end up in the worst kind of food coma if I were to stuff my face with sheet cake per Tina Fey‘s Saturday Night Live skit. Still, I completely understand the impulse to use a grilled cheese sandwich to shovel cake and frosting into one’s mouth, an impulse … Continue reading
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
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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