à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Memory
Feldenkrais: Drawing a New Self
Decades ago, as a tween, I took a class at the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA to learn to draw cartoon characters. While I don’t have those drawings in front of me, what I recall is that we started by sketching approximate shapes: circles, ovals, cylinders, whatever roughly characterized a face, arm, torso, belly or … Continue reading
Remembering a Holy Maverick: Encounters with Reb Zalman (z”l)
The world lost one of its luminaries, Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z”l), in early July. At a moving celebration of his life last weekend, I recalled a few of the more powerful times when my life intersected with this amazing being, with a “heart as big as the world”, if not as large as the cosmos. Grief introduced me to … Continue reading
Stuff is Not a Synonym for Abundance
I once heard some spiritual advice that went something like this: if you were not surrounded with objects you love, it was a sign you were “blocking abundance”. The statement might contain a nugget of truth; perhaps some people don’t believe they deserve to have what pleases them, and they live in a state of … Continue reading
The Primal Power of Food Memories
The photo essay 33 Hungarian Foods the Whole World Should Know and Love grabbed my attention last week. Topping the list was lángos, a thick fried dough slathered with sour cream and sprinkled with cheese: Fat upon fat upon fat! Seeing the photograph, my saliva glands erupted geyser-like as I recalled this snack. Gulyás (goulash) was … Continue reading
Identity and the iPhone
As a child, I loved getting the mail. I watched impatiently as the postman turned his vehicle onto our street, first delivering letters on the other side. Sometimes I stood at the edge of the driveway to track the truck’s progress as it lurched from one house to the next, the driver oblivious to my … Continue reading
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