à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Possibility
Tendonitis as Spiritual Teacher
Until last autumn, when I overused one of my tendons on the Camino de Santiago, I had never sustained a mobility-impairing injury. While people may say that I was lucky to be injury-free for that long, I often wondered if my fear of getting hurt prevented me from exploring exhilarating and risky pursuits. Maybe I … Continue reading
Counting Cats in Jerusalem
“I’ve counted 78 cats so far,” my niece, who recently became Bat Mitzvah, told me a few days ago. Three of us, the Bat Mitzvah gal, her eight year old cousin and I were walking back to our temporary Jerusalem “home” from an impromptu swim at the pool. “Look! There’s more!” she said, her face … Continue reading
A Pilgrim Goes “Royal”
Arab men fill the airy and glass-walled lobby of the Royal Rimonim Hotel. They sit on upholstered chairs around low tables and play cards at this gleaming tower along the shore of Israel’s Dead Sea. Some rotate rosaries through fidgety fingers. Women in diaphanous white head scarves and black outfits cluster around other tables, drinking … Continue reading
What Are You Really Searching For?
On the Internet, everyone is a seeker. We go online, type a word or phrase in Google and click “search”. Perhaps we are looking for something specific: the best price on a certain item, a train schedule, the precise meaning of a word. But many times, I suspect, we consult search engines as if they … Continue reading
After a Death, an Ant Reminds Me to Choose Life
A writer I admired passed away on Saturday, March 2. I met Robyn Richey Piz in a class at Lighthouse Writers Workshop, and she invited me to join a writing salon. I knew her mainly through the story she chose to tell about living with a chronic medical condition. Her evocative and even ethereal prose … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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