à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Ritual
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
Resistance: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Recently I bought swim paddles, pieces of molded grey plastic that attach to my hands with red rubber straps. Wearing them, I feel like a crustacean with oddly shaped claws. These appendages are designed to create more resistance in the water and build muscle, but my main interest was to vary my workout so I’d … Continue reading
Born Again. Die Again. Repeat.
The Camino offered opportunities to experience the full arc of a day, a subtle but profound satisfaction I’ve been missing. When I began the pilgrimage in early October, the sun didn’t rise until after 8 a.m. That it was still dark so “late” was, at first, disconcerting but it meant I was already moving when … Continue reading
To Hang On or Let Go?
There is an end-of-Camino ritual at Finisterre, to burn something from the trip (or toss it into the sea). The symbolism is personal: for some, it could be a form of spiritual completion, a break with the past and/or the promise of a new beginning. A few days before arriving to the coast, I walked … Continue reading
The Green Tea Miracle
Last night, I literally hobbled into the albergue in Ledigos, a tiny farming village. There was a better place to stay a few kilometers away, but I couldn´t go any further. Plus, the weather was starting to change. The hospitalero, with jet black hair and a thick rural accent, checked me in. “Your name?” he … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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