à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Ritual
It’s All Invented
In The Art of Possibility, after decades of teaching music and seeing how students’ anxiety about grades interfered with their playing, co-author Benjamin Zander decides to give each pupil an “A” at the beginning of the semester. Their only requirement is to write him a detailed letter explaining who they will have become by the … Continue reading
Fire, Fire Everywhere
Wildfire after wildfire has been raging here in Colorado over the last few days. First I learned of the fire outside Fort Collins, 90 minutes from Denver. Although far enough away to be out of sight, winds carried smoke to the city, an acrid reminder of the destruction. While hiking last Saturday in Rocky Mountain … Continue reading
Lessons from a Goat
I met this goat yesterday at a farm where I attended a workshop on compassion (facilitated by humans but taught by horses). While the workshop was fascinating, I learned just as much from this creature, with whom I spent a good chunk of the lunch break. Unlike the horses and their subtler forms of expression … Continue reading
Behold the Karmic Vacuum
These days, I pay careful attention to who and what shows up in, or disappears from, my life and if the arrivals, departures or synchronicities carry meanings. While I’ve always been attuned to symbols, it wasn’t until I started writing creative non-fiction to identify themes in my à la carte life that I began … Continue reading
Spring Rituals and Lessons for Writing (and vice versa)
While buying a box of matzah a few days ago, I remembered that one of the purposes of this unleavened product is to instruct the eater to be humble and not let the ego run the show…at least for the eight days of Passover, if not longer. Good writing also demands we put our egos … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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