à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Spiritual Practice
Cleaning up a Creek, Cleaning up Karma
Lured by a free breakfast, lunch and an REI t-shirt, I volunteered to help clean up the Sand Creek Regional Greenway, 25 minutes from my Denver apartment. In theory, picking up other people’s garbage is not appealing; in reality, it was revealing. Armed with hats, work gloves and black and orange bags (for trash and … Continue reading
The Power of Nature
I’m still thinking about the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, about 250 miles southwest of Denver, which I visited by accident a few weeks ago. Although I’m an avid hiker, I don’t frequent this type of park, and it was heartening to see who else was there. I chatted briefly with an Orthodox Jewish man … Continue reading
More on Last-Minute-Itis
Two posts ago I wrote about how, in waiting until the last minute to make lodging arrangements for a conference (The Wake Up Festival), I stumbled upon a solution to what, until then, had been a conundrum: finding affordable accommodation that did not involve multiple roommates. Pleased to be renting a room in a private … Continue reading
In Defense of Last-Minute-itis
There are people who plan vacations months in advance, down to the hotels they will stay in each night and the clothing they will bring. There are people who reserve a table at a restaurant weeks ahead and who book their next hair appointment while at the salon. And many people fill their social, cultural … Continue reading
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
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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