à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Camino de Santiago
Road Trip as American Camino: The Upside of Uncertainty
The question I posed at the end of Road Trip as American Camino (Part I), was: Could I find the essence of Europe’s Camino on the iconic American road trip, or was that simply a foolish proposition? To enter into uncertainty creates the possibility of surprise. Whether that’s perceived as an upside or a downside depends on … Continue reading
Road Trip: My American Camino (Part I)
Before setting off on my last minute road trip, the voices of fear gave me a lot of flak for not having planned it in advance, or “enough” in advance. Still, days into my trip, demons continued to berate me (“What the hell are you doing?!” they asked), anxiety held me in its death grip, and I was … Continue reading
Commitment: Choice or Coercion?
Life has, again, presented me with an opportunity to write about commitment. Towards the end of June an acquaintance invited me to an event in Denver whose venue was capping the number of guests. It was unclear what the cap was and at what point it would be reached. If I wanted to attend, I … Continue reading
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
El Camino with a King Size Bed
“Life is a journey, not a destination.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson I thought of this oft-quoted phrase when, on a Thursday at the end of May, the final Delta flight on my route from Denver to Montreal was cancelled. That it was aborted after we had boarded the aircraft, taxied onto the runway and then, … Continue reading
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