à la carte spirit by ilona fried
meditation
Silent Retreat: A Sedentary Camino
“The longest journey you will make in your life is from your head to your heart” – Sioux legend In December, friends offered to host a four day, mostly silent meditation retreat at their mountain home. For a modest fee, they’d provide lunch, snacks and facilitation; we could bring breakfast and dinner if we chose … Continue reading
Goodbye, Gluttony! Dispatch from a Contemplative Thanksgiving
Despite my excitement at attending a contemplative, potluck Thanksgiving, anxiety hijacked my high spirits on Thursday as I loaded two pans of roasted vegetables and my folding meditation bench into my Subaru. In addition to garden variety worries about whether I’d enjoy the other people, I feared that the intention for a mindful gathering could … Continue reading
Turkey is Not a Synonym for Gratitude
I didn’t always dread Thanksgiving. Growing up in the 1970s and early 1980s, I looked forward to it. I loved the special dishes my mother prepared (sauteed mushrooms and onions being one). I enjoyed making relish, hand cranking cranberries and an orange, rind and all, through a metal meat grinder and watching it ooze red … Continue reading
When Curiosity Beckons
When curiosity beckons, we don’t always know where it will take us, or how long the journey will be. Last week a friend, a spry septuagenarian who pedals around town like nobody’s business, mentioned she was overwhelmed by the thought of preparing for her upcoming yard sale. I asked her if she wanted help. My … Continue reading
Knitting as Zen Practice
For years, I’ve had a knotty relationship with knitting. As a teenager, I envied friends who, having learned the skill from their mothers, aunts or grandmothers, whipped up scarves and sweaters. In my freshman year at college, I decided to learn, and took a lesson at a yarn shop down the road from my suburban … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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