à la carte spirit by ilona fried
travel
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
Road Trip: the Etch-a-Sketch of Travel
“Planning the next moment drains your energy. Being present to this one replenishes it.” – Living Compassion I love to travel. My mind loves to doubt. Every time I’m on a trip, regardless of destination or length, my mind wonders if I should have done it differently or visited somewhere else altogether. If I’m alone, it tells … Continue reading
Road Trip as Awareness Through Movement
“We do not say at the start what the final stage will be.” – Moshe Feldenkrais After my first month of Feldenkrais training in Santa Fe, I surprised myself by embarking on a road trip…at the last minute. Several weeks before I received an announcement for an evening of storytelling about Moshe Feldenkrais to honor the … Continue reading
Now Playing: Spiritual Ping-Pong
My internal experience reminds me of Ping-Pong. On one side of the net is gratitude, well-being and acceptance. On the other is, as Zen monk Cheri Huber points out, ego’s insidious chorus of “something is wrong” or “not enough”. And my attention is the ball, bouncing over the net between the two sides, or flying … Continue reading
A Pilgrim Goes “Royal”
Arab men fill the airy and glass-walled lobby of the Royal Rimonim Hotel. They sit on upholstered chairs around low tables and play cards at this gleaming tower along the shore of Israel’s Dead Sea. Some rotate rosaries through fidgety fingers. Women in diaphanous white head scarves and black outfits cluster around other tables, drinking … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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