We when first watched this beautiful two minute video, we knew nothing about it, who made it or who its subject was. We thought only: THAT is how we want to be…
Read More
The Challenge and Wonder of Boxhood (Emil Ferris)
Emil Ferris, creator of the breakout graphic novel, My Favorite Thing is Monsters, writes eloquently about the misunderstood notion of thinking outside the box. She knows what she’s talking about; she’s navigated extraordinary challenges with aplomb.
Read More
We’re Not Advertising Anything, Damn It!
We found this cartoon while we were leafing through The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker, perfect, relaxing bedtime reading. Drawn in 1966 by Charles E. Martin, it’s even more timely today.
Read More
Catalogue of Possibilities and Very Cool Tools
We’ve found that reading catalogues not only relaxing, but makes our brains sparkle with unexpected ways to use materials. Our favorite catalogue of all is Cool Tools, a catalogue of possibilities that EXPANDS our view mightily.
Read More
The Typewriter Orchestra’s Drum Circle
The Typewriter Orchestra makes music on vintage desktop and portable machines. And suddenly we see typewriters as percussion instrument, in addition to unique tool for tapping the poetic subconscious…
Read More
Just don’t give up on trying to do what you really want to do (Ella Fitzgerald)
No one could have imagined that Ella Fitzgerald’s dark early life would have led to winning Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and the launch of her singing career. She was a master of wildly improvised scat singing that echoed a wildly improvised life.
Read More
Mira Keras’ Rule of ReInvention
Improvised Life Editorial Assistant Mira Keras also happens to be a tattoo artist recently featured in Buzzfeed. She developed a survivalist’s approach to right-livlelihood that works for both Millenials and Boomers navigating rough economic seas.
Read More
Journal of Wonders (Mary Oliver)
This morning, after a friend read us this fragment of Mary Oliver’s poem, Good Morning, we tucked our favorite red notebook in our bag…
Read More
Voyage of Discovery: Murukami’s 3300-Song Playlist
We were thrilled to find a free, streamable Spotify playlist with over 3,300 songs from novelist Haruki Murakami’s legendary record collection. Its range is vast, from rare jazz recordings to a huge riff of Bach and Elvis: discoveries that fuel our own creative endeavors.
Read More
What Happens If You Apologize Every Day?
This sign on Holton Rower’s studio door instantly shifts our perspective: about being more mindful of the potential to hurt someone’s feelings……including our own
Read More
The Wisdom of Roughneck Buddhas
When Bo Diddley shouted “This monkey is tied, now let’s skin it!” Stephen Asma got his first lesson in the art of improvisation. Here’s what he learned from “roughneck Buddhas”…
Read More
Hide Water Damage with Distressed Ceilings and Walls
Living on the top floor of an apartment building, we are always under threat of leaks from the roof above. What if we did a purposely fresco-like distressed ceiling or wall that would just get better from leak stains?
Read More
Advice for Someone Who is Juggling Her Life
Like most people, we often feel like we are juggling way too many things in our life. Although we try to simplify, make choices, edit out the unnecessary, we have not yet mastered the equilibrium of just enough. How startling then to find A Poem for Someone Who is Juggling Her Life and its affirmation of a very counter-intuitive option…
Read More
Here’s Your Joy Permit!
As we passed a Police/Fire Emergency alarm on 123rd Street, we noticed an official looking bright yellow form taped to it. We walked by then turned back to read it; something didn’t look quite right. We discovered that it was a sort of makeshift dispenser of…JOY Permits,
Read More
Spring Breakfast: A Perfect Boiled Egg with Toast Soldiers
This Sunday, we’ll celebrate Spring and Easter with a simple, of-the-season breakfast: soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers, and good coffee, inspired by Ellen Silverman’s Girl with Egg. Here’s how to make perfection out of something so simple.
Read More
You Control Your Time (Warren Buffett + Bill Gates)
When Rose asked Bill Gates what the biggest thing he’d learned from Warren Buffett is, Gates replied it isn’t about investing money; it’s about investing time.
Read More
Make Do and Mend: Gentle Inner and Outer Activism
Understanding that “waste is symptomatic of failed relationships” has changed our view about repairing/mending/fixing — from the inside out.
Read More
Wildly Beautiful Visualizations of Your Brain Actively Perceiving Itself RIGHT NOW
Self Reflected is a series of complex, wildly beautiful, artistic representations of neural pathways showing what consciousness looks like — YOUR consciousness, this very moment.
Read More
Whale Songs For Calm and Dreamy Sleep
When a friend mentioned that she often calmed her wakeful daughter by playing whale songs to her, I had to try it myself.
Read More
How to Rid Your Mind of Thoughts of Death and Doom
The great Joseph Mitchell reminded us that “thoughts of death and doom” are part of the human condition, and of ways to rid our mind of them.
Read More
10 Ways to Stretch Your Condoms
The AP reports that Cubans who make their own wine employ condoms as inflatable gauges that indicate when the wine is ready. That got us wondering about other uses for the common, incredibly useful material.
Read More
HomeMade Modern: Smart Stylish DIY with a Mission
We’re smitten with HomeMade Modern’s stylish, DIY-able home goods — from beds to planters — and really smart, detailed designs that empower you to improvise.
Read More
Sit for a Moment in Pierre Chareau’s Garden in Paris
Last night, we found ourselves sitting in early 20th century French architect and designer Pierre Chareau’s garden in Paris, looking at a leafy wall, and at the lovely pattern of flag stones, after we’d wandered through his extraordinary Maison de Verre. We advise going there right now. Here’s how.
Read More
DIY Anti-Anxiety Medications (Paul Klee, Austin Kleon)
After we wrote about John Franzen’s “one line, one breath” art works, we heard from quite a few artists that use breath as a sort of meditation when they make their art. And others who use it to quiet their anxieties, as Austin Kleon does when everything is NOT fine…
Read More
It is In (Y)OUR Self-Interest to Be Very Tender (Jenny Holzer +Emily Dickinson)
We never really considered the word tender until we saw artist Jenny Holzer’s extraordinary message years ago. What if we tried it for an hour/day/week?
Read More