A satisfying find from the recently-redesigned Remodelista: Anthropologie’s Ephemera Clip. Made of distressed iron (wonder if it will rust…then it might get REALLY beautiful), with a hole in one handle so you can hang it, it is like a little sculpture…Endlessly useful for clipping together receipts, papers, closing food bags… Related posts: holiday gifts: cheap…
Read Morewe test drive the pomodoro time management technique
A few weeks ago we wrote about the concept of “pulsing and resting,” throughout the work day; actually taking breaks from work in order to get more done (and do better work!). One of our readers introduced us to the Pomodoro Technique, (names after a tomato-shaped timer) which is based on this very idea and…
Read Morea poster to inspire your new year’s intention
This evening marks the start of Chinese New Year – the Year of the Dragon. We think this poster from Singapore design firm pupilpeople would make a fine, fluid set of reminders for the year: glow-in-the-dark, too, for about $24.
Read Morecool, helpful wallpaper for your computer or ipad
Art Director Gustavo Vieira has created a an Is Life Good tumblr where you can download this sign in different resolutions customized for your computer, tablet or phone, to use as wallpaper FREE… …A great, simple to-the-point question/answer/reminder. via Swiss-Miss Related posts: ‘replace fear of the unknown with curiosity’ gandhi: ‘our beliefs become our…destiny‘ ‘what’s not…
Read Morehow to be yourself in 10 simple steps
Forbes Online recently published a piece called “How to Be More Interesting (In 10 Simple Steps).” We love the steps (and Jessica Hagy‘s illustrations that accompany each one), we couldn’t help feeling like they weren’t really about being “interesting,” but more about BEING YOURSELF. We’d retitle it: How to Be Yourself, In 10 Simple Steps. (Being…
Read Morewhat to do when ‘stuff happens’?
In his 2010 New York Times series, Christopher Niemann nailed what we think about everyday when we leave the house: However hard we try to weigh knowns and unknowns, unexpected “stuff happens” in our lives and in those around us. Some of what happens is swell, and some is really hard. It’s how to respond…
Read Morean antidote to busyness
(Video link here.) We were very late in posting today…and have been, here and there, for the past couple of weeks. We feel like the white rabbit, RUNNING, as we juggle and handle and make decisions…running ‘the improvised life’ while we work on a mind-boggling project (which we hope to start blogging soon.) And all…
Read Morethe other sides of steve jobs: good + bad = ?
(Video link here.) After hearing a lot of very kind and reverent words about Steve Jobs lately, Walter Isaacson’s new biography about him, apparently balancing the picture, which we can’t help but think is a good thing. The guy was brilliant, but no angel; he was deeply flawed. Ryan Tate of Gawker wrote just this…
Read More4-step algorithm for change
Leo Babauta has gained a big following on his blog Zen Habits, where he posts daily about simplifying your life to what you REALLY want to be doing. We often find useful practices we truly can apply to our lives. The other day, we read all the way through his lengthy post How I Changed…
Read Moreon the rightness of being wrong via TED
After reading yesterday’s post “What is Failure?”, a reader alerted us to the compelling TED talk, “On Being Wrong” by Katherine Schulz, a”wrongologist”, who studies what it means to make mistakes. Schulz has some interesting ideas about where “feeling right” and “being wrong” intersect; it’s worth listening to whole 10 minute talk to follow the flow.…
Read Moreelizabeth streb on the necessity of risk-taking
(Video link here.) We’ve long been a fan of Elizabeth Streb, an “action architect” whose wondrous choreography interweaves risk, action, danger, and flow into a thrilling experience; her dancers interact with swinging concrete blocks and giant wheels where the potential is full-on hurt if they make a mistep; they often run into walls and fall…
Read Moredept of the future: how would you like to be remembered?
We spend a lot of time thinking about how to live our lives in a way that honors our spirits, however you might define the word. But even though some may find it a bit grim, we also find ourselves thinking about how we honor each other in death as well. Sometimes we come across…
Read More‘i had cancer’ = social networking with a purpose
(Video link here.) I tend to have mixed feelings about the growing number of options for social networking. I’ve definitely noticed my own reliance on social networks making me a little more self-indulgent and a little less personal in my communications with friends. But the power of social networking sites to create communities for people…
Read More‘what every girl/person needs’ via miranda july
We’ve loved Miranda July’s work for a long time because her work always directly addressed the INSIDE of our heads, all those crazy voices and opinions and questions that take up so much space, and are really NOT who we are. Suddenly she’s become pretty famous because of the Future, her recent film that is getting…
Read More“don’t give up!” (the inspirational letters project)
The Animators Letter Project was started by Willie Downs, an animation student who, just a year ago, was an aspiring animator pursuing a career he knew wasn’t right for him. Petrified of the risk he would be taking in dropping out of an expensive and presumably more reliable degree program to attend animation school, Downs wrote…
Read Moresighting: shelves made of stacked books (books as bricks)
BoingBoing recently posted a compelling video (below or link here) of a toupeed fellow named Augustus Gladstone giving a tour of the room he lives in in an abandoned hotel, in some unnamed city. Gladstone’s apartment is an eccentric, strangely homey place decorated with what appears to be mostly found stuff and collections of bric-a-brac. There’s some…
Read Moresurvey superstars: THANKS and one last call
We cannot THANK YOU enough for participating in the survey we posted last week. Not only has the information been extremely helpful in planning for the future of the site, but we were completely blown away by the sheer force of kindness and inspiration in your comments. For those of you who missed it, the…
Read More‘8 secrets of success’ in 3:33 minutes
This is the really fast gist of a two hour presentation Richard St. John gives to high school students (Video link here). We edited the transcript down to a handy little list: “…the first thing is passion. Freeman Thomas says, “I’m driven by my passion.” Carol Coletta says, “I would pay someone to do what…
Read Morehelp ‘the improvised life’ by taking our 2-minute survey
We love the community we see growing around ‘the improvised life’. Every day we get comments and emails that give us snippets of our readers’ lives; you inspire us daily with your creativity and support. We wonder if you would take a few minutes to fill out this survey to give us a better idea…
Read Morerecession jokes
We recently got an email from a friend that had been forwarded by and to a long chain of people we didn’t know. We were happy that it didn’t threaten us with years of bad luck if we didn’t pass it on. And we were delighted that its silly recession jokes actually made us LAUGH.…
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