Skip to content
Improvised Life

Improvised Life

a treasury of inspiring ideas

  • Topics
    • All topics
      • apparel
      • lighting
      • bathroom
      • living room
      • bedroom
      • materials for making
      • before + after
      • mindset
      • blogs + sites
      • music
      • books + zines
      • nature
      • celebrations
      • office
      • cool spaces
      • paths + processes
      • creative process
      • poems
      • diy
      • practice
      • entertaining
      • productivity/work
      • floors
      • quotes
      • food + cooking
      • recipes
      • fun stuff
      • renovation
      • furniture
      • repurpose + reclaim
      • garden
      • rules for living
      • gifts
      • signs + reminders
      • housewares
      • space/home
      • how-to
      • storage
      • ideas from artists
      • table/food
      • identity
      • technology
      • inspiring people
      • tools/wares
      • kids
      • trees
      • kitchen
      • video
      • leaping + flying
    • All topics
      • apparel
      • bathroom
      • bedroom
      • before + after
      • blogs + sites
      • books + zines
      • celebrations
      • cool spaces
      • creative process
      • diy
      • entertaining
      • floors
      • food + cooking
      • fun stuff
      • furniture
      • garden
      • gifts
      • housewares
      • how-to
      • ideas from artists
      • identity
      • inspiring people
      • kids
      • kitchen
      • leaping + flying
      • lighting
      • living room
      • materials for making
      • mindset
      • music
      • nature
      • office
      • paths + processes
      • poems
      • practice
      • productivity/work
      • quotes
      • recipes
      • renovation
      • repurpose + reclaim
      • rules for living
      • signs + reminders
      • space/home
      • storage
      • table/food
      • technology
      • tools/wares
      • trees
      • video
    • books + zines
    • creative process
    • diy
    • gifts
    • ideas from artists
    • mindset
    • nature
    • productivity/work
    • space/home
    • table/food
    • tools/wares
    • video
  • About
    • Affiliate Sales
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright
  • Be a Friend
    • Donation FAQ
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
Press Enter / Return to begin your search.

Search Results for: What Not Wrong

post

Kevin Kelly’s 68 Bits of Seriously Good Advice

inspiration inspiring people mindset quotes rules for living

To celebrate his 68th birthday, Kevin Kelly compiled some of the gold he’s learned over his seven decades. The brilliant list provides a roadmap to wholeness and positivity.

Read More
post

5 Short Fierce Statements that Help ‘Dig a Cave into the Future’

ideas from artists inspiration mindset poems quotes

In the face of relentlessly bad news, I randomly came across some powerful statements that snapped me awake from the daze I found myself in. Maybe they will do the same for you.

Read More
post

Stephen Nachmanovitch’s ‘The Art of IS’ Decodes Improvising As a Way of Life

books + zines creative process inspiration mindset productivity/work

YoYo Ma described The Art of IS as “a philosophical meditation on living, living fully, living in the present.” We find it full of surprising ideas that are also incredibly helpful.

Read More
post

How Wigs Changed My Life (Fran Black)

apparel fun stuff inspiration mindset tools/wares

Fran Black resorted to wearing a wig while she was growing her dyed hair out gray. Then she realized how fun and transformative wearing a wig can be, and bought more.

Read More
post

Mallomar, the Seasonal, Interactive, Pop Culture Cookie

food + cooking fun stuff table/food

Available only in winter months when it’s real chocolate coating won’t melt, Mallomars are a deeply satisfying seasonal cookie that inspires very personal improvisation…(and has MANY cultural references to boot).

Read More
post

Opened at Random: Flights (Olga Tokarczuk) “…the engine that drives changes”

books + zines mindset quotes

This morning we opend Flights at random and found this…

Read More
post

How to Recycle Your Outer and Inner Garbage

mindset quotes rules for living wellness

The New York Times’ 6 Things You’re Recycling Wrong set us straight about a few things. But Epictetus really gets to the heart of the matter.

Read More
post

Opened at Random: ‘Insomniac City by Bill Hayes

mindset quotes

This morning, we opened Bill Hayes’ “Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me” to this…

Read More
post

How to Stretch Those Too-Tight Shoes You Love (Really Works)

apparel diy how-to repurpose + reclaim

I got so many raves about my tried-and-true method of stretching too-tight shoes, that I’m publishing it again, five years later.

Read More
post

Steven Pinker on How to Live a World We Think is in Dire Straits

mindset productivity/work quotes signs + reminders video

We are not alone in feeling that things have never been so bad, that the world is in seriously dire straits. Psychologist Steven Pinker offers some clarifying strategies that shift our view.

Read More
post

Get Your Financial Act Together with Mr. Money Mustache

blogs + sites mindset productivity/work

We’ve discovered that, even with our very creative, non-linear artist’s brain, we can learn to manage our financial ecosystem IF we have the right teacher. Here’s a good place to start.

Read More
post

Leonardo da Vinci’s Affirmations to Counter Failure (Including a Wild Kitchen Fiasco)

creative process ideas from artists mindset productivity/work quotes

We like to open books at random to see what chunk of synchronous wisdom they might offer. Recently, we found this description of Leonardo’s wild, endearing culinary FAIL…

Read More
post

Rocks and Stones Make Endlessly Useful Tools and Beautiful Objets

diy laboratory materials for making quotes tools/wares

A personal compendium of the pleasures and uses for rocks and stones, with John Cage and Mary Oliver…

Read More
post

A Practice of Letting Go of Obsessive Thoughts You Can Do Anywhere (John Cage + Huang Po)

mindset paths + processes quotes wellness

There are twenty-one post-it notes in my copy of Where the Heart Beats: John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists: each an illuminating and useful tool. Here is a favorite.

Read More
post

Home is Your Canvas, Finger Paint It

blogs + sites diy ideas from artists materials for making mindset

Watch this slideshow by photographer Margaret Courtney-Clarke and imagine yourself painting your walls, floors, houses, textiles with your fingers…

Read More
post

The Wisdom of Roughneck Buddhas

mindset quotes video

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
post

Hunger-Crazed Cooks Confess 50 Ways to Eat Eggs

food + cooking recipes table/food

When there is nothing in the pantry, there is almost always the egg. Here are 50 ways to cook them from hunger crazed food people and Leite’s Culinaria. Just to spark you imagination.

Read More
post

This Enters Through the Brain’s Back Door To Make You More Creative

mindset poems

Our reason for mixing poetry into articles about very practical matters is done with fierce intention: Poetry enters through our brain’s back door and shakes things up. We find that it helps greatly in envisioning possibilities…

Read More
post

How (and Why) to Salt Sensually, like Salt Bae

food + cooking table/food

Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe became a surprising meme when his flamboyant technique of salting meat went viral. Though many are transfixed by his rather, er sensual handling of meat, I love that he put SALTING on the map.

Read More
post

Yoko Ono on Arguing or Fighting

ideas from artists mindset quotes rules for living wellness

After a recent, heart-rending, reverberating argument with a friend (everybody was RIGHT, everybody was WRONG), we wondered if the approaches Yoko Ono outlined in Acorn would have been better ways to go.

Read More

Page navigation

  • Prev
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 7
  • Next
Copyright Sally Schneider 2020
scroll to top