flowers

Opened at Random: The Botany of Desire “The Meaning of Life”

This morning we opened The botany of Desire by Michael Pollan at random and found this:

Beauty You Can Carry on a Bicycle (Loes Heerink, Emily Dickinson)

Self-taught photographer Loes Heerink spent days on bridges capture the diversity of bicycle vendors in Hanoi. Her photo series “Vendors from Above” reminded us of the beauty you can carry on a bicycle…

Never Give Up! (Buson and Babar)

Just as we were wondering if March, the fickle, endless-feeling month would ever end, we found hopeful signs…

Wabi-Sabi Lesson: Broken Blossom with Rubber Bands (+ haiku)

At dinner at photographer Ellen Silverman’s house, I noticed a beautiful on-the-verge-of-flowering Amaryllis plant on her kitchen island…and next to it her clever, fast save of a cluster of buds that had broken off. It was as beautiful as the plant itself and embodied the elusive quality of wabi-sabi.

Nature Becomes Clothing and Adornment

In her work, photographer Agnieska Chabros often uses Nature to dress her models. We hadn’t thought of using shadows as a style element. Then we discovered other photographers dressing models with unexpected adornments from the natural world… … … … … Then of course, there is Brandon Stanciell, The Man Who Loved Flowers …and come to think of…

A Blind Man Describes His Favorite Things to Touch

In this surprising video, Tommy Edison, a film critic who has been blind since birth, talks about his favorite things to touch, which reminds us to tune in to our own senses.

Look At the ‘Do’ a Field of Sunflowers Inspired

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A Powerful Spring Poem with Robledo’s Wondrous Images

When we stumbled on this powerful little haiku, we thought right away of Maria Robledo’s wondrous flower assemblages…where we found another surprising haiku.

maria robledo: the perfection of everyday imperfections

A quote from our friend Maria Robledo captures the wondrous imperfections in the daily world that make them so completely perfect, as do her photographs…

windowsill still-lives: mindfulness practice in action

Mindfulness practice – learning to be present in each moment– is something many people are embracing these days. Business are incorporating it and classes abound. Perhaps the most often-recommended “exercise” is washing dishes mindfully, although we know few people who really do it. Recently, we heard of one that did, truly. No surprise, it is…

the surprising power of diy virtual bouquets

In the past month or so, two readers of ‘improvised life’ sent beautiful virtual bouquets in the form of emailed jpgs. You might think that a cyber bouquet would have little of the power or effect of a real one, but we’ve got to say, NOT SO. Part of the reason they were each so…