Issa Archives - Improvised Life

A Guide to Glimmers and Where to Find Them

Lately, we’ve been hearing about glimmers, tiny moments of awe and beauty that spark joy, calm, well-being and help our nervous systems feel relaxed and balanced (the opposite of stressors and triggers.) Glimmers can be the seemingly ordinary things, as well as very unexpected ones.

An Incredibly Relaxing Walk through the Cherry Blossoms at The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Garden Bathing)

Watching this perfectly shot video felt so much like we actually were ambling slowly through the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that we felt palpably relaxed and dreamy. It is a balm for anyone craving nature.

Cherry Blossoms in Your Face: Time Lapse, Gif, Haiku and NOW

A superb little time lapse, haikus and a gif are reminders to take a moment to take in the cherry trees coming into bloom: opportunities for amazement.

The Secret Flashcodes of Fireflies

For a summer evening, some lovely silent videos of fireflies, haiku from centuries ago, and a hint at their secret flashcode.

Cherry Tree Whose Branches Reach Out to Protect (with haiku + motown)

Every spring when the cherry trees on our corner of Harlem are in blossom, we marvel, not just at the riot of pink but at one particular tree and the life that goes on under it.

Walking the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Path w Poetry

We thought these extraordinary photographs of walking Japan’s ancient deep forest pilgrimage path would be a fine wait to start the week. And of course we found poems to accompany them…

LOOK! Cherry Blossoms are Happening NOW

Two astonishing time-lapse videos and a couple of haikus remind us of the fleeing moment that is cherry blossom time. It only takes a moment to STOP and take it the fabulous colors as we walk by a blossoming tree.

Re-entry…What We Learned On Our Summer Stay-cation

Monday evening of Labor Day, we could positively FEEL the shift of air and energy as the entire country grabbed every last BIT before the official end of summer. We spent the day hanging on the terrace reflecting on our three-week stay-cation that turned out way different than we had imagined, and would yield an essential lesson.

Where do you find “clear profit?”

Clear profit. We DO have that in the sky, friends and our daily interactions with our readers, who always surprise.Can that profit pay the bills and all that goes into making Improvised Life? The jury’s out. It makes us wonder: What IS this stuff called money, really? Our friend Holton Rower makes art out of it!