Since we discovered the remarkable effects of reading a poem every morning several years ago, we’ve looked for ways to weave poetry more widely into our life. We found a trove of dazzlers to listen to anywhere.
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@Mandy Patinkin’s Heartening Reality Sandwiches
Traumatized by seeing her aged face on Zoom, actress Kathryn Grody rants, despairing and conflicted, to her son Gideon as he films her with his iPhone. It is one of the many illuminating moments captured on @Mandy Patinkin, documenting the everyday life of actor Mandy Patinkin, Grody and Gideon as they shelter at their upstate NY cabin.
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Tree.fm: Listen to Forests Around the World and Plant Some Trees
The past week working at our desk, we listened to soundscapes of forests in Malaysia, Estonia, Portugal, China and France… Through a remarkable website, we found ourselves transported into tranquil environments AND quickly able to gift trees to friends…
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S.B. Dworski Ponders “Sonder”
Frequent contributor S.B. Dworski dives into John Koenig’s deeply beautiful concept, Sonder, which has poignant resonance today.
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Life Lessons from 100 Days of Seeing Color in the Garden (Lorene Edwards Forkner)
After a particularly rough period of her life, artist and gardener Lorene Edwards Forkner embarked on an unusual daily practice, that quietly taught her some very big lessons.
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Real-Life Comics about Letting Go of Expectations and Other Important Topics
We’re loving comic artist Edith Zimmerman’s wonderful site,, Drawing Links. It features comics that tell the story of an experience she’s had along with links she’s found apropos. Subjects include Time, Tao Te Ching, Home Decor… Here’s a favorite…
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Risk Equivalents of Common Activities (Roz Chast)
At the New Yorker, cartoonist Roz Chast takes on the kind of equation we are seeing everywhere, of “experts” assessing the level of risk in commonly enjoyed activities of human existence.
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Radio Garden, Planting Seeds Around the World and in Hearts
When Radio Garden starts to load, the words “planting seeds” appears on the screen. Then a virtual globe appears around which you travel to tune into thousands of live radio stations around the world. It is magic.
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Escape to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s Casa Azul
Transported via the virtual tour of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s Casa Azul in Mexico City, we found ourselves wandering through gardens, studios and living spaces: much-needed escape and delight.
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The Immediacy Filter Helps Answer Yes or No
Just about every week, we find something useful in Kevin Kelly’s newsletter Recomendo, a handful of “cool stuff” from really smart people. The latest is The Immediacy Filter.
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‘Beautiful News’: A Daily Hit of Positive to Antidote the Media’s Dark Worldview
Over half a century ago in 1967, John Lennon’s ‘A Day in the Life” nailed the feeling of hurried daily life infused with dark news that continues to reverberate today. Check out this antidote to the relentless daily barrage of bleak news…
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Powerful Questions About Personal Expression Sparked by W.S. Merwin’s Garden Time (Consider Journal)
At #Consider Journal, a remarkable post ranges from W.S. Merwin’s last book to the “cyclical effect of nature and art” to the bigger question of how our expression might come to resonate in bigger ways.
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The Best of Core 77’s Hilarious Weekly Roast of Really Bad Design
Core 77’s Weekly Design Roast gives our Annals of Bad Design a serious run for the money. Rain Noe deconstructs high-minded, idiotic design, channeling the hilarious design thinking behind it.
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Here’s How to See Everything Ever Posted on Improvised Life Over 10 Years
If you’re in need of illumination NOW, here’s how to scroll through everything ever posted on Improvised Life.
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We Edited Our Instagram to Be a Tool of Illumination and Found Wild Poetry
Realizing we disliked Instagram for the “junkfood” feeling it gave us, we embarked upon a rigorous edit. Our criteria: whatever we follow must illuminate.
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Combine Summer Camp Pleasures with Personal Growth (and Digital Empowerment)
One of the most magical places I know of to take stock of life and transform it is Omega Institute, a true catalyst for change and possibility thinking. I’ll be teaching a workshop there this summer…
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Macfarlane’s Remarkable Twitter Feed: Flashes of Illumination about Landscape and the Human Heart
Though we’re not fans of Twitter, we are enthralled by British writer Robert Macfarlane’s feed for its remarkable ability to connect us to nature, landscape, heart…
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The Slowdown: A 5-Minute Literary Once-a Day Multivitamin for the Soul
The Slowdown, a daily 5-minute long podcast from U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, is remarkable in its power to truly slow down time and transport you OUT of the busy mulit-tasking present.
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Jocelyn Glie’s Newsletter: Ideas for Finding Creativity and Meaning Delivered to Your Inbox
Among the email newsletters I subscribe to, From the Curious Mind of Jocelyn K. Glei is one where I always find something that challenges my thinking and/or makes my life better.
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How to Find Nothing But Poems in the Course of Your Day
At poet Ocean Vuong’s tumblr, we found this mind-shifting post…
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