S.B. Dworski reflects on the nature of being “siloed”, which most of the world is grappling with, and a new way to think about it.
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S.B. Dworski reflects on the nature of being “siloed”, which most of the world is grappling with, and a new way to think about it.
Read MoreAfter months being seriously home-bound, I’ve found myself looking around my space for ways to shift my head. The work of several artists provided both inspiration and illumination as to why…
Read MoreWe take a walk daily because it never fails to refresh our thinking, change our view of things, calm us. Especially, in these most stressful times. It is perhaps our most powerful medicine. Walking, we find our mind shifting, ideas sparking, problems beginning to yield in ways we never expect. Rilke nailed it in A Walk:…
Read MoreFor over a week, the work of a poet and an artist seemed to be in conversation,
helping us understand a fearsome part of living.
In the 16th century, an Italian artist named Cesare Vecellio began to use the long “fourth” outside edge of books as a canvas on which to make small paintings… a reminder of possibilities hiding in plain sight…
Read MoreThis image with the caption, “Parisians navigate flood waters by walking across rows of chairs, 1924”, reminded us of the essential nature of improvisation.
Read MoreOne of the best things to come out of the months of Covid-19 lockdown has been extraordinary films from art galleries and museums. One of the best of is about the English sculptor Phyllia Barlow. It provides an illuminating counterpoint to the many life questions that the virus has thrown into relief.
Read MoreWe recently re-discovered “Eating Grapes Downwards” a poem we’d loved and somehow lost track of. Christian Wiman describes the mysterious creative process we cannot control, and often aren’t even aware of, but that is part of every life. With instructions for how to navigate…
Read MoreEight years ago, afriend and I discovered that reading – or listening to – a poem has a hugely beneficial effect. Here’s the backstory, the poets we rely on, and some poetry.
Read MorePerspective we need: The Onion’s sublimely funny, spot-on commentary on the pressure to be creative during the “free time” of quarantining + Riz Ahmed’s wise view.
Read MoreThis sublime short film is about “saxophone colossus” Sonny Rollins’ two-year musical sabbatical playing on New York’s Williamsburg Bridge and what he found there.
Read MoreIn posts and emails, I shared the questions fueling Improvised Life’s new architecture and many changes. Among the deeply affirming messages I received from readers, the most interesting was from long-time contributor Susan Dworski. She wrote of the contagious aspect of this sea change.
Read MoreEvery December in a village in northern Argentina, Jorge Gervasi and his son transform their modest family home into an elaborate display of blinking lights. This sweet, slightly Fellini-esque short film captures the hard work, missteps and dreams that go into it their remarkable Christmas monument.
Read MoreArtsy’s Alexxa Gotthardt combed through interviews with legendary abstract expressionist artist Lee Krasner for her insights into “how to be an artist”, with three essential lessons.
Read MoreWe know quite a few people who are making major life changes these days, living with the question of what to do next, waiting for the path to become clear. What’s the mindset to embrace in limbo: all questions, few clues, no answers?
Read MoreThe impetus for Dr. John Kitchen’s radical life change into the skater Slomo was the answer a very old man gave him when he asked, “What is the secret to living so long?”
Read MoreWe’d never thought about guarding against the “lesser talents” we all have until we read Gary Snyder, whose practical counsel and poetry on the creative process is seriously clarifying.
Read MoreThis huge little insight about listening startled us awake! And got us thinking about the powerful practice we all do daily…
Read MoreYoYo 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 MoreWhen we came across this quote from novelist Henry Miller, we thought, yes that IS some of the most powerful medicine we know.
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