wellness

How to Practice Magic

There is a big message in this little film, way bigger than its title, Reframe the Familiar. The visuals seem somehow of another time and act, with the words and odd voice, like hunks of poetry.

“You Are Made by All the Hands that Touch You” (Elisa Moro)

Amid the subtle hues of black in the negative images of Elisa Moro’s photographs, only hands are in positive gray tones. “You are made of all the hands that have touched you” points to one of the great absences caused by the pandemic, and raises a compelling question…

Life’s a Mess, Channel ‘Pura Vida’

Understanding the nuances of “pura vida” made me wonder what if, in the face of all the chaos and uncertainty and rage and sadness, we were to embrace it as our daily mantra?

Kintsugi Repair as Metaphor

Artist ciriacaerre made a video of repairing a smashed vase using kintsugi, the Japanese art that celebrates the scars and breaks. She, and other artist, eloquently describe its greater meaning…

A Bed Surrounded by Flowers Makes a Dreamy Respite

When we stumbled on thisimage by photographer Jill Burrow, we thought, ‘Ah yes. We’d love to sleep surrounded by flowers, especially now, after months of guarded and circumscribed living.’ Looking closely, we found permission to do it…

Over-Glasses Sunglasses for Instant RX Sunglasses and Virus Protection

I first became enamored of sunglasses worn OVER prescription glasses when I saw my friend Fran Black* wearing a pair; I suddenly noticed that there was a pair of glasses underneath her sunglasses. That’s just what I need, I thought, so I hunted a pair down. They made my life way easier. I didn’t have…

Yoko Ono’s Instruction For Navigating Our Changed Lives

In advance of reopening after months of coronavirus lockdown, the Metropolitan Museum of Art posted words by Yoko Ono on its facade. She created them in response to Covid-19 as an essential instruction.

A Young Poet’s Fierce Wisdom on Navigating Darkness

Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray and Emily Saliers put their finger on what makes poet/rapper Kae Tempest so unique: “…their willingness to love humanity through the darkness makes me hopeful”. That comes through powerfully in these two spoken word pieces and this short powerful interview. Words to live by.

Carl Jung and Mary Oliver on Touching Nature from the Inside and Outside

This morning we came across extraordinary words from Carl Jung. They describe a wholeness of experience that antidotes the very modern idea that we are each self-contained. Soon after, a Mary Oliver poem echoed it…

Van Gogh and Gary Snyder Teach “Tree Intensity of Mind”

Recently, the actual living trees that were the subject of van Gogh’s last painting in 1890 were discovered near the small French town where he lived. A photograph of the trees superimposed with the painting brings to life Gary Snyder’s idea of “tree intensity of mind”, and amplifies our own experience mightily.

Kaffe Fassett on the Healing Power of Color

Color artist Kaffe Fassett likens color to oxygen, “…like breathing”. In this short video, he describes how he relies on color for healing, something it seems, we can all do:

How to Dispel Worry (Mary Oliver)

Worry and overwhelm are common emotions these days. This morning, we found two simple things that shifted us out of them.

Powerful Scientific Imaging Shows Why Masks Work

This remarkable video captures what is normally invisible to our eyes — how masks work to slow airborne infection carried on our breath — and resolves much conflicting information about them. Essential viewing for those that wear them and those that don’t.