mindset

Life Got Wild, Be Back in a Week (with Haiku)

Life got so wild of late, I’ve got to take a little break from publishing Improvised Life. I’ll be back in a week with new articles and the spirit of this haiku by Buson.

Seamus Heaney On Suffering, Self-healing, and Hope for a Great Sea Change

This Seamus Heaney poem from “The Cure at Troy” resonates POWERFULLY in this time of extraordinary social upheaval as though it was written yesterday, and lends hope to our sea change.

4 Ways to Shift Your Dark View from Yoko Ono

The news is so very terrible, it is weighing on everyone we know. Then we stumbled on some heartening messages from Yoko Ono in our archive that help to shift the view.

Essential Principles of Nonviolence to Live: Martin Luther King Jr. and The Dalai Lama

What would Martin Luther King, Jr have done in response to the brazen murder of a black man by a white policeman? As waves of protest, some violent, sweeping our country, we found the answer in King’s Six Principles of Nonviolence* and again in The Dalai Lama’s Essential Teachings.

Simple Gifts (Yo-Yo Ma, Alison Krauss) + Quarantine Bookshelf Exhibition

What marks the dark time of Coronavirus for me are the many instances of acute beauty that I am offered daily that have the effect of infusing moments with light. Like this sublime 2 minutes: a simple gift for right now.

How to Practice Gratitude In Dark Times (W.S. Merwin)

We know lots of poems of gratitude but only one that manages to express thanks amidst the very hard things that befall us in life. It is remarkable and hard and heartbreaking and heartening, echoing perfectly that which we are living now… ‘Thank you’ helps us navigate.

Trees as Sanctuaries: Giuseppe Penone and Hermann Hesse

Giuseppe’s Penone’s moving sculpture in an empty square in Rome during lockdown brought to mind Hermann Hesse’s remarkable prose poem…

Tom Foolery’s Soothing Bedtime Story Views the Crisis from Hindsight

This surprising video takes place in the not-so-distant future after the coronavirus crisis is over. Poet Tom Roberts reads a bedtime story of hindsight, about the changes the crisis brought…and about what might happen if we let it.

The Onion and Riz Ahmed on The Pressure to Be Productive During Lockdown

Perspective 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.

Ai Weiwei: On Home, Living in Isolation, Hope

Ai Weiwei’s thinking on purpose, home, isolation, hope are an insightful lens through which to consider our current circumstance. And especially, how the impossible becomes possible.

Uplifting Finds, Visual Poetry, Tender Blessing

Like the I.C.U. nurse in the breathtaking image, above, we are looking for refreshment, air, and sky. Here’s what we found…

Pat Steir: How to Occupy This Time on Earth

Pat Steir is one of our favorite artists for the dazzling beauty and surprise of her work. She speaks eloquently about the dark time we find ourselves in.

Kevin Kelly’s 68 Bits of Seriously Good Advice

To celebrate his 68th birthday, Kevin Kelly compiled some of the gold he’s learned over his seven decades. The brilliant list provides a roadmap to wholeness and positivity.

W.S. Merwin On Hope and What to Do On the Last Day of the World

In this short video, the renown poet and activist sepaks eloquently about hope and our interconnectedness, two themes so many are working to encompass.

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.

Jenny Holzer’s Very Important Messages

Fifty years after the first Earth Day, Jenny Holzer’s timely messages resonate more deeply than ever as we face unprecedented global health and environmental crises. As does her succinct commentary.

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.

Slow Down at a Traditional Japanese Spa with a John O’Donohue Blessing

This steamy virtual Japanese “sento” bath somehow helps us to calm and slow to the pace we need to be. As does this John O’Donohue Blessing.

Yayoi Kusama’s Defiant Message To Covid-19

Today the very uplifting MESSAGE FROM YAYOI KUSAMA TO THE WHOLE WORLD flew over our transom: a poem that acts as a call to arms, waking us from the shock of quarantine…A healing dose of Kusama’s own Art Medicine.

The Discomfort You Feel May Be Grief in Disguise

A therapist friend emailed a surprising article from the Harvard Business Review. Several weeks into the pandemic, it is one of the most helpful things I’ve read.

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