mindset

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…

Buckminster Fuller’s Question for Finding Your Life’s Mission

In the course of our random reading, we love coming upon surprising questions that we can mull during the week to see what answers, information or mindshifts emerge. Our current favorite is from a story about Buckminster Fuller…

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:

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…

Isamu Noguchi on Reality as a Sculptural Experience

At the Noguchi Museum’s instagram, we saw a quote from Isamu Noguchi that changed our view of sculpture AND reality. It accompanied photographs of blind art students who toured the Museum with the sculptor in 1987. Their transformative effect surprised us.

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.

Why Starting Each Day with a Poem is ‘As Necessary as Bread’

Eight 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.

‘The Pandemic is a Portal’ Arundhati Roy

In this short, potent video, Arundhati_Roy”reads from her essay “The Pandemic is a Portal” It is at once a question to hold in mind, an invitation, and a call to arms.

How We Manage Our Distracted Mindset and Get Working

We’ve heard a lot of people complaining about the strangely distracted mindset caused by the limbo of Coronavirus. Here’s a way we’ve found to manage it.

Experience a Feeling of Flying, with Rumi UPDATE

We love the feeling of flying in Universal Everything’s beautiful little video and find ourselves watching it over and over; it’s amazingly refreshing to our lockdown minds. It reminds us of this Rumi poem.

Joy Right Now Where You Don’t Expect It

Although we’re not religious, we’ve loved being able to wander into an empty church when we find one open, for a few minutes of quiet and the particular kind of stillness they hold. Recently missing that possibility, we’ve been discovering other ways to get the feeling of respite our random visits once provided.

Nature’s Ascent: An Opera Plays to an Audience of Plants, Penguins Visit Museums…

Among the many challenges the lockdown has brought, the ascent of nature has been among the unexpected gifts. Cultural institutions are embracing that view to shift and refresh their locked-down patrons.

Pierre Soulages Invites You To Experience the Light Beyond Black

In this mesmerizing little film, Pierre Soulages slowly works black pigment to create different effects of light. He describes the very personal conversation at the heart of his luminous black paintings.

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.

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