It took over five years for Leonard Cohen to write Hallelulah, arguably his most beloved song. Although we’ve listened to Hallelulah many times, we did not get its simple message as powerfully as hearing Cohen’s words in an early interview, featured in the trailer of the just-released documentary about him.
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There has been a lot written about embracing your mistakes, but for us, Miles Davis nailed how to make it work, as recounted by a young Herbie Hancock in this tiny video; he experienced Miles’ approach in action.
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We love this clip of Patti Smith performing at Royal Albert Hall, in rumpled black, gray hair a wild frizz, singular, age-defying, theatrically, purposefully breaking each string until she was down to one, the broken strings shivering around like electricity. And especially, her words…
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Our friend Ruth Kissane sent this message: “Have you heard this? The songs Brian Eno couldn’t live without?” The 8 songs come from a BBC Radio 4 show, Dessert Island Discs, which interviews people-of-note about what eight tracks they would take to a desert island, and WHY. We love how Ruth reframed the question.
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As many parts of the country, and the world, are in the grip of a fearsome heatwave, We’ve found ourselves hiding out, working at partial power, desperately needing restorative naps and ways to feel cool. We know that refreshing virtual pleasures CAN help us cope; they fuel breezes in our heads. So we rounded up our favorites.
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I was stunned recently when the morning light slanted across the leaves in the low shrubs across from me to reveal glittering spider webs woven throughout: an intricate network of homes carefully, miraculously forged. It reminded me of a perfect passage from H is for Hawk, and what it takes to see.
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Listening to the water music of women from the northern Vanuatu and Brazilian musician Hermeto Pascoal takes us into the realm of joy, and gives us ideas for our own hot weather revelry. Steven Nachmanovitch, tells us how to access our own inner music…
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Every week, unexpected messages fly over my transom, many from stranger-friends who have read something I’ve sent into the world via Improvised Life, in a kind of call-and-response. Like this illuminating beauty from Katherine Davich, a powerful spill of rain memory sparked by Thomas Merton’s RainText.
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From his retreat at his upstate cabin, legendary actor Mandy Patinkin sings in Hebrew as gets his dog Becky’s food for her. We were surprised to discover that what he is singing is a prayer. And that got us thinking about blessings to accompany simple tasks of daily life.
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Over 9 years at dawn, Cosmo Sheldrake carried recording gear, laptop, and sometimes a keybord into fields and woods to make music in collaboration endangered birds. The result is his new album Wake Up Calls; it is both charming and illuminating…
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A therapist friend once described the idea of reverie as a tool for healing. That allowing oneself to fall into a state of dreamy meditation and daydreaming, free of anxious thinking, has a powerfully restful effect. That is the state I found myself in after I stumbled on this tiny video of a whale lazily…
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Perhaps the most heartening victory of the fiercely contested national election is the record-breaking turnout of voters braving long waits and the coronavirus to exercise their VOICE. We can think of no better celebration than the anthem Patti Smith wrote in 1988…
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Tasha Blank‘s video manifesto shook us loose from a stuckness we didn’t know we had, mired as we were in the mighty anxiety of the zeitgeist, dire news, contentious opinions… The international DJ, dancer, coach, somatic practitioner and music producer has much to offer in the form of music, events, courses and meditations so you…
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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.
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This short video has no commentary…Just two wolves howling in response to howls from faraway. It seems like singing, music of strange beauty and harmony. Primal. Wild. We know of only one human who can sing like that…
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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.
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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.
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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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Over the past week, I’ve been collecting information and video that yield heartening-yet-realistic views of the frightening situation we are experiencing together, from wise-men scientists explaining the science, to singers joining together virtually to serenade the world.
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As grim notices come in announcing closings and suspensions due to the Coronavirus, we saw THIS video from Italy and had to smile, heartened…
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