paths + processes

How a Wild Snail Kindled Unexpected Possibilities When All Seemed Lost

Forced by a virus to endure a long convalescence in bed, it was impossible for Elisabeth Tova Bailey to imagine a future; “All of life was out of reach.” Only it wasn’t. A forest snail that took up residence on her nightstand, living in a pot of violets, would change her life and become the impetus for a remarkable book.

New Year’s Resolutions: Let’s NOT ‘Budget for New Management’

In our long life, we’ve learned a great deal about New Years resolutions from abandoning them so many times that we finally got with the fact that they generally didn’t work. We relate mightily to this wise, funny little video we found in Instagram…

A Guide to Glimmers and Where to Find Them

Lately, we’ve been hearing about glimmers, tiny moments of awe and beauty that spark joy, calm, well-being and help our nervous systems feel relaxed and balanced (the opposite of stressors and triggers.) Glimmers can be the seemingly ordinary things, as well as very unexpected ones.

‘The Times are Urgent; Let us Slow Down” (Bob Dylan and Bayo Akomolafe)

During the months we’ve been slowing down in an attempt to decipher and heal an illness, potent writings on the theme of slow have come to us randomly, lending insight into what we’d been discovering but didn’t quite yet know, and a kind of guidance.

Wendell Berry’s Reminder

When I heard Wendell Berry reading his poem “How to Be a Poet”, I thought: that’s exactly what I’ve been doing to heal myself of the strange illness I’ve been dealing with.

Short Meditations to Get You Through (Vivek Murthy, Wild Man Yogi Bryan)

Dr. Vivek Murthy, 21st Surgeon General of the United States and a Yogi Bryan, a wild man meditator we recently discovered, share their quick meditations for regaining connection and calm. Similar practices, VERY different approaches.

Walking and Falling at the Same Time (Laurie Anderson + Francis Alys)

Walking around the park, letting Spotify feed us what it thinks we might like, we found ourselves listening to two minutes of Laurie Anderson that threw a big SHIFT into our perception of walking. Which got us thinking about Francis Alys’ work and view of the subject.

‘Dream Bed’ Dreams…

My deconstructing mind was smitten with the possibilities of a “dream bed” I stumbled on on Instagram. So I went on the hunt to figure out what it would take to make it, and in the process, learned a LOT, including about myself.

Marsha Linehan on Building a Life Worth Living

We got interested in psychotherapist Marsha Linehan after a reader told us that it was she who first used the Buddhist concept of Radical Acceptance as a therapeutic tool in psychotherapy. It was a groundbreaking approach, as were the treatments she pioneered for patients who were previously written off as hopeless. The story of how she developed it — as a young woman she had been one of those “impossible” patients — is a marvel of resourcefulness and creativity.

Radical Acceptance with Biscuits (Tara Brach, Ed Brown)

When I hear the word “radical” used in the context of personal change —whether a book, a course, a workshop — I generally pass it by. It’s so overused and overblown, I’ve come to mistrust it. But in the past few months, I’d heard a number of smart, curious, level-headed people mention Tara Brach’s book, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha. Among the trove of very wise and helpful ideas, I especially love this passage about saying yes, perfection, self-comparison and….biscuits.

David McCullough’s Essential Advice About Writing + the Virtues of Analog

When brilliant chronicler of American history David McCullough died recently, two people sent me excerpts from obituaries, so apt was his wisdom for Improvised Life. Here’s his brilliant advice for becoming a good storyteller and why he used a 1940 typewriter to write his award-winning books.

Martin Heiferman’s Startling Photographic Shiva on Instagram

When independent curator and writer Marvin Heiferman’s partner died from Covid, he found himself utterly bereft. Having to navigate “the gap between public and private experiences of death and grieving”, he created an amazingly beautiful and poignant form —art form really — on instagram.It is a complex and nuanced tribute to the ephemeral experience of daily life.

Oblique Strategies for Resisting Algorithms Online

Elan Kiderman Ullendorff has a great knack for finding creative ways to find interesting stuff online that resist being force-fed whatever “the algorithm” decides you want to see. His newsletter ”Deep Sea Diving” facilitates deep and surprising discovery.

Artist Ed Clark Defied the Limits of the Brush with a Janitor’s Broom

We love this clip of abstract expressionist artist Ed Clark describing how he came defy the limitations of the paint brush by painting canvasses laid out on the floor with a push broom, the old-fashioned super-wide broom janitor’s used to wash big swathes of floor. His improvisation reminds us of the way ideas can ignite or connect in an instant to yield solutions with mighty effect.

An Artist Who Spent 30 Years on a Single Painting: “I Obey Time” (Myonghi Kang + Patti Smith)

“I obey time, but do not try to manipulate it” said South Korean artist Myonghi Kang, referring to her painting “Le temps des camélias” (“The Time of Camellias”), which took her 30 years to complete. We are heartened by her assuredness and courage, even, striking in a world where the pressure to be productive seems to inform every moment.

Kurt Vonnegut: ‘We are Dancing Animals…’

A compelling Kurt Vonnegot quote came over our transom recently, the prolific and best-selling author’s answer when asked his thoughts on replacing human contact with electronic contact. It cuts to the heart of who we are as human beings.

How to See Miracles (Helen McDonald, Miles Davis)

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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