I came to loving poetry late in life when I realized what was happening when I read a great one. It was just as Emily Dickinson described… subversive words with the power of a drug…
Read MoreEmerging Seeds’ Wild Dances of Joy (Hope Jahrens, Mary Oliver)
Boxlapse Films’ timelapses of seeds bursting through the soil are so wildly expressive, we found ourselves watching with a big grin on our face at the life force in action. It called to mind botanist Hope Jahren’s description of what seeds really do, and Mary Oliver on the very thing to dispel anxiety…
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreCarl 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…
Read MoreHow 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.
Read MoreWays to Eat Cherries, With a W.S. Merwin Poem
Fruit eaten in its season is even better eaten with a poem. When we stumbled on this W.S. Merwin poem, we realized we were in the last moments of cherry season. It’s a perfect accompaniment to our favorite cherry feasts.
Read MoreHow to Indirectly Help New Ideas Grow
We recently re-discovered “Eating Grapes Downwards” a poem we’d loved and somehow lost track of. Christian Wiman describes the mysterious creative process we cannot control, and often aren’t even aware of, but that is part of every life. With instructions for how to navigate…
Read MoreHow to Eat an Apricot
Diane Ackerman’s poem “The Consolation of Apricots” gives a sense of just how far an apricot can launch you into reverie. It also gives instructions for how to eat one. I’ve added my own two-cents about how to find great apricots, and what to do if you can’t, along with a recipe for the effect of summer apricots all year long.
Read MoreWhy 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.
Read MoreExperience 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.
Read MoreLife 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.
Read MoreSeamus 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.
Read MoreHow 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.
Read MoreTom 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.
Read MoreRocks are Useful and Sparkle with Poetry and Art
Knowing how a long lineage of artists and writers have used rocks and stones in their work expands my pleasure in those I collect for their beauty and endless uses…
Read MoreFrancis Alys’ 16-Second Gem
We’ve watched this small, beautiful gem from Francis Alys several times during the past week, amazed by how such a seemingly simple little video can have such power.
Read MoreW.S. Merwin On Hope and What to Do On the Last Day of the World
In this short video, the renown poet and activist speaks eloquently about hope and our interconnectedness, two themes so many are working to encompass.
Read MoreAn 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.
Read MoreSlow 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.
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