signs + reminders Archives - Improvised Life

Blessings for Our Wild Time (Bayo Akomolafe, Anonymous)

As we navigate this wild and very dark time, we find ourselves finding wisdom in unexpected sources. Here are two that have given us a feeling of expansion and re-orientation.

Apologies from H.C Westermann, Holton Rower, Buson…

The very best letter of apology we can imagine is a strangely wonderful love letter artist H.C. Westermann’s wrote to his wife Joanna Beall Westermann. “Dear Sweety”, it starts. Then he goes at it. It got us thinking about apologies…

A Simple Shift of ‘Should’ Sparks Possibility Thinking

How many times have we heard the exhortation: ‘Don’t ‘should’ on yourself.’? Sometimes that’s easier said that done. We have some pretty fierce ‘shoulds’ in our heads that carry the weight of obligation and duty, and a narrow view of choices. Then we tried a simple shift.

Thinking About This Yields Gold

Reflecting on this sign yields SO much…. For us it catalyzed a meditation on time and change and where we are now, and a randomly-found poem by fourteenth century Chinese Buddhist poet Stonehouse*

Life’s a Mess, Channel ‘Pura Vida’

Understanding the nuances of “pura vida” made me wonder what if, in the face of all the chaos and uncertainty and rage and sadness, we were to embrace it as our daily mantra?

Billboards Advocating an Alliance of Science AND Religion

One of the tragedies of our very polarized society is the idea that spiritual belief precludes believing in science, as though the two were mutually exclusive. So, we are heartened by the latest project of Class Action, a graphic design collective that creates visual messages to advocate social change and promote civic dialogue.

How Much Of Care is Patience? and Other Questions (Chloe Bass)

Compelling signs have appeared in St. Nicholas Park in Harlem, part of the exhibition “Wayfinding” by conceptual artist Chloe Bass. Each asks a powerful question to carry into the week…

Yoko Ono’s Instruction For Navigating Our Changed Lives

In advance of reopening after months of coronavirus lockdown, the Metropolitan Museum of Art posted words by Yoko Ono on its facade. She created them in response to Covid-19 as an essential instruction.

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.

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.

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.

Thomas Ashcraft’s Hopeful Reminder in Fearful Times

Over the years, artist-scientist Thomas Ashcraft has made artful iterations of a message that we’ve found deeply heartening. Especially so now, in this anxious time…

Yoko Ono’s New Year’s Wish

A few days ago, Yoko Ono posted this remarkable message on her instagram, a perfect New Year’s wish. We’ve found some compelling images to go with it, and Ono’s spare, powerful recording of “Imagine”.

Sister Corita Kent Greeting Cards for Holidays and All Year

Looking back at our post about the prints legendary artist Sister Corita Kent made around the theme of “the moment” in 1977, we thought “What wonderful greeting cards they would make”, now and all year.

Lessons in Slowing Down (Pico Iyer, Vija Celmins, W.S. Merwin…)

The past week or so, the same message arrived through a variety of sources: in an email sent by a friend, a poem stumbled on on instagram, a notice of a museum exhibition…

Garrett Bradley’s Big Question Transforms Each Day

When we saw this image from New Orleans-based filmmaker Garrett Bradley, we thought: that is a perfect exhortation to start the day. Then we read THIS:

A Transformative Word from the Ottoman Empire on How to Have the Abundance of Life…

Recently, I revisited the remarkable sign that waits at the threshold of Omega Institute’s serene meditation space in the woods, to ponder a single word…

Shoelaces with Messages (Not Logos) and Where to Get ‘Em

The messages on the shoelaces of the guy sitting across from me ready “Do I love you?
Do I lust you?” Yeah! Where could I find shoelaces that really said something?

A Secret Balm for Fear and Anxiety

On my cell phone in a cluttered storage room in an old warehouse, I wondered what I could offer my distraught friend to remind her of other ways of seeing things, the opposite of fear and sadness?

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