Improvised Life

Although there a big changes afoot, thousands of examples of possibility thinking are here for you when you need reminders or inspiration, illumination or surprise.

As we navigate this wild and very dark time, we find ourselves finding wisdom in unexpected sources.

We think a lot about ways to see the everyday with fresh eyes.

We were thrilled to find a message in our Inbox recently with the subject "Lucky Bedskirt".

Although we've walked many, and have made a few ourselves, we only recently heard the expression "desire paths" to describe unplanned trails created by human desire.

As we were leaving our local library, an unassuming looking book on display jumped into our hands: Lenapehoking: An Anthology, a reference to the the native American Lenape homeland on which our own home — all of New York City — is built.

I caught the passion for ramps over 40 years ago at my first West Virginia Ramp Supper whose menu was laced with bacon and cornbread.

Recently, I went to the Museum of Modern Art to see a single painting, a practice I learned long ago from my father.

At the end of cherry blossom season, as the petals were falling to the ground like pink snow, we found the perfect haiku written 300 years ago by the great poet Issa.

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.”

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.

Over the years, we've written about many forms of improvised "guest books", i.e. ways to memorialize the visits of friends.

We’ve stumbled on a few things recently that mightily deepened our view of the Christmas trees that are everywhere now, including a remarkable video of the birth of a pine tree and haiku written hundreds of years ago: Our improvised holiday card to you…

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.)