We wax, we wane. It’s the dance of life. Every living thing is a pulse. We quicken, then we fade. There is a deep beauty in this, but deeper down, inside every plant, every leaf, inside every living thing (us included) sits a secret. … Everything alive will eventually die, we know that, but now we can read the pattern and see death coming. Nature Has A Formula That Tells Us When It’s Time To Die – Robert Krulwich + animated GIFs, what’s not to love? A fascinating scientific case for the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, an awareness Henry Miller articulated beautifully more than half a century ago. Or, as Leslie Paul wrote in 1944, “All life is no more than a match struck in the dark and blown out again.”

We found this beautiful gif on Krulwich Wonders some time ago, along with a quote that resonated deeply:

We wax, we wane. It’s the dance of life. Every living thing is a pulse. We quicken, then we fade. 

There’s more to the quote, but the part we related to was principle of waxing and waning, the constant dance. As we find ourselves waning, dealing with winter’s flu and needing a few days rest to replenish and heal, we are reminded that it is the deal…Nature.

We’ve posted some links, below, that we thought you might enjoy in the meantime. You’ll also find an ongoing trove of cool and useful ideas on ‘the improvised life’s Facebook (you don’t have to be a member), on our Pinterest, and Twitter

Some upcycled pallet chairs the remind us of Enzo Mari’s Autoprogettezione + a modular pop-up office made from reclaimed pallets

A marvelous communal lighting installation that transformed a dismal neighborhood

A dreamy tree house we wish we could beam ourselves to

The courageous, inspiring Gulabi gang in North India, a group of women activists fighting violence against women; they only wear PINK!

diy pipe bed frame that reminds us of the endless possibilities for using ordinary pipe…

The Clown Nose Movement; how wearing a clown nose can lift your spirits (we’ve tried it; it absolutely works!)

We hope to be back full-force soon.

A Palestinian man rides a horse on the beach at sunset in the central Gaza strip on Jan. 11.
Ali Ali/European Photopress Agency

bottom photo via The Big Picture

If you’ve found illumination, joy, or inspiration in this post, please consider supporting Improvised Life. It only takes a minute to make a secure donation that helps pay our many costs. A little goes a long way towards helping Improvised Life continue to live ad-free in the world.

Support Improvised Life ♥

5 replies on “waxing + waning…we’ll be back in a few days

  1. get well !

    ( spring is coming : )

    joy & thankyous ~
    s

  2. Heart felt thanks. Getting better, storing up energy. Will be back Monday. Your words are like food.

  3. Congratulations on being so attuned to your need for rejuvenation – both for noticing and then, even better, for acting upon it. Too often we ignore, or worse, don’t even recognize the signs that are there, warning us we need to nurture ourselves first and foremost.

    I so enjoy your posts – it’s the only blog I have sent directly to my inbox, because it’s the only one I’m always in the mood for reading. Thank you for that and take good care of yourself.

    –RC at CatbirdFarm

  4. I had not choice but to listen, finally, although I had to let readers down. It is really heartening and energizing to know that the posts resonate and have found a place in your life. I hope for many more to come. Thanks Catird Farm!!

  5. We need to take back our lives, this is one of the waves of change our civilization in the USA is surfing to a better life.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *