Former Improvised Life assistant editor-come-star-tattoo-artist Mira Keras wrote this spot-on description of a writer procrastinating. She discovered something essential in the process that unleashed her productivity.
Read MoreMira Keras’ Rule of ReInvention
Improvised Life Editorial Assistant Mira Keras also happens to be a tattoo artist recently featured in Buzzfeed. She developed a survivalist’s approach to right-livlelihood that works for both Millenials and Boomers navigating rough economic seas.
Read MoreSaying NO to Holiday Gift-Giving Guilt (Mira Keras)
Despite all pressures and temptations, this year I will not be buying any Christmas gifts this year; I’ll use other strategies to show my love.
Read MoreHow to Have Patience (Mira Keras)
Last summer I fought long and hard for a new prosthetic leg after a surgery drastically changed the shape of my residual limb. Getting a new prosthetic required dozens of hours of phone calls and pleading with insurance company phone reps. I was waiting in doctor’s offices and waiting on hold with my insurance company…and all this came while I was really waiting to heal. This extended lesson in patience actually helped me to be more patient with others.
Read More‘Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Hit’ (Mike Tyson + Mira Keras)
After the clothing line I was designing got derailed by a health crisis, I blamed myself for not getting it done. A conversation with Sally (and Mike Tyson by proxy), gave me a very different perspective.
Read MoreWhy You Should Do Whatever You Want to Your Hair (Mira Keras + Solonge)
Hair has been both a prison and a means to empowerment for women since the beginning of time. Empowerment is at the fore —going blue proved a deeply expressive statement for me—and Solange’s ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ nails it.
Read MoreMira Keras Calls Out Fat Shaming + Celebrates REAL Bodies
When Instagram banned the hashtag #curvy, making it no longer searchable on the site, it caused a huge uproar. Other words having to do with body image —”skinny“, “fat“, and “thin“— were allowed. #curvy, an active ad hoc community on Instagram, allowed women of all shapes and sizes to affirm their beauty. The backlash was so…
Read MoreLine Drawings and Tattoos on Walls or Floor (Cocteau, Matisse, Keras)
This charming line drawing Madrid artist Angela Leon drew on her wall made me think of Matisse, Jean Cocteau AND Mira Keras’ monochrome tattoo designs.
Read MoreHow to Signal ‘Angry’ Without Blowing Your Top
Wise woman Mira Keras recently mentioned a unique strategy she came up for dealing with situations when either she, her husband or her young daughter Gogo are angry, inevitable in any close relationship.
Read MoreMothers Day Special: Moms Rewrite Ivanka’s Clueless Rules
In this video, Mira Keras and four working mothers read from Ivanka Trump’s book Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules of Success, and share their thoughts on Trump’s strategies for succeeding at work without sacrificing family life and well-being. Mira’s strategy trumps Ivanka’s!
Read MoreHenry Miller and Others on the “Finest Medicine a Person Can Give Himself”
When we came across this quote from novelist Henry Miller, we thought, yes that IS some of the most powerful medicine we know.
Read MorePlease Take Your Shoes Off! What’s Really On the Bottom of Your Shoes
Beyond notions of “better vibe”, there are some very good reasons to impose a “shoes-off policy” at home, including the mighty scary ones we’ve just discovered…
Read MoreHow a Cheap Wig and Selfies Revealed Another Possible Self
A few years ago, I bought a cheap, silvery wig on Amazon for $13. It would prove to be a mighty catalyst for change…
Read MoreHow Trees Can Teach Us What It Means to Be Whole
Why do we humans think we should survive with all parts intact, that only that is wholeness?
Read MoreThe Greatest Gift We Can Give or Receive (Gogo, Virginia Satir)
Two-and-three-quarters-years-old Gogo’s wise words echo an essential principle of ground-breaking psychotherapist Virginia Satir…one we could all put to good use.
Read MoreWe’re Not Advertising Anything, Damn It!
We found this cartoon while we were leafing through The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker, perfect, relaxing bedtime reading. Drawn in 1966 by Charles E. Martin, it’s even more timely today.
Read MoreWhale Songs For Calm and Dreamy Sleep
When a friend mentioned that she often calmed her wakeful daughter by playing whale songs to her, I had to try it myself.
Read MoreHow to Practice, Just About Anything (+ Allen Ginzberg)
This cool little video WOKE US UP recently about something we do daily. Practice. We realize now, we don’t always “get” the best way to do it, or the essential piece that we are missing.
Read Moreevery inhalation triggers inspiration (John Franzen)
Artist John Franzen uses an intriguing practice to make his drawings composed of many parallel lines: Each line, one breath. We wondered what would happen if we tried Franzen’s method.
Read MoreWords that Ground You, Expand You, Shift Your Thinking or Mood
Every now and then, we stumble on a word with unusual powers. That is, it seems to resonate more than most, and we find ourselves changed just by thinking about it.
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