Pilar Gerasimo
LATEST STORIES
The Better Good Life: An Essay on Personal Sustainability
Here how’s to apply the principles of sustainability to our health, happiness, and collective well-being.
The Little Things
My list of seven relatively simple things a person can do to lighten or offset some of his or her earthly burdens.
The Knowing-Doing Gap
If Oprah has trouble carving out a self-sustaining life balance, then is it really any surprise that, from time to time, the rest of us do, too?
Ready and Willing
There is no better way to expand willingness, I find, than by constantly expanding your knowledge and perspectives.
Six Packs and Sex Lives
Thoughts on Experience Life and the quirks that make it appealing to more than 3 million readers. No gimmicks, no hype, no kidding.
A Real Pleasure
When it comes to creating the conditions for optimal health, we know that managing stress is important. But it turns out that dealing with our anxieties and negative emotional reactions is only half the battle. Discover why an ample supply of enjoyable, positive experiences is equally essential to your well-being — and how you can go about giving life’s pleasures the healthy emphasis they deserve.
Don’t It Always Seem to Go . . .
Joni Mitchell always did have the poet’s gift of summing up great truths in simple phrases.
Nighttime Revival
I step outside into the cold night air and look up at the stars, thinking about the countless generations of ancestors who’ve done the same — some of them sleepless with worry, perhaps, but more of them called by the mystery and beauty of the night sky to look up, to notice, to feel lucky to be in this particular place and time, and to feel the wonder of being alive.
Seeds of Revolution
Looking back 10 years from now, I believe we’ll all be struck not so much by how forward thinking and revolutionary these contemporary medical approaches were, but that any of us were ever remotely satisfied with a medical system that did not embrace these self-evident values.
Some Kinds of Help
OK, I realize I’m dating myself here, but I’m hoping that at least some of you will join me in remembering that cult classic kids’ album Free to Be…You and Me . Masterminded by Marlo Thomas and Friends, and accompanied by a singalong book, it was played endlessly (to some parents’ chagrin) by a whole generation of kids in the ’70s, and as a result, it permeated our collective memory.
Getting to Know You
Before you can comfortably and thoroughly unpack with someone else, you need to master the art of unpacking on your own, which ultimately means getting to know yourself in a deep way.
The Skillful Life
When it comes to enjoying a healthy, happy life, good intentions will get you just so far. You also need practical skills in a variety of areas — from health and fitness to relationships and finance. Here’s an action plan for assessing and building the skill sets that matter most to you right now.
No Show, No Glow
It’s only by showing up fully for what’s going on in our lives right here and now — and for the choices and commitments that we’ve decided are important to us — that we get to collect on the glowy, energizing, feel-good satisfaction that makes life worthwhile.
Smart Like a Rat
Living clean relies on more than just making smart choices about what we put in our mouths and on our skin. It relies on a clean environment – and a clear conscience.
Page by Page
We started this magazine in 2001 with a skeleton crew, an earnest desire to help people change their lives and virtually no idea what we were doing.
One Life, Indivisible
In a cultural context characterized by this sort of separation, disassociation and alienation, what is a whole life, anyway?
What, Me Worry?
Last year, I made a weird resolution. I guess it was typical in one respect – that it was intended to end a bad habit and thereby improve my life. But it was also a little odd in that the resolution only pertained to the conversations in my head. I made no commitment to change any of my outward behaviors.
View to a Fridge
Show me your refrigerator and I’ll tell you who you are — or at least, who you think you are.
Quick Fixes Worth Hyping
If there’s one editorial temptation we’ve worked hard to avoid here at Experience Life , it’s the category of “gimmicks and hype.”
Pulling Together
We tend to think of the quest to improve our health and fitness as a solitary endeavor. We imagine it’s something we have to do, and take responsibility for, all on our own.
Explore Your Options
When I was about 12 years old, I saw the 1971 film Harold and Maude for the first time, and I, like many others, found myself changed by it.