Coming soon… The Nice Life
I have some fun news to share today: I’m working on a new book! The Nice Life: How to Elevate the Everyday and Find Joy with What You Have will be hitting shelves next autumn. I’ll be working with Batya Rosenblum, who edited The Art of Showing Up, and who is now at Tarcher, an imprint of Penguin.
The inspiration for The Nice Life is…the state of things. I think we can all agree that the vibe right now is pretty rotten! Enshittification is everywhere and our biggest institutions are pretty openly and obviously in decline. Generative AI is gobbling up the internet (and the lakes) so it can churn out absolute slop, and even though there’s a widespread obsession with “aesthetics,” things are ugly, in every sense of the word. The world feels extremely coarse—rough, low-quality, mean.
In the midst of all of this, I’m still doing what I can to live a nice life—which I define as one that is creative, joyful, authentic, and connected. For me, that looks like…
Intentionally seeking out art, music, books, and other forms of culture
Rejecting the trends and consumerism that leave you feeling insecure and kind of empty inside
Incorporating elegance, polish, and whimsy into mundane everyday activities
Creating the things you want to see in the world
Forming meaningful connections with interesting people who inspire you
Having memorable experiences and actively participating in your own life
Moving through the world with a sense of lightness, humor, purpose, and generosity, even when things are really bleak
To me, living a nice life has little to do with being rich and everything to do with enrichment. It’s about orienting yourself toward loveliness, pleasure, and fun, and inviting others to be a part of it.
Speaking of…I’d love to hear about the niceties you’ve been getting into lately! What lovely little things are keeping you going these days? ✨