The ingredients for a 'nice life'

Rachel Wilkerson Miller, senior editor at Box and author of The Nice Life: How to Elevate the Everyday and Find Joy in What You Have, joined Life Kit for a live taping at WBR Fest to argue that a "nice life" is not about money, possessions, or Instagram-perfect aesthetics. It is about agency—making small, intentional choices that produce "that little bit of sparkle, that little bit of like twinkling in your eye, that spring in your step, a little mischief." Her central claim: you can punch above your weight without living above your means.

Beauty without buying

Miller defines beauty expansively—a building, a face, a flower, something you thrifted or made from recycled materials. The key is not acquisition but orientation: training yourself to look for beauty in everyday life. She describes noticing art everywhere as "transformative" because it broke her habit of treating art as something you go out and do. "There's art everywhere," she says. "Once you start to notice it, it's so satisfying and reassuring and kind of thrilling."