A string of nice days.

I find it charming that we Americans have the custom of wishing one another a “nice day.” It’s so engrained, in fact, that I doubt you can remember all the times someone has wished you that in the past week alone. There are variations: take it easy, have a good one, (my favorite) don’t work too hard. It’s so commonplace that I only recently had the thought that some credit may be due back to my well-wishers when I do, in fact, have a nice day. That grocery store clerk, hotel maid, invisible pilot on the intercom, they must be deserving of some notice. Because, truthfully, have you ever begun a day with the goal firmly etched in your mind to have a nice one? I’ve set out to have confident days, effective days, fun days, hell even lucky days (surely you’ll agree, as intentions go, ‘I want to be lucky’ is flat-out ludicrous) but I’m almost certain I’ve never thought ‘nice will do today, let’s angle for nice.’

Until recently, that is. Now a number of people have asked me what I’m doing in Los Angeles. Are you auditioning? Do you have representation? What’s the aim? They want to know. And honest, I just wanted, for a few months, to be somewhere warm, surrounded by friends. I wanted the ease of short-term permanence. You could say I finally took a lifetime’s worth of simple advice: each day, I try to have a nice day. I read, I run, I write letters, I go out, I dance. I watch Hulu and cook and laugh and play. Nothing loftier than that. It isn’t glamorous, but it feels so good; you should try it. Have a nice day.