It’s easy to up the pace when you live in the city, but that doesn’t mean it’s hard to slow it down.

Every one of these mini-adventures was inexpensive, fun, and comes in near-infinite variations, so you don’t have to stop at doing them once.

We all need moments of peace in our lives, and we can’t always return to our own homes to get it. Here are five places to find quiet in the heart of a city.

A simple and repeatable evening routine has profound effects on the quality of my whole day.

I sat down and made a list of all the sights, smells, and activities that define the season for me.

Here’s how I went from dreading the Mail app to actually looking forward to my daily ritual of checking my inbox over a cup of coffee.

I’m kind of a princess when it comes to birthdays…

You will write again. You will draw again. You will paint again. You will compose again. You will create again.

It’s disingenuous to pretend that. if you just spend a bit of time building out the perfect wardrobe, you’ll be done with shopping forever.

This may be the simplest slow living advice I ever write…

The kind of mindfulness and slow living I wanted to practice meant carving out a refuge from the real pressures of a fast-paced urban lifestyle, and finding ways to connect with nature without having to drive to beach or park.

This is the opposite of how I planned to live my 2020. Sadness is the opposite of joy.

Or is it?

Decluttering is getting rid of excess and unnecessary items. Distilling is extracting the most essential and important aspects of something.

My minimalist purging tendencies are strictly prohibited from having their way with the game shelf, but you know what? I’m okay with it, because board games happen to be a fantastic slow living tool.

If you had to pick out the most functional, representative, useful wardrobe items you have, what would they be?

The road to peace isn’t a bypass. It’s a long slog through a hell of a lot of inequality, oppression, and systemic racism.

I’ve always loved the idea of not just owning clothes, but curating a wardrobe. I’m fascinated by the idea of clothing as an every-changing piece of our identities, representing who we are and what we want to project to others.

I changed my social media bio recently to say, among other things, “I write about my life.” It’s a simple statement, but to me, a profound confession.

These days, my attitude towards meditation falls somewhere in line with the attitudes of vegans and Crossfit aficionados towards their respective passions. I can’t stop talking about it.

It’s been six months, but it still feels like a dream sometimes, living in the city of awards shows and palm trees and surfers and noir detectives.