The Well-Lived Life
I’m starting a newsletter!
Dear new/old friends and family,
I’ve started a Substack Email newsletter, called The Well-Lived Life. I want us to grow together, and this feels like the next step!
Three months ago, I jumped into the world of writing online for the first time. I didn’t know I had so much to say, but it started pouring out of me like hot jam out of a just-bitten donut.
My alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m. every morning now, and I go straight from bed to the writing desk. I’ve been cataloging my experiences and ideas and sharing them with old and new friends.
This past year has been hard on all of us. At the beginning of quarantine, there were so many memes and articles about how this was a “tremendous opportunity” and that it was a perfect time to succeed. Remember those? I haven’t seen many of those lately, have you?
Hustle culture is on its knees, and I hope it stays there. What’s important now is mental health and the human struggle. The timeless themes that underlie human life. Not hustle, not productivity.
What does it mean to experience a well-lived life? In my most read article, I lay out my belief that happiness is not a consumable product. It is a naturally occurring by-product of a well-lived life. An intense life. One with peaks and valleys, full of struggles and overcomings that create antifragility. A life of becoming.
I’ve been lucky enough to live a very intense life in the last 3 years. I’ve been to 20 countries, fallen in and out of love a few times, jumped out of three planes, and become a teacher.
I’ve loved the wrong way and (almost) the right way.
I’ve distracted myself from my problems by running away.
The strategy was working, and I never planned on slowing down, until covid-19 forced me to. When my cohort was evacuated from Peace Corps Nepal right into an unrecognizable home, I was forced to lay the pieces of my life out in front of me and try to make sense of them.
The Well-Lived Life is what I’ve found. It’s about the world and the things I’ve experienced within it. Subscribing gets you access to:
What I believe to be my best stories, delivered straight to your inbox twice a week.
A weekly newsletter, that I’m calling the Friday Fun Flyer for three reasons:
- It’s sent out on Friday.
- It’s fun, lighthearted, and helpful.
- The word “flier” starts with f, making the whole thing alliterative and delicious.
Life is hard. Our information-rich world is a cesspool of contradictory advice, ideas, and outrage-producing news. It doesn’t have to be this way! There is another way to live.
In summary:
Signing up for The Well-Lived Life gives you access to my best stories and the Friday Fun Flier, a newsletter where I share what I’ve been reading, what I’m pondering, and ideas on how to live a calmer, more effective life.
This newsletter is never going to be hot gossip or timely news. Only what I believe to be timeless truths and themes, books that have impacted me, and experiences mined from my own life.
I promise never to spam you.
Love,
Aaron Nichols.