Date
4 June 2015
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Nice: Artist Nathaniel Russell gives us a comprehensive list of new ways to be nice

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Date
4 June 2015

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Nice. What is nice? Things are nice, people are nice, animals are nice and plants are nice. The sky is nice. Pictures are nice. Music is nice. Everything is nice or has the potential to be nice. Nice is in the eye of the beholder. Nice is also in the hand of the be-giver. Nice can be an active rather than passive experience. We can be the nice thing if we want to and give that niceness to somebody else – who may then, in turn, decide to be nice to someone else.

Being nice is a way to put that golden rule into practice, the one that tells us to treat others the way we would like to be treated. So unless we like being spoken to rudely or treated like an idiot we should try to be generous, forgiving and attentive. Being nice to people is a way to produce good vibrations and send them out into the world. The use of The Muscle of Good Vibration Creation has a direct effect on our capacity to accept and receive good vibes from the universe, so the more we send out, the more we soak up. This is not an entirely unselfish endeavour if we really think about it, but then we think about it some more and we realise that this vibe cycle is a constant swirl and the more you contribute to The Universal Bank Of Good Vibrations the more everyone benefits. So how can that be selfish (and I mean selfish in a bad and greedy way)? Can we be greedy for nice? Sure, but let’s not call it greedy. Let’s call it something else. And let’s not think about it too much or it starts to sound like a cult.

Here are some ideas of how we can try to be nice to ourselves and others: let that person go. Call your mother. If that’s not an option, call somebody who was good to you once. Do some light stretching. Buy a coffee for a stranger and then just walk off into the mist. Dance around a little bit. Say “thank you” to a banana. Open a door for a full-grown man. Wink at a bird; they’ll know. Listen to someone play the piano in a shopping centre. Pick up some trash and try not to think about that INCONSIDERATE JERK who threw it on the ground (maybe it was an accident or maybe they had to drop that gum wrapper because they had to run across the street and lift a car off of a baby or save a cat from a witch).

Do what you said you were going to do. Call up a technical support line just to say hey. Consider the crevice. Bring some wine and/or cheese. Draw a picture of your favourite cartoon character from childhood, from memory, on a napkin; leave it for someone to find. Say “I like your shoes” to a stranger. Really look at the shoes. They really ARE nice now that you think about it, aren’t they? Wow! Leave really long and flattering YouTube comments. Go sit on a chair in a park for a half hour and soak it up. Make dinner for somebody. High-five a child who is being cool.

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