Over the weekend Nigella Lawson delivered her final column for The Sunday Times, where she has been regularly writing about everything from food and exercising, to books and makeup.
While Nigella’s “four secrets to a happier life” is only available to read in full to subscribers, the Daily Mail did report the lowdown on what Nigella had to impart as her parting words.
Nigella’s four “edicts for an easier existence” include: learning to say no, using dry shampoo overnight, not worrying about serving not very hot food and, finally, not procrastinating on doing the laundry.
Nigella wrote, “The art of getting through life relies on smoothing a path through the everyday rather more than finding a solution to profound philosophical problems.”
That is, of course, characteristic Nigella-ism—eschewing the search for a deeper meaning in life, which is, itself a kind of profound philosophy. Remember that Nigella is one to describe pan-roasting nuts as an endeavour of Russian formalism.
Across the years of Nigella broadcasting we’re told that all food is comfort food, and that there is no such thing as a guilty pleasure. When Nigella talks about dry shampoo and laundry, a true Nigella fan will know that she’s really talking about something indeed more profound and beyond quick fixes.
About saying “no” Nigella wrote that if “you delay replying because you feel guilty about not giving the response wanted and worried about disappointing people, stop it now (…) It helps no one, least of all the supplicant who lives in deluded hope. So you must learn, in the words of the late, great Ed Victor, ‘to give the second-best answer: a quick no.’”
Personally I find it to be particularly timely advice, as we tend to find ourselves sidelining our intuition during particularly tumultuous times.
On the whole I love how Nigella’s four-point guide is a holistic blend of the immediate—saying no and doing the laundry, both immediately—and a prospective looking to the future: overnight dry shampoo guarantees grime- and grease-free hair for the following day.
Nigella is preparing for a TV comeback after three years. Her new show will coincide with the launch of her new book Cook, Eat, Repeat in October.
The report also mentions that Nigella’s kids, Bruno and Cosima, those familiar little helpers in the kitchen, aren’t so little anymore, and are now 24 and 26, respectively.