Some days are harder than others. Everyone, at some point, needs a break. And such a break often comes with a little treat, a small luxury to help you through the rest of your day or your tasks.
The writer Iris Murdoch may have said it best in “The Sea, the Sea,” a 1978 novel that won the Booker Prize: “One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can be inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better.”
The same concept has taken hold on social media in more recent years. Especially on TikTok, members of Gen Z have gladly embraced “little treat culture,” encouraged others to enjoy some of life’s splurges and doing so without shame. (They’re saying yes to that $20 smoothie, to those chocolate covered strawberries.)
We asked prominent people in high-pressure jobs in the arts — writers, actors, entrepreneurs and others — about their version of that small treat in times of high stress. The answers were as simple as they were satisfying. (Quotes have been condensed and edited for length and clarity.)
Nourishing the body (stomach included)
Sophie Buddle, standup comedian and writer “My truly biggest treat to myself is letting myself sleep in with no alarm. If I don’t set an alarm I’ll never wake up. Letting myself sleep is my biggest luxury.”
Paul Tazewell, Oscar-winning costume designer for “Wicked” “I get a manicure/pedicure with a buffed finish. That’s so when I look down at my hands I can see that I have made an effort to take care of myself.”
Marcus Samuelsson, celebrity chef “I have to have moments where I totally zone out. For me that starts with my routine in the morning: I make breakfast super early, get my son on the bus to school. Then my wife and I walk in the park. Two laps, around the park. Sometimes that’s the only time in the day when we can connect.”
Natalie Venetia Belcon, Broadway actress in “Buena Vista Social Club” “A steam shower with alcohol in a sippy cup. You don’t want the shower water to ruin your drink of course. And I have a shower stool. Why work extra hard in the shower? I turn to get the shampoo and turn back around. Then after all of that, a three-hour massage in my apartment.”
Richard Kind, actor “It doesn’t seem like much but with the advent of heart health and my ever monitored weight, I treat myself to an egg sandwich on an everything bagel with Cheddar and bacon. It really tastes good.”
Curtis Sittenfeld, author “For me it’s definitely dark chocolate. It is a literal treat. And I eat it every day.”
Heather Poole, flight attendant and author “I thought about this forever. It made me think, ‘Wow, my life is very weird.’ My little luxury is just someone else’s regular day thing. First of all I don’t make a lot as a flight attendant. I do make a point to treat myself on a layover, have a nice meal by myself. I don’t need anyone to come with me. That is luxurious. That is what I do.”
Connie Butler, director of MoMA P.S. 1 in New York City “Pilates, as a kind of obsessive meditation practice, which is how I think of it. That’s my self care. And it’s totally essential for my survival. It saved my life during the pandemic.”
Indiana Woodward, principal dancer with the New York City Ballet “If I am feeling I really need to dedicate some time for myself, I look up a bathhouse. In the city I go to the Russian baths. Those are really, really lovely. I don’t have my phone. It’s important for me to not be on technology.”
Feeding the brain and heart
Dan Bulla, writer for “Saturday Night Live” “Chess.com has an app. A chess app. And you can play other people online. If I am writing late at night at S.N.L. and I’ve been going fairly hard at it for like 4 hours or something, I’ll dip out somewhere and play a game of speed chess with someone online. That’s a big way that I’ll completely detach myself.”
Bernadette Peters, actor and singer “I breathe in through the nose and hold four counts and breathe out through the mouth. I do this six times. It really relaxes me.”
Sarah McNally, owner of McNally Jackson Books “My son is suddenly taller than I am, and hugging him is unexpectedly grounding. One of the gifts of middle age is having built a life that supports me on my weaker days, and it’s of a piece that I fed my child for 16 years and now he can hoist me out of any calamity.”
Dichen Lachman, actor on “Severance” “Lighting a beautiful candle and giving my space a good, deep clean instantly resets my energy, it’s like clearing the static from my mind cook something low and slow and maybe take time to arrange fresh flowers, which feels like creating a small piece of fleeting art.”
Dan Harris, host of the “10% Happier with Dan Harris” podcast “My algorithm on TikTok basically just serves me comedy and animals. For me TikTok really is a very nice break. My wife and son often laugh at how hard I laugh when I am looking at those videos.”
Jessie Willner, co-founder of Discothèque Fragrances “A sketchbook. I bring a sketchbook with me everywhere, but it’s not for work related things, it’s only to sketch things that I see right in front of me, when I think something is beautiful. If I’m on a plane or I’m at a park or something — a little memory book of sketches.”
Michael Cecchi-Azzolina author and owner of Cecchi’s restaurant in New York “It’s having the newspaper delivered every morning. It saves my day. I get up, I have coffee. And I read it every day. It’s just time for myself and I can do that. Sometimes I skim it, sometimes I don’t.”
Benjamin Adler, clarinetist at the New York Philharmonic “I’ve actually really been into K-pop lately. Believe it or not, classical musicians are into K-pop. Maybe because it relates, even if they perform to different crowds, and masses of people gather to see them dance and sing. I’ll even watch some videos of K-pop performances.”
Calming through ritual
Sheila Bridges, furniture designer “I was in Rome recently, because I was doing a residency at the American Academy. My favorite thing to do on a Sunday was to go to the flea market. I only carried 50 euros. Whatever I found had to be under 50 euros. Every week I’d find something wonderful. That was my treat to myself after my week.”
Delia Ephron, author “When I am stressed out, which in current times is often, I watch a British detective series on TV. There is an endless supply of them, usually taking place in lovely ancient English towns, where there seem to be a fantastic number of murderers. But it’s all very safe, the detectives are very reliable.”
Nikki Toscano, showrunner of “Long Bright River” “I have a simple answer: It’s having ice-cold martinis for happy hour with my partner, my ex-husband and my best friend, followed by dinner with our children. Throw in a little Otis Redding in there and you got something a little shy of perfection.”
Sky Lakota-Lynch, Broadway actor in “The Outsiders” “The answer for me will always be thrifting, especially at Stella Dallas in Brooklyn. If I can find a nice shirt or pair of pants or even a candle, it can alter my whole mood and day. It gives me something to look forward to outside of eight shows a week for a year.”
