Podcast: Morgan Harper Nichols, Peace Is a Practice

Morgan Harper Nichols is a mixed-media artist, Christian musician, writer, and autism advocate. Her work has been featured in collaboration with Target, Starbucks, Anthropologie, Athleta, Aerie, Barnes & Noble, TJ Maxx, and more. Nichols’ new book Peace is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life examines stories from her own life and the lives of people around the world to find one common thread among humanity: We all long for peace.

See Nichols’ essay, art, and poetry featured in the March/April 2022 print issue of Spirituality & Health on shelves February 23rd.

In this episode, Rami and Nichols explore naming your fears and struggles, “naming yourself,” the artistic process, and connecting to the self. Nichols also shares her experience with autism, how it impacts her life and relationships, especially as a new parent. She describes its effect as “two-fold” and explains how while she struggles with it, she has also found that autism has brought a great degree of presence and joy to her life and art.

She was inspired by the song “It Is Well With My Soul” when writing her book Peace Is a Practice. “I kept coming back to this image of peace as a river, a constant flow that runs through the wild,” Nichols explains.

“Well we have to keep practicing things if we want to get good at something. That’s what practice is. I think a lot of the good stuff in life is stuff we have to practice. We have to practice entering into joy. We have to practice entering into peace. Peace is a practice.” —Morgan Harper Nichols, from the Spirituality & Health Podcast.

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Read Rabbi Rami’s reflections on this episode: “Composing Your Own Bibliography.”