romanticize your life
Romanticization is the act of treating a subject as more desirable or attractive than it is in reality. It means shifting your mindset to find joy in everyday routines, turning boring and repetitive chores into rituals, and appreciating the beauty and simple pleasures of your day-to-day life. Now, you do not need romanticization to lead a happy life. Nope, not at all. Romanticization is just finding the beauty in everything, even the most boring of tasks. It doesn’t mean it will necessarily make you happier, you will just find a bit more joy in doing things.
Now, moving on to the next point, have you ever heard of these two common sayings: “La vie en rose” or “living life in black and white?” Maybe you have, maybe you haven’t. But these two sort of go hand in hand with romanticizing your life (if you bear with me here). Two other important terms to keep in mind are optimism and pessimism.
We all know people who are optimistic and will say things that are so positive it can sound slightly delusional. We also all know people who are so pessimistic that even if you yourself are slightly pessimistic, their negativity towards life makes you look at life in a more optimistic manner. The people who are optimistic live life in rose coloured glasses while those who are pessimistic live life in black and white. Realists live in shades of grey. You are probably wondering how does this even relate to romanticizing your life? Optimism relates directly, however, in my opinion romanticizing is an indirect way to outgrow a pessimistic behaviour. At least, that is what worked for me.
Those who are optimistic almost always see the beauty in life. They will look at the world around them and see past the details: that scrawny tree over there? That tree grew from just a tiny seed. To a pessimist however, that’s just a scrawny tree that needs more water. Changing this viewpoint is very important if you want to achieve romanticization. The first step is looking at the world around you. Everything about Mother Nature is beautiful and worth philosophically thinking about. Everything around you started as a small seed or clump of cells and has grown into something beautiful; whether it is a tree that blossoms in the spring time or a human being who grew from a little baby to a full adult. As someone who used to have no care at all for nature (which is crazy to think about) the first step I used in appreciating it the way I do now is by going on drives and listening to my favourite music while I stare at the nature. When your mind is in a positive mood (due to listening to your favourite music) you will look at the things around you with a positive attitude as well. Like I said, this is the first step. Associating things that make you feel positive with situations in which you do not feel as positive.
The second step is to almost glamourize even the most mundane, boring, routine tasks. Almost like pretending there is a hidden camera that is filming you 24/7. Taking a shower? Light a candle, set the mood, get a cute towel and robe ready and play some music. Make it fun! Cooking dinner? Adjust the lighting, put on your favourite music or show, and pretend you are on a cooking show and have an audience. Studying for the most boring exam? Get a cute outfit on, go to the library, grab a coffee, and pretend you are in a 2000’s romcom. This is my favourite one: going to bed? Put on a cute pyjama set, do your skincare, light some candles, put on your comfort show and relax in your space for a bit. Then you can wake up and have a morning routine. The little things eventually lead to big things.
Maybe another thing that could work for you is personalizing things to your liking, reflecting you and your personal style. Make your belongings a reflection of yourself. I love to buy cute random knick knacks I find online or in person and put it in my room because everything has a meaning behind it and it is also a reflection of me and my tastes, adding to my personal collection. Turning a room into your little safe haven is an important aspect to do in order to have a space to recharge when needed. And to almost serve as your own happy place.
Once you start to pour time and energy into yourself, everything feels romantic. Your daily routine can start to look a little bit different with a more positive manner. And while I cannot offer much advice on how to romanticize working (since I simply cannot), the little things around it can be romanticized. For example, driving to work, you can admire the nature surrounding you as you listen to your favourite music. And then there is always the anticipated drive home that I think about my entire shift - thinking about what songs to add to my queue.
When you look past something you find to be boring or annoying and realize how lucky you are that you got to wake up and actually do it, life starts to sound and look a little different. The birds that woke you up at 5 am because their chirps are so annoying start to sound like a beautiful melody. The sun streaming in your room early in the morning and waking you up starts to look like a beautiful picture that you’d see on Pinterest. Your older brother waking you up to the sound of him stomping around the house because his footsteps are so heavy? That is the sound that he is home and alive (this one still annoys me slightly). Life is not worth looking at with pessimism because despite the 1 in 400 trillion odds, you made it here.
