Romanticize Your Life
When I graduated from University, I never saw myself as writing a blog. When I started working in a private practice, I never imagined I would be writing a blog post about an online trend. I definitely never imagined that online trend as being something that would put words to a long-standing mindfulness and gratitude techniques that can have such a positive impact on your mental health.
I’m talking about romanticizing your life.
It’s a trend you might’ve seen recently on Tik Tok or Instagram. I also distinctly remember seeing similar posts on Tumblr (might be dating myself here but oh well), although we didn’t call it “romanticizing” at the time. It’s usually a picture, series of pictures, or video with a voiceover encouraging you to appreciate the moment and have main character energy.
You know the scene: two friends in a coming-of-age movie, sitting on a rooftop just staring out over the city. Or soulful music playing as a woman walks through a park, contentedly daydreaming.
Or - ever wish you were in a Taylor Swift music video when you’re in a car and it starts to rain?
So, what does all this actually mean, and how can you achieve it? Basically, romanticizing your life is about practicing self-love and gratitude.
It actually incorporates mindfulness in the sense that it has you focusing on just the present moment. Instead of worrying about what you don’t have, or stressing about a bad situation, you tune into the immediate present instead.
What are you doing right now? Where are you doing it? For example: maybe you’re at home washing the dishes, and that kind of sucks. BUT you’re washing your own dishes in your own living space. And that’s pretty cool.
It probably took a lot to get where you are today, and I bet that there’s probably at least one aspect of your life right now that you longed for in the past.
But dishes are still boring, and kind of gross, so it’s also about taking small steps to enjoy the little things in life.
So to continue our example: put some music on that you love, make sure your dishes are something that you find aesthetically pleasing, or practice gratitude while you do the chore.
Practicing gratitude can look like asking yourself:
What went well today?
What 3 things am I glad to have in my life?
Who did I talk to or see this week that I know cares about me?
It can even be as simple as appreciating the music you’re listening to, or the pretty colours of a sun setting for the day.
Time and time again, mindfulness and gratitude has been shown to have a positive impact on your mental health. There’s a reason that these are techniques being utilized more frequently in therapy sessions. So in these final weeks of 2021, I encourage you to try to romanticize your life. Observe the small positives, the often-overlooked beauty.
Some activities to get you started might look like:
creating a rejuvenating morning routine
going for a walk outside (music can be a great way to set the mood, so choose wisely!!)
take yourself on a picnic (or any kind of date)
create a playlist or watch your favourite feel-good movie. (If you want an extra nostalgic, old-time feel, I recommend any of the movies based on Jane Austen’s books, or Little Women. A great modern-day rom-com for the holiday season is The Holiday).
I promise you this: the more you are open to it and look for it, the more you will find it.
