Amid stress, it can be difficult to embrace and appreciate our lives to the fullest. With midterms, there is an increase in workload, in addition to juggling extracurricular activities such as work or clubs. Therefore, romanticizing your life can help you appreciate the little things and find joy in everyday moments. Let’s dive in! What Does Romanticizing Your Life Mean?
Oxford Languages defines the word romanticize as to “deal with or describe in an idealistic or unrealistic fashion; make (something) seem better or more appealing than it really is.”
Essentially, by romanticizing your life, you are making every day (and mundane things)seem more special than you normally consider them to be ⎯ whether that’s doing your skincare routine, getting dressed for class, studying in the library, or even going for coffee.
How To Romanticize Your Life
Here are three things I do to practice romanticizing my life:
1. Morning Routine
I believe that having a morning routine is the best way to start each day! I always start by making my bed as soon as I wake up, which helps me begin the day with a sense of accomplishment.It motivates me to be productive the rest of the day. After breakfast, I immediately do my skincare routine and style my hair, because I firmly believe that “if you look good, you feel good.”
2. Working Out
Working out often feels like a chore, but I know that working out includes many benefits: improving your physical and mental health, sleep, and mood. So, I’ve made workouts feel like an experience by wearing an outfit that makes me feel confident and strong and trying out different workout classes to discover my favorite ways to exercise.
This has helped me find so much joy in working out and learn that it doesn’t have to be unpleasant, it’s just a matter of finding what works for you!
3. Homework and Studying
While doing my homework and studying can feel boring and overwhelming, I find that creating or finding a cozy environment helps so much! When studying I enjoy using cute stationery, pens, and highlighters to make my notes feel aesthetic. If I’m studying in my room, I like to light a candle and create a cozy workspace. Finding a cute cafe to grab an iced coffee and get my work done helps too!
The Importance of Romanticizing Life
In an article for SELF Magazine, Samantha Vincenty writes about how romanticizing your life is a form of mindfulness, which explains why it’s so important to romanticize your life.
Vicenty goes on to quote Alyssa Mancao, a licensed clinical social worker, who shares that, “Research has suggested that mindfulness can reduce forms of anxiety, depression, and general irritability,”.
UCLA Health Research also supports this statement by sharing all the benefits that come from practicing mindfulness: “ decrease [in] anxiety, depression, rumination, and emotional reactivity.”
According to UCLA Health Research, mindfulness helps to “increase well-being, positive affect, and concentration.” In educational settings, “mindfulness practices improved social-emotional skills, executive functions, and decreased test stress in students.”
Romanticizing your life is often viewed as making yourself the “main character” of your life, but it is also a form of mindfulness. I see it as a shift in perspective that allows someone to not only be mindful of their thoughts and habits but to also see the appreciation in everyday life and mundane things.
Delianie Cerda is a writer for The Setonian’s Opinion section. She can be reached at delianie.cerda@student.shu.edu.
