Romanticizing Your Life: How & Why To Do It
Photo by Евгений Горман from Pexels
We all feel discontent with our lives sometimes. Something that I’ve found helps me appreciate where God has me in life is imagining I’m in a book or a movie — in movies, little things are emphasized by camera zooms, emotional music, and a million other tricks. Pretending you’re in a movie helps you pay attention to the things in your life that you would think were neat if they were in a film.
Romanticizing your life doesn’t necessarily mean looking for love and romance, although it might. The Romantic period in art and literature (starting in the late 1700s) was all about glorifying the ordinary and seeing magic in the commonplace.
A romantic life, in the old-fashioned sense, is deep, full, present, and exciting. Romanticizing your life is the art of enjoying where you are at, and appreciating beauty and significance in the everyday.
Seeing things through these eyes can help you recognize just how beautiful your garden is, just how cozy a gray sky is, just how lovely your tea tastes, or just how much a simple hand squeeze can mean.
Here are a few things to help you start making your life feel magical.
Listen to good music at the start of your day or on your drive to work.
Pick music that will make you feel like your life is a movie, perhaps even movie soundtracks. Some of my favorite scores include Dario Marinelli’s Pride and Prejudice, Marcel Zarvos’s Wonder, Jacob Shea’s Planet Earth II, and Johan Johansson’s Theory of Everything.
Write handwritten letters & have good penmanship.
Nothing feels quite as romantic as writing a letter and sending it in the mail, and nothing feels quite as good as receiving a beautiful, thoughtful letter. Write a note to a friend, to your future or past self, to the imaginary friend you’ve ignored for decades, or even a prayer letter to God.
Go on thoughtful walks, alone or with a friend.
Going on walks to clear your mind, noticing and appreciating the small things about nature, getting rosy cheeks from exercise—all great ways to feel like a movie heroine.
Wear your hair in a way that makes you feel pretty.
You’ll feel more confident and happy if you know you look good. It’s almost like putting on a costume to help you get into character. Feel free to copy hairstyles from movies you’ve seen.
Enjoy every cup of coffee as if it’s the best one you’ve ever had.
Wrap your hands around your mug, close your eyes, and breathe in the coffee smell like never before.
Embrace your quirks.
Every good character has them, and so do we. Your hatred for oranges, your fascination with hands, your sketches of flowers, your quiet dancing alone in your room—embrace it.
Let your mind wander.
It’s okay to be creative and imaginative. What if fairies live in that tall grass in the corner of your yard? What if the neighborhood cats actually can talk to each other? What if the car that passed you was actually someone on their way to see the love of their life after years of separation? What if those two strangers in the coffee shop were actually spies that wanted to talk but couldn’t because they were being watched?
In short…
Let yourself feel nostalgia and wonder. View your life through a camera lens to see just how beautiful it is. And take advantage of the life you’ve been given, just like you would want your favorite characters to do. Romanticize your life and watch as it unfolds in front of you.
