With coffee lingering in the hall, and the sunlight just peering through the color spotless window, the birds are tweeting and birds buzzing. As you look to your left you see your unfinished journal, next to your morning coffee that is piping hot. You have nicely organized sheets with dainty flowers on them, and your hundreds of pillows. While looking at this, you think to yourself “I love life.” This mindset and aesthetic has been taking the world by storm. 

So what is this term for appreciating the little things called? Well, this is known as “romanticizing your life”. Although, when the word romanticize comes into mind, you often think of dating and marriage with another person. Well “romanticizing your life” is quite the contrary. As stated by the  New York Times, this trend specifically focuses on your relationship with yourself, in addition to the mindset of enjoying the little fine details of life, and celebrating the ups and downs that come along with life while taking initiative of your life and unapologetically owning your story. 

“I feel like through social media, lots of people might have gotten a shifted idea of what romanticizing your life means. To me, it’s really just about finding peace and joy in yourself and being there in the movement. I think the trend itself isn’t bad, since I’m sure it’s helping people to enjoy life more. But hopefully, instead of being viewed as just a trend it’s instead seen as a positive lifestyle that can create a better you. Personally, I simply just focus on trying to live my life with the best version of myself,” commetns Xenia Lee (9).

On a rise during the pandemic, “romanticize your life” has ingrained itself on social media. During some of the hardest months during the pandemic, this has  helped many appreciate the basic things of life. Additionally, it highlights  the moral of enjoying what we have right in front of us and to live in the moment. Since no day is guaranteed, the idea to look for moments of beauty in everything is essential according to the New York Times.

To better understand the trend “romanticizing your life,” it would be necessary to recognize its origins. It is derived  from the style Cottage Core, in which people have embraced the charm of the English countryside such as strawberry picking, baking focaccia laced with herbs, reading classics, and appreciating projects like knitting and embroidery. This is known as a “Budding Aesthetic Movement” according to  the New York Times. 

While not everyone has access to strawberry picking or a spontaneous trip to the rural farms of Italy, there are other ways to embrace life such as going by yourself to watch a movie, eating dinner alone or going to a local market and picking up some flowers for yourself. 

Here are just a few of the ways to help “romanticize life”:

The first way is to just “Dance It Out”, and yes this may seem like an awfully simple way. This has been proven effective, since it releases endorphins which make you happy and lets you freely express yourself. 

Additionally, another tip to romanticize your life is by taking the night off and cooking for yourself. Perhaps a thing to look forward to at the end of the day is when you turn down the lights, turn up the volume, and light a candle while you’re singing to your favorite song and making spaghetti or crying to Taylor Swift while making cookies. This is a way to wind down and appreciate yourself while reflecting on your day according to camillestyles.com.

Furthermore, unplugging yourself from the cyber-world is a great way to stop looking for answers outward and to start looking for answers within yourself and perspective. Social media platforms including Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are all a cloudy wall that blocks real life and the outside world. One is  constantly being focused on peer pressure or just the addicting 30 second videos. By detoxing from social media, your attention span will gradually increase while at the same time you will be able to look and appreciate the little things such as the clouds or the changing of leaves. 

The 4th tip to help romanticize life is to take a spontaneous trip or drive. Cranking up the volume to your favorite songwhile you drive to the cliffside that runs above the beach or to a flower field where you can have your dream picnic is a great way to find some peace in life. It allows you to connect with your surroundings and bring clarity to your mindset. 

Finally the 5th piece of advice given in this article to help “romanticize life” is to dress up and have your own fashion show. This doesn’t have to be a definite fashion show or a fashion show in which the clothes match. This is a way to boost your confidence and get out of your comfort zone. Also, it gives  a way to focus on your creativity and reset your mindset to give a new perspective since due to the pandemic, a trend in sweatpants and pajama pants have arised. 

While multitasking is time efficient and convenient, we often forget to appreciate the little things in life. So when you’re drinking your next coffee, take time to just sit and enjoy sip by sip. Or if it’s raining, take a moment to go outside and relive your childhood by jumping happily into puddles, disregarding the fact that you may get wet. Because as Ferris Bueller once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and around once in a while you could miss it” .