Romanticise Your Life

Romanticise Verbto talk about something in a way that makes it sound better than it really is, or to believe that something is better than it really is.to believe that something is better, more interesting, or more exciting than it really is:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/romanticize

Have you heard the phrase ‘fake it til you make it’?

Fake the cool, fake the confidence, fake the swagger.

It’s about pretending as a way to make your life feel better than it is and, before you know it, it has gotten better and the faking doesn’t feel like pretend any more.

Romanticising is a bit like that. If you pretend your life is better than it is, you start doing things that will make your life seem better, so it starts to feel better. It’s a mindset shift that makes how you approach life change. It’s not darn, I have to go to work, it’s I get to go to this awesome job.

It’s also about falling in love with your life. It’s about enjoying the little things in your life, and sharing it with people you love. It’s falling in love with how you get to work, or doing the dishes, but it’s also doing things you love just for the sake of it.

Want to wear that pretty dress for no reason? Do it! Want to live in a cottage in the woods? Spend the time to make your current home a little more cottagey. Want to be a published author? Do what authors do and write without worrying if it’s any good.

Fall in love with how you do things, and do the things you love.

I see romanticising as a kind of vision boarding. I’m not the most visual person. Don’t get me wrong, I love visual arts, but I don’t get the same love for it as I do a good mind map or day dream. I’m that kind of a visualiser.

Who does this work for? People who are bored with their lives, I think. We get bored because our days are all the same, they lose magic and we start glossing over the little joys.

Romanticising is all about finding those little joys already around you, and finding ways to stick more joy in and take out the worst of the drudgery.

A while back, Marie Kondo was all the rage. She asked you to pick up every item you own and ask ‘does this spark joy?’ If yes, keep it. If not, she would ask ‘is it useful?’ If no, let it go. That is what romanticising your life means.

Obviously, you can’t survive without somethings that don’t spark joy. Few people love their jobs, or paying bills, but if that job and those bills allow you to live a life where you are surrounded by things you love, maybe they’re worth it.