Let’s go on an adventure! Not the kind where you have to stress about finding plane tickets for or invest a large sum of money in. Those adventures are grand, but they're too formal for every day. And sometimes they're even scary. Leaving the house for an unplanned grocery trip can even be scary, but what if it was a pilgrimage to the Faerie trading post instead? What would you wear to a Faerie trading post? What would your soundtrack be like? 

What if every time you got up, let alone every time you left your house, you found something wonderful to do? Wouldn't that make this whole living thing a whole lot less scary in general? This concept has been described to me as “romanticizing life.” It’s a bit like pretend and a bit like escapism, but mostly it’s like enhancing your life by deciding to relish every little thing. Sometimes it sounds silly, but romanticizing your life is also important. It helps us see interactions and small moments as more than how something can benefit our overarching life plan. When we don’t stress over how small moments will affect our future and take the moment to appreciate the lovely things like that close parking spot or dancing in the rain by yourself, it’s easier to find reasons to stay content. 

Romanticizing life has been described to me in many actions, but the one that sticks out the loudest is finding joy in mundanity. This concept is fairly abstract, but maybe that’s okay because it leaves room for interpretation. I do, however, have some activities to get you started on transforming your life story into an adventure story. 

Have a Main Character Day

Have to run errands? Make a day of it. Dress in an outfit you love to see hanging in your closet, but never get to wear. Plan to stop in at several places unrelated to your errand, like a coffee shop or your local library (hint hint). If you’re walking outside, take out your headphones. Walk through a new neighborhood and imagine what it would be like to live there. Remind yourself you’re operating on your own time and utilize it to stop and look at the things you always say you’ll come back to later. 

Take a Dance Break

Instead of scrolling through Instagram on your break and poisoning your brain with filters and unrealistic standards, come dance with me! During warmer months, there are lots of community events that are free to attend.

Garnish Your Food

Just went through a breakup so now you’re eating soup alone at the kitchen table? Top it off with some paprika or a sprig of parsley. Eating a corndog because it’s summer and… corndogs? Plate it with your sauces decoratively slashed across the plate. And don’t worry if it’s not Instaworthy. The point is to make you happy, not other people.

Write a Letter 

Missing the days when your friends lived right down the street? Tell them about it in a handwritten letter and mail it. You can include stickers, spray the paper with cologne or perfume, but most importantly, just talk with your friend in the letter. There is something deeply intimate and soft about someone taking their time to compose their thoughts and translate them on paper for you. 

Have a Sleepover

Adults have sleepovers. too! That’s normal and allowed and not weird! Like most of these things, the romanticizing comes from perspective. If you just get a group of friends together and spend the night because some random person on the Anythink blog told you to, you’re going to have a really awkward night. So, make a day of it. If your friends and you read, have a read-over, grab some snacks, beverages and your top three TBRs and see who passes out first. In the morning, maybe go out for breakfast together. If your friends watch movies, have a movie night and make a blanket fort!

Create Fashion Shows

I grew up in a fashion show household. Any time my siblings and I went shopping for clothes, we’d bring home and wash our new outfits, and then model them for our parents in the living room. I never grew out of that. It's a very fun way to gain some confidence in your clothes and yourself! Now that I’m an adult-(ish), my friends and I make a point of wearing something new every time we go out together. It doesn’t mean we buy a new wardrobe for every hangout, but maybe I pair this top with this corset and that skirt and a little potion bottle belt. The point isn’t buying new things to show off, it’s more so showing yourself all the new things you can be.

In a way, that last one captures the point of romanticizing your life pretty well. In a nutshell, it’s simply showing yourself you are capable of adventures and joy. It’s proving to yourself that the enrichment of your life shouldn’t be looked at as frivolous or silly if it works. What separates this actual romanticization from social media filters is perspective. Instagram filters are for people looking in; genuine enrichment of your life and mentality is something you do for yourself. And it doesn’t make you selfish to try.