Over the past few months, I have been gravitating towards content that is more aligned with things that I care about: mental health, self-care/self-love, and how to live my best life. I’ve been intentionally trying to curate my social media algorithms to align with those pillars in hopes that I won’t see the content that will make me feel bad or “less than”. I’ve been doing a great job at that (you go girl, Lena) and have been lucky to discover the “soft girl era” aesthetic on YouTube and TikTok (which is a beautiful place haha).
One day as I was scrolling on YouTube (probably procrastinating), I came across something called “How to Romanticize Your Life”, and of course I was intrigued and wanted to learn what exactly this meant; does this involve a romantic love? Self-love? What is romanticizing and how do I do this? Is there a cost involved? Do I need romance in my life? My sis would say ‘yes’!
Anyways, I remember I ended up watching so many videos on both YouTube and TikTok from content creators on romanticizing your life, which essentially is appreciating the little, everyday, “mundane” things; recognizing how unique and special “being present moment” is. Pretty much, romanticizing your life means appreciating your everyday life and looking for the beauty in each moment.
I can truly appreciate this way of thinking and I hope it’s not just an aesthetically-pleasing social media trend. I hope we take this and incorporate it in our pursuits of mindfulness and mental health wellness.
The beauty about romanticizing life is that the whole purpose is to not get sucked into spending money, it’s almost the exact opposite, being that it’s truly about being happy in the present moment with what you have. For this reason, I’m going to present to you how you can romanticize your life in the most frugal (most of these are free) way possible! I hope this article “woos” you 🙂
1) Add Journaling to Your Morning/Evening Routine
Ok – I may or may not have mentioned this in a previous article, but let me re-introduce myself, “Hi, my name is Lena and I am a proud journal collector!” Y’all…I have so many journals/notepads/notebooks. From my beloved Lisa Frank journals and notebooks to my sparkly/bedazzled journals, and from my planners with note sections to my journals with prompts…I cannot count how many I have or how many I’ve gone through. I LOVE to write and journal. Not only do I love getting all my thoughts down on paper, but I retain a lot better when I write things down. It’s truly an artform for me (I want to take up calligraphy), but there’s also a lot of healing that can go into journaling.
If you let it, journaling can be the way in which you allow yourself into your own world that you create. For me, I try to stick to the journaling part of both my morning and evening routines, and they both serve a different purpose; in the morning, I do “morning pages” or essentially, a brain dump of all my thoughts. I include my gratitude list, what I woke up thinking about, what I need to do that day, and any other thoughts.
In the evening (if I’m not too sleepy haha), I like to journal or “script” things that I want to manifest in the future. Although this concept is not new, manifestation is part of the self-care era, and as someone who is pursuing the “soft girl” life, I look forward to doing this nightly – it’s a lot of fun writing as my future self and speaking all my desires.
Now – just because I have a collection of journals (I’m not normal), does not mean you have to, and there are amazing journals that you can buy at your local discount store. Now, there is something special about a journal that’s been intentionally designed for a purpose.
There are a lot of planners/journals on Amazon that are just for manifesting, gratitude, brain dumps, helping with anxiety/depression, specific questions/prompts, updating your budget, etc (trust me, I have them all). In addition, in no way should you bust your budget for a fancy journal either.
2.) Buy Yourself Fresh Flowers
This is a habit that I actually want to get back to doing, as I used to buy myself flowers weekly. Now, I am very happy being in my bachelorette/hot, soft girl season, so I do not have a significant other buy me things that make me feel loved, but I can woo and romance myself in this season, and I encourage my fellow single gals to do the same, Hey, even if you are boo’d up, you can still treat yourself to a nice bouquet of flowers.
Do you think I go to a fancy florist weekly? Absolutely not – I buy my flowers from my local grocery store on my weekly shopping visits. I know that Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have great flowers as well, but the point is, you don’t have to go to a professional for flowers for yourself. I may spend between $5-$10 on flowers for a week. Plus, I have learned that to make your bouquet last longer, pour in some Sprite or bleach into the water – it works!
3.) Take Yourself on a Date
Ok, so we’ve got some fresh flowers, let’s take ourselves on a date! Now, even though this article is about frugally romanticizing your life, I’m not calling us “cheap dates” either haha! Since we’re City Girl savers here, clothes are in our budget, as well as entertainment, fun activities, and eating out…so let’s make a date of it!
This can mean different dates for everybody, whether that’s just going for a walk in your local downtown area, making a reservation at the new restaurant in town, or going to an art museum, this all depends on what date you want to have with yourself! Don’t forget, you don’t even need to leave your living quarters! A simple take-out dinner and Netflix and chill is always a vibe!
4.) Indulge and Be Present in the Present Season
As I am writing this article, it’s early October 2022, and for some reason I feel like everyone is more excited for the fall season this year. I’m not sure if it’s because we are in the “post-pandemic” world and things are open and active again (schools, concerts, travel, weddings, etc), but I feel like more people were looking forward to fall, including myself which is odd because I do not look forward to shorter days and seasonal affective disorder/depression (SAD).
However, in order to combat those luring feelings around SAD, my therapist suggested that I fully appreciate and take in the fall and winter season this year, not just spring and summer. SO this year, I’m going to decorate my place in autumnal, inexpensive decor and I am looking forward to my morning struts and seeing the leaves change color.
I know a lot of people look forward to pumpkin spice, the beginning of the holiday season, family gatherings, and seasonal dishes, so definitely be totally present in each season. I’m actually looking forward to the cozy season to refresh and get ready for the new year!
5.) Take an Extra Long Shower
Because daily bath/showers are important (I don’t care what certain celebrities say), take some extra time for yourself, or wake up a bit earlier (if you take showers in the morning) and take your shower/bath routines to a new level! In the shower, get some delicious-smelling shower gel, a nice body exfoliator, a good loofah/exfoliating gloves and really indulge in your shower. Imagine the water from the shower “washing” away the day or any negativity.
If you’ve read my articles before, you already know I love my “goddess baths”, but I know that baths are just not realistic everyday for a lot of people, including myself, sometimes we just have time/energy for a quick shower. That’s why it’s important to look forward to those times where you can take your time in your showers.
Related: 8 Simple Self-Care Habits to Start Now
I hope this article encourages you to take some time to romanticize your everyday life, and give you something to look forward to everyday, no matter what it is. What about you? How can you incorporate a little bit of romance in your day?
