Ways to Romanticize Your Life

Live Like Your Life is an Epic Romance

2023 is The Year of Romance. Soft Wood years are the perfect time to practice romanticizing life. In this blog, I’ll share 23 ways to romanticize your life.

Romanticizing life is often associated with idealizing and fictionalizing, optimizing and ritualizing daily tasks and various aspects of your life. Even though your life may not be ideal, you can have pleasant moments and joyful experiences. Even though your life may not be a romcom or Regency era romance, you can be inspired by the characters in your favorite books and movies. Even if you don’t live in a cottagecore setting in the English countryside, you can have a garden and bake a loaf of sourdough bread. Even though you may not be living your best life, you can make certain areas of life better. Even though there are certain chores to perform repeatedly, you can create routines you enjoy and rituals you look forward to.

To romanticize life means to be intentional about what you’re doing. Instead of being on autopilot or going through the motions of life, you consciously choose how you spend your time. You create special moments and savor them. You choose to be fully present while you experience them. You romanticize yourself, your space and your life!

Romanticize Yourself

You can romanticize your life by being thoughtful about how you present yourself and intentional about how you treat yourself. This includes all the things you do to get ready for the day ahead. It also includes all the things you do to make yourself feel beautiful and well-loved, cherished and well taken care of.

Even if your current life experience, geographical location or home environment doesn’t look like your favorite book or movie, you can romanticize yourself. You can focus on your outward appearance and buy a few accessories or items to add to your wardrobe. Or, you can embody the energy of the woman you’d like to be and act as if you’re already her by romanticizing your daily rituals.

A lot of thought, planning and preparation go into getting actors ready for a day of filming on location. The beloved characters in movies we love, wear clothes that fit the period drama or romantic comedy or their unique personality. They get their hair and makeup done for their close up. They have all the right accessories and props for the scene. And if they are method actors, they might even stay in character while filming a miniseries or movie.

When you’re getting ready for a date you tend to take a lot of extra time getting ready. Bathing. Putting together the perfect outfit that is flattering and makes you feel attractive. Accessorizing with jewelry. Curling or styling your hair. Applying makeup to accentuate your best features. Dabbing on a few drops of perfume. Wearing the impractical and uncomfortable shoes that make you feel sexy. You can do the same thing every day of the week to romanticize yourself!

Dress Yourself

One of the simplest things to do to romanticize life is to take the time to dress yourself. Dress up. Dress for success. Dress to impress.

To be the leading lady of your own life story or the heroine of your life’s journey, dress for the part you want to play. If you have a favorite era or decade, aesthetic or style, buy pieces that reflect that time period or aesthetic.

Make the effort to get out of your yoga pants or leisure wear. You can still keep it simple with a daily uniform, just personalize outfits that are comfortable and classy.

Create a capsule wardrobe, one for each of the four seasons. Have clothes that allow you to really enjoy the changing weather in your climate. Flowing Summer sundresses and cozy cashmere sweaters for Fall. Fashionable Spring florals and Winter wool coats and knit scarves.

And don’t forget to include articles of clothing just for you. Invest in some undergarments that make you feel beautiful and feminine. Get yourself a linen robe, silk kimono or cotton dressing gown to wear as you get ready in the morning or after your bath during your evening routine.

Adorn Yourself

If you like to wear jewelry or hair accessories, take the time to select and put them on each day. Wear your gold, silver and platinum jewelry. Adorn yourself with crystals and gems, diamonds and other precious stones.

Anoint Yourself

If you don’t already have a signature scent, create an essential oil blend that you wear everyday. Stay away from synthetic fragrances. Instead, wear essential oil blends applied with a roller bottle, body mist spritz or as a solid perfume. Make personal fragrances for special date nights and holiday or seasonal scents.

Take Care of Yourself

Bathing, self care and skin care routines are essential to taking care of yourself. So, why not romanticize those daily rituals? Get some beautiful trays or containers for all of your bathing essentials and personal care products. Invest in a quality dry brush and gua sha tools. Find a clean skin care company that makes the serums and lotions for your skin’s type and particular needs.

Beautiful Yourself

In addition to dressing and adorning yourself, beautify yourself. Select eyewear, even if it’s just blue light blocking glasses, that are flattering for the shape of your face. Curl or arrange your hair in a style that fits your personality and lifestyle. Put some makeup on or at least shape you eyebrows and wear some tinted moisturizer or lip gloss.

Date Yourself

Take yourself out to a cafe for a coffee. Get your favorite salad or sandwich and eat it in nature by the lake or at the beach on your lunch break. Go to a movie, museum or art show. Book a weekend at a bed & breakfast to explore an area of interest or just to recharge.

Love Yourself

Write yourself a love letter. Leave love notes for yourself around the house. Look into your own eyes in the mirror and say, “I love you”. Send yourself flowers or sign up for a monthly subscription box. Do the things you love to do.

Invest in Yourself

Don’t wait until you have more time or money to do things that will contribute to your quality of life now and pay out dividends continually . If you love to read, carve out some time each day to spend with a favorite drink and a good book. If you love to write, add journaling, morning pages, life scripting, blogging or automatic writing to your morning routine. If you love to workout, get up early enough to fit in a walk or run, gym session or fitness routine.

Inspire Yourself

Go on artist’s dates to inspire your own creative self-expression. Travel to be inspired by the great cities and beautiful places in the world. Eat international cuisine to inspire your own culinary creations the kitchen. Take a class in something you’re interested in learning so you can get inspired to paint or dance, knit or sew.

Surround Yourself

Surround yourself with beauty. Live in nature or within walking distance of a body of water or forest, park or a garden. Have a room with a view of something beautiful like a blossoming tree or the horizon so you can watch the sun rise or set. Decorate your home with things that are aesthetically appealing, beautiful and meaningful to you.

Enjoy Yourself

Make a list of the things you enjoy and do them more often. Or, find ways to enjoy the things you are doing or need to do. Life’s too short to do work you hate or dread going into the office.

Appreciate Yourself

Often we don’t realize how much we are doing for ourselves and others. Recognize what you are doing that is vital to your survival. Acknowledge the work you do to keep bettering your life. Make a list of all the things you do everyday at home and work, in your personal life and for your family. Read through the list and thank yourself for each item.

Celebrate Yourself

Don’t let anniversaries pass by without celebrating them. When you reach a milestone or achieve a goal, celebrate. Celebrate the big accomplishments and all of the little wins along the way. Take yourself out to a celebratory dinner, drink the bottle of champagne you’ve been saving, buy yourself a gift or do something special to commemorate your achievements.

Romanticize Your Space

You can romanticize your life with color schemes or themed aesthetics in your home environment. Declutter and Feng Shui your living spaces. Create special rooms or corners of your house for your hobbies, favorite pastimes or interests.

Fresh Flowers

Having fresh cut flowers in your house brings life, beauty, color and fragrant scents into your space. Buying flowers for your home can become a weekly self care ritual. Learning the meanings of different flowers can make your floral selections and arrangements more intentional and meaningful. And selecting vases and arranging bouquets to display in different rooms of your house can be a fun way to express your creativity.

Candles

Lighting candles in the early morning or when it starts to get dark in the evenings is another daily ritual you can do to romanticize your space. Make some beeswax candles or buy some unscented candles to light each day as part of your morning and evening routines. Light a candle upon rise or before meditating in the morning. Light candles at dinnertime to enjoy while you eat your evening meal.

Reading Nook

Often, reading the classics, a novel or the newest release in your favorite genre is on the favorite things list. Take the time to create a small area in your home devoted to reading. It could be an overstuffed upholstered chair next to a window or by a fireplace with a side table for a lamp and cup of tea. It could be a corner of your bedroom, living area or even your home office where you can go to curl up with a hot cuppa and a good book.

Romanticize Your Life

You can romanticize your life with the small joys, the simple pleasures and the little luxuries of life. Life is beautiful. Be in the present moment. To find joy in the journey create daily rituals and morning and evening routines, favorite things days and time to engage in hobbies.

Nature

Enjoy being outside in nature. Watch the sunrise or sunset. Lie down on the grass and watch the clouds morph into shapes and roll by. Stargaze at night. Walk, dance or sing the rain. Hike into the mountains or walk through a forest. Tip toe through the tulips and stop to smell the roses. Read on the grass or in the shade of a tree, on a porch swing or in a hammock. Visit botanical gardens, orchards and arboretums. Picnic down by the river, walk by the lake or spend a day at the beach.

Favorite Things Day

Make a list of all of your favorite things to eat and do and your favorite people to do them with. Then, at least once a month plan a favorite things day. And do all your favorite activities!

Favorite Character Day

If you have a favorite character from a beloved book, plan a favorite character day. Make the recipes from a cookbook based on the novel. Dress up in the appropriate attire. Do the things your favorite character does in the story.

Baking

Learn how to bake from scratch. Bake your own sourdough loaves. Bake healthy blueberry muffins or decadent brownies. Bake some snickerdoodle or chocolate chip cookies. Bake cakes to celebrate birthdays, each new season or special holidays. Learn how to bake your own croissants or fruit pies from scratch.

Cooking

Buy yourself an apron and get cooking! Try new recipes each week. Get a copy of themed cookbooks with recipes from your favorite literature, stories or novels. Make fancy four course meals. Prepare a high tea. Serve a delicious Sunday brunch. Learn how to make your favorite dishes at home.

Shopping

Have fun making grocery lists and shopping for seasonal produce and other ingredients. Visit your local farms or farmer’s markets for fresh fruit and veggies, herbs and flowers, artisan bread and pastries, butter and cheese, jams and honey. Order items online to make your own sourdough bread or pickled veggies.

Hosting

Plan special events for your friends and family. Host a tea party, dinner party or birthday party. Have your family over for a potluck or summer barbecue. Send out invitations to an engagement party, bachelorette party or baby shower at your home. Make game night, book club or sewing circle at your house once in a while.

Hobbies

If you don’t already have some hobbies, find some you enjoy. Make sure some of them are outside in nature, like gardening or hiking. Take up knitting or crocheting to do while you listen to podcasts or audiobooks. Learn how to sew your own clothes, cross-stitch or embroidery. Collect flowers to press. Paint, watercolor or sketch. Get crafty or start on some do-it-yourself projects around the house.

Reading

One the things that tends to inspire the desire to romanticize our life are the wonderful stories we read as children or in our youth. We want to recreate the feelings we had when the movies would play in our heads as we read the words on the page. We want to be the protagonist that has the courage to face the challenges or the quick wit to say just the right thing in the right moment. We want the adventure, the climatic drama and the eventual happy ending. So, keep reading books to keep your own imagination alive and inspired to live your own life to the fullest.

Keeping

Keeping a commonplace book of all of your most poignant words of wisdom, favorite quotes from books or important knowledge you’d like to record and remember, helps you romanticize life. You’ll begin looking for and expecting to find knowledge and wisdom to write down in your commonplace book. You’ll read the book or download the audiobook or podcast so you can write down your thoughts about the stories or make note of the valuable information. This intentional way of living causes you to be in the present moment as you go about your day, increasing your awareness as you allow your environment to speak to you.

Keeping a journal of all of your thoughts and feelings, events and outings, helps you romanticize life. You’ll want to do more the things that inspire deep thinking and provide your desired feelings so you can write about them. Like a content creator who does things just to film or take selfies, you’ll choose to get out of the house or do an activity so you can add content to your journal.

Keeping a photo album of all your red letter days helps you romanticize life. You’ll make more of an effort to look your best and engage in activities you’ll want photo evidence of. Having an album, either physical or digital, will inspire you to take the pictures and not miss a single opportunity to capture the memories.

Keeping a scrapbook of all of your outings and trips, concerts and special events helps you romanticize life. You’ll be inspired to do more fun things, be intentional about enjoying the human experience and making lasting memories. You’ll take the vintage photos at the theme park. You’ll remember to save the movie or theater tickets. You’ll have a place to keep the homemade cards, handwritten letters or love notes. You’ll pick the wildflower or pick up the autumnal leaf to preserve.

Listening

Like every good movie, you need a soundtrack to your life! Take the time to listen to your favorite genres of music, artist’s albums and curated playlists. Turn on a favorite song to sing along with or dance to. Play music in your car as you drive around doing errands or commute to work. Put some music on while you wash the dishes, make dinner, fold the laundry or clean the house. Let the music move you as your life unfolds.

Share in the comments below your favorite ways to romanticize your life!

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