Romanticizing our lives is an art form. It’s a whimsical, blissful escapism from the dull day-to-day that we must inevitably return to. When reality hits, romanticizing your life allows you to drown yourself in fantasy. Some may call this “delusion,” but others call it “protecting your peace.”
In recent years, social media influencers have begun urging everyone else to “start romanticizing life.” These influencers often encourage people to journal, go on solo dates or solo travel, start the day slowly, or put on cute outfits just to run errands. Admittedly, I’ve scrolled enough TikTok and Instagram reels to have fallen for this bait.
The idea behind romanticizing everything is to embrace a slower pace of living, live in the moment, and appreciate all of life’s little joys. Cure your boredom with spontaneity and whimsy. Fight burnout with journaling. Melt away depression with a good song. But while this perspective looks inspirational on social media platforms, this idyllic mindset is hard to match in real life.
I’m a romantic at heart, but I can’t seem to romanticize my life. My delusions are often met with rejection, and daydreaming does nothing but distract me from everything that I need to do. Sure, I enjoy listening to niche playlists and dressing up just to buy an overpriced latte, but at what point does romanticizing life become delusional and dangerous?
False Expectations
When you make everything seem romantic, it usually isn’t. Reality always cuts through. When I travel, I romanticize each destination, envisioning starting a new life there. Then, I mentally abandon that country and develop an attachment to the next one. It’s easy to romanticize a place when you only spend a few days there because it is like an altered reality — one that’s distant from your actual life.
Even in daily life, I dream about moving somewhere new, bigger, and faster-paced. But all this fantasy does is make me crave the chase instead of the result.
This is the effect of constantly romanticizing places and things. We distract ourselves from boring day-to-day living by meditating, journaling, and buying ourselves flowers or new jewelry, all because we can’t settle into a routine. We need to chase something that aesthetically pleases us. This isn’t a bad thing, but it does beg the question: Why do I need to romanticize my life?
Is everything romantic?
Charli xcx’s hit album “Brat” features a song called “Everything is Romantic.” In the song, she repeatedly tells us to “fall in love again and again” with all of life’s small, seemingly mundane details. She lists off everything that she finds romantic, including “bad tattoos on leather tanned skin” and “winding roads, doing manual drive.” She makes us feel like we can fall in love with everything that we can see. But romanticizing life is different when you aren’t a celebrity.
Charli isn’t necessarily tone-deaf, but because of her financial status, her life is far different from that of the average person. Being rich makes romanticizing life a lot easier. Not all of us can have a view of “Capri” or “Pompeii in the distance,” as Charli mentions. “Everything Is Romantic” is a great song, but we need to consider that when wealthy celebrities or influencers tell us to “romanticize life,” they don’t understand our reality.
You should never stop embracing life’s simple pleasures. But if you choose to romanticize every detail of your life, assess the why behind your romanticism. Is it all for “aesthetic” purposes, or do these spontaneous activities actually improve your life? It can be easy for social media to control us, so ask yourself whether you truly want to romanticize life. The answer may surprise you.
Featured Photo by Andre Furtado on Unsplash.
This was such an honest take — romanticizing life can be beautiful, but it’s easy to lose yourself in the fantasy too.