Why you should be romanticising your life, for greater happiness and fulfilment.
“Wow, I want a 9-5 desk job — it looks so glamorous!”
It’s a phrase most of us never thought we’d hear ourselves say... until the ‘corporate girl’ zeitgeist swept TikTok and Instagram in late 2024. Gaining traction somewhere between ‘clean girl’ and ‘indie sleaze’, the trend saw working women (and some men) document their working lives in aesthetically-pleasing, day-in-the-life style videos. Adding a shiny veneer to office life in the way only social media can, the creators would rise at 5 am to complete a full pilates workout, hair-curling routine, and healthy breakfast, before breezing into their (perfectly styled) office with an iced latte in hand at 10 am.
It's easy to roll your eyes at all the glossy B-roll footage of Drunk Elephant-filled beauty cabinets, perfectly curated tote bags and gourmet lunches — especially if you've actually worked in an office and know it's more laggy spreadsheets than stilettos and Aperol spritzes.
However, as it turns out, this new wave of ‘corporate influencers’ (as they’re being called) might be onto something. Because, as much as we might like life to be all cataclysmic moments, huge celebrations, and unforgettable holidays, that’s seldom the case. Often, it’s more of a tapestry of mundane moments stitched together, interspliced with some bigger stuff.
Interestingly, when many people look back on their lives, it’s the small pleasures they remember most fondly — that first sip of coffee enjoyed every morning with their partner, the feeling of sand crunching between their toes on beach walks, or looking back at their children playing happily in the back seat on road trips. By making an intentional effort to romanticise your life, you can actually reverse engineer more of those tiny-yet-meaningful moments.
While documenting the beauty in the banal may seem like a distinctly modern phenomenon, poets, artists and musicians have been doing this for millenia. Emily Dickinson's work often depicted the small details of life and nature, such as the titular worm-eating bird in her poem "A Bird, came down the Walk,” while French impressionist artists were known for elevating everyday items. In fact, viewing the world with wonder, imagination and individual subjectivity were defining aspects of 'Romanticism' — the intellectual and artistic movement that spread through Europe from the late 18th and mid-19th centuries.
It's thanks to this formative period that we still have the concept of 'romanticising' life: thinking and talking about it in an idealised way that suggests that it's better than it actually is. And, while it may sound counterproductive, being delightfully ‘delulu’ in this way can actually yield a multitude of benefits. It encourages gratitude by helping us to notice the positive things that already exist in our lives. Thanks to the reticular activating system — a bundle of nerves at the back of the brain that act as a gatekeeper to our subconscious — this can help us seemingly ‘manifest’ more positive things into our lives, just by paying attention.
Seeking out beauty in the present moment is also a practical mindfulness exercise that can be done anywhere and anytime (no yoga mat required). Working together, gratitude and mindfulness can help improve our overall life satisfaction, mental health, self-esteem and even the quality of our relationships. Put simply, it gives you a reason to look forward to every day, which is always a good thing.
That said, if you consider yourself more of a pragmatic realist, putting on your rose (or, shall we say Rosé) tinted glasses may not necessarily come easily to you. The good news is, you don’t have to start a whimsical Instagram account or restyle your office to look like something out of an interiors magazine to reap the benefits. Here are some easy and practical ways you can start to romanticise your life.
Snap out of it
Are you guilty of taking zero photos for months, then suddenly filling up our camera rolls (not to mention, everyone’s social media feeds) the second you’re on holidays? It makes sense, as there’s a sense of novelty that comes with being in different places and doing different things. But, what if you could bring that same inspired energy into your life, by documenting your everyday life? One great way to encourage yourself to do this is by doing a ‘one photo a day’ challenge. As the name suggests, this involves taking one snap every day — whether it’s of a pretty sunset, a flower you saw on a lunchtime walk, your oat latte or even just your work set-up.
This pushes you to find the beauty in the little things, no matter how boring they may seem. You can take these photos on your smartphone (a nice Adobe Lightroom preset goes a long way to transform a mundane moment into a masterpiece), or channel a retro feel with a reusable camera like Flashback. This digital camera harnesses the old-school anticipation of waiting to see how your photos turned out, as you have to wait 24 hours for each 28-set roll of ‘film’ to develop.
Harness that main character energy
Let’s be honest: we’ve all walked through a big city or gazed out the window seat of an airplane with our favourite playlist, and felt like we were in a movie. While it can feel a bit cringy and self-important, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with leaning into this. After all, we are all the main character in our own lives, so we may as well start acting like it.
It’s something that Meghan McTavish, founder of The Plotline, encourages through her journals, which guide you to write a three-act ‘script’ for each day — with you as the central protagonist. “Doing a mindfulness practice like The Plotline mentally puts you front and centre in your own life”, says Meghan. “Based in narrative therapy, it involves scripting your own life in the third person, which can help prompt you to occasionally do things ‘for the plot’ to shake up your routines."
Stop waiting for the perfect moment
This is your permission to wear those glitzy and slightly ‘extra’ earrings you’ve been saving for a special occasion. The same goes for your ballgown, and that fine china that’s been sitting at the back of your cupboard for years. We can easily spend our entire lives waiting for the perfect, idyllic moment to use our ‘good stuff’ — but the truth is, nothing is ever guaranteed. So, consider life something itself something worth celebrating, every day.
Go beyond the performative
At the end of the day, romanticising your life isn’t about getting a certain amount of likes and followers on social media. Sure, thinking about it through the lens of creating art (whether or not its for an audience) can be useful. But, there’s no point spending hours curating the perfect coastal picnic flatlay if you actually hate the beach, or capturing thousands of video clips at a gig to the point that you miss the current show. The point is that it actually feels good for you, in the present moment. So, consider what rituals and experiences you would happily participate in, even if nobody ever else ever saw it.