#104: Romanticising life

Happy Sunday, on my favourite Sunday of the year! The clocks going forward always feels to me like the start of the good times.

But is that the right way to think about things? Shouldn’t the good times run 365 days a year?

Last weekend, I saw an Instagram clip titled ‘romanticising flying economy’. A couple was making cocktails on their flight, pouring liquors into a shaker and then into martini glasses. The woman next to them was offered one too, and soon the three of them were toasting happily, evidently loving life. It was a simple, feel-good reminder that life doesn’t need to wait for the weekend to be celebrated.

I’ve spent much of the week thinking about this idea of romanticising life; consciously choosing to see everyday moments as opportunities for beauty, joy, and meaning.

Instead of waiting for special occasions, it’s about infusing routine experiences with a sense of wonder. It's reframing ordinary events as meaningful, celebrating the little details that make life rich, and creating your own narrative of beauty and delight every day.

It’s easy to let life slip into routine. Days blur, seasons pass, and before you know it, another year has come and gone. Yet, what if we slowed down just enough to see the poetry in the ordinary?

The science

In psychology, positive reappraisal is a technique to reframe experiences to extract meaning and joy, even from mundane moments. Instead of grumbling through a morning commute, we might see it as an opportunity to learn something new with a podcast or observe the city’s early bustle. This simple shift in perspective can reduce stress and enhance our overall well-being.

Then there’s mindfulness, the art of being fully present. When you take a moment to truly notice the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, the colours of flowers blossoming, or the warmth of the sun on your face, your brain registers these as rewarding experiences. Such awareness can transform a routine day into something subtly magical.

Thanks to neuroplasticity, our brains are wired for change. The more we focus on the beauty around us—like the glow of a Sunday morning sunrise—the more our minds learn to seek out and appreciate these moments. By making a habit of romanticising our lives, we’re essentially rewiring our neural pathways to default to a state of gratitude and wonder.

Putting it into practice

So, how did I implement this? On Thursday, a standard work day, I approached my day as if I were filming a vlog—looking for moments I’d highlight if I were documenting the experience. I made a conscious effort to record short clips of those moments, and in doing so, I found myself slowing down, noticing more, and appreciating the beauty in everyday things I’d normally overlook.

It’s ironic—we often hear that people are glued to their phones, disconnected from the world around them. But in this case, using my phone intentionally had the opposite effect. Instead of being a distraction, it became a tool for mindfulness, making me more present and appreciative of my surroundings. It’s not the technology itself, but how we choose to engage with it that shapes our experience.

Implementation idea

Romanticise your life.

It isn’t just a nice idea; it’s also a practical tool for perspective. The way we frame our experiences shapes how we feel about them.

If perception shapes reality, why not choose to see life as a beautiful, continuous celebration—a story worth savouring every single day?

Romanticising life isn’t about grand gestures or extravagant escapes. It’s about finding beauty in the everyday. It’s lighting a candle for no reason, making coffee like it’s an art form, walking home the long way to catch the sunset. It’s listening to a song and pretending, for a moment, that you’re the main character in a film.

Because your life is a film, or a video game, and you are, the main character.

We don’t have to wait for big moments to feel like life is remarkable. The small ones—if we let them—can be just as extraordinary.

— AJ

On my bedside table:

🎙Podcast: Catch me discussing ways to keep a calm head to navigate the uncertain, complex world we currently face. A behavioural finance investment discussion, but the insights can be applied more broadly. Making sense of market noise. (Segment starts at 7 min mark)

💬 Quote: “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” - W.B Yeats

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