People have begun to seek more meaningful offerings to their everyday life, significantly post-pandemic — where the term “romanticise your life” has been emerging on social media increasingly. This notion has seeped successfully into just about every category of our lifestyles; acts of solitude, travelling, relationships and life at university as well. It may also lead to a larger question: What truly brings us happiness?
“She loved to walk down the street with a book under her arm. It had the same significance for her as an elegant cane for the dandy a century ago. It differentiated her from others.”– Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
We can all benefit from finding moments of beauty in our daily rituals and exploring ways our uni routines can be made to embrace minimalism and create moments to look forward to. From attending lectures, to decorating your room, going clubbing and revising at the library — there is something to be cultivated and cared about in everything. Reaping the rewards of romanticising your university experience is plenty, because if you had to choose between having the ability to force yourself to revise, versus actually enjoying revision—we’d all choose the latter.
Listening to a tailored Lofi Jazz Cafe playlist on Spotify with an iced coffee in the library is my way of romanticising my study, or taking a walk around campus at sunset, and even doing yoga in my room. The practice of mindfulness and appreciating the present creates a sense of newfound agency (which in my opinion, is the whole point of uni), and in turn—makes things like waking up for 9ams after a night out, or revising before an exam tolerable, if not pleasant. There is always a parallel between books or films and our own lives if we look for it. So whatever aesthetic makes you happy, is the one you start to emulate. We all remember when Emily Mariko and her signature salmon rice bowl went viral on Tiktok, or when every girl was following Emma Chamberlain’s morning iced coffee routine. We slowly become captivated by the aesthetics, and it gives us the impression that they have an amazing life overall because we not only get to look at their major achievements, but we also read into a multitude of aspects.
The Danish concept of ‘Hygge’ is an outlook on life that focuses on simple pleasures and taking the time to cultivate more of them in your life (Oxford English Dictionary) – as another interpretation of ‘romanticising your life.’ When we look at this lifestyle, we begin to understand why the romanticisation of our uni lifestyle can decrease stress levels and pull more meaning into your life and the things you enjoy.
If we spend our whole lives looking to the future or waiting for our next big milestone to get through our days, we can never fully appreciate the present and become aware of our environment. You end up living for a future that makes you forget the present, which becomes an endless cycle of waiting. Fusing our special big moments with our joy for our everyday life is the catalyst for fulfilment. We all look to assert our individuality and find that happiness internally. It is one of the only ways we can practise what we enjoy— and what works, by our own standards.
“Night falls fast, today is in the past.” St Edna Vincent Millay