There’s a quote I recently heard: Live Your Life Like a Studio Ghibli Movie.
(If you don’t know what Studio Ghibli is— Whatever childhood you think you had, you didn’t. So, go find that missing part of you in the magic is that Studio Ghibli here and here and here.)
Studio Ghibli, in short, is an animation company for films that honour the little things and great adventures in life. I know this, but amazingly, I had not previously put much stock in these moments.
It was via Darling Desi‘s video on the same topic where I first heard this quote. And it was via her videography skills that I realized exactly what it meant. Studio Ghibli does not avoid the “boring” or “normal” to replace it with plot. It understands life is tied together via the little moments, with big moments sticking up every now and again.
What is Life-Romanticization?
So, what is it, exactly?
Life-Romanticization is the intentional practice of living that gives as much power to the little and mundane things as the grand adventures. It believes that happiness is found moment-to-moment, not only in the conclusion or reward of something else. It is not the experience that makes you happy, but the feeling you receive while having the experience.
How Do You Do It?
1. FIND THE HAPPY
There’s plenty of things in this world that we do not want to do. Now that I’m an adult, I seem to be drowning in them. Taxes, visas, work — there are so many.
If the reward system works for you, then give yourself a great reward when you finish your laundry or the vacuuming or your taxes. Give yourself that last piece of cake, or watch an extra episode of that TV show you’re obsessed with.
The reward system never worked for me. If you’re like me, take Mary Poppin’s advice. A spoonful of sugar goes a long way.
I have to find (or make) something in the midst of the task that triggers my enjoyment.
If I’m cleaning—which I HATE—I’ll play showtunes as music. Singing always makes me feel better. (I feel you, Poppins.)
Or, if I need my brain to think, I’ll put on my favourite ambience tracks from YouTube.
Even something silly and small like lighting a candle can make a world of difference. I find coziness is always a positivity-boost for me, but it’s not always a productive one. That often leads to an “olde world” ambience track being added to the mix. (Y’know, so I can pretend I live in Victorian London.)
Because here’s the fact of it all: We will never feel like it.
We will never feel like it. But it must be done.
So, we might as well enjoy it. Spoonful of sugar, right?
2. EMBRACE YOUR LIFE
Embrace the Bad Things. Sometimes the world just sucks; I think we all know that after COVID.
But sometimes, like COVID, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it either.
So, you have to choose to make the best of it. Those things you can’t make the best of, embrace them.
Bad and Good are opposites, but they are not exclusive entities. They are two sides of the same coin. There’s a little bit of either in both.
Remember Inside Out? It taught us the same thing.
Embrace the Good Things, too. Just because we embrace the bad things doesn’t mean we don’t embrace the good.
But embracing the good things cannot only include the grand adventures. The little things that make us feel good need to be included, too.
In this instance, it’s watching my father play on the floor with the two dogs. Not a grand adventure, but still something I’ll miss.
It’s also something I look forward to in the future.
I’ve had dogs all my life. A huge part of my day is cuddling with a dog, is watching them play, is having them sleep in my bed, is their unbridled joy when I come home.
But I don’t own a dog of my own.
I want to. And I will one day. But I won’t until I settle down into one country first, and that will not happen in this next year.
That part of my routine is missing whenever I am away from home. For the last few years, I’ve visited home after only a couple months; I’ve refilled my quota of dog.
This year, though–between the Septembers of 2021 and 2022–I will not be coming home. I will have no dog in my life with which to cuddle or play or sleep or greet.
Humans are routine creatures. So, without this piece of my routine to have, in the next year, I must find something to add to my daily routine. Not in the place of, but something that brings similar joy.
I don’t know what that will be yet, but I’ll find something.
And so should you when your routine has had a significant change. It will help weed out the sorrow, struggle, and homesickness.
1. HONOUR THE RITUAL OF THE MUNDANE THINGS
My mother tells a story about how she once told a neighbour she was afraid us kids would think little of our childhood because we didn’t have big adventures. We didn’t travel internationally, when we travelled domestically, it was only to see family, we even attended our deginated schools. We did get out of our bubble.
That neighbour said that we kids would remember the times we spent together, like folding laundry.
That neighbour was right.
Sure, I remember those family trips out to Colorado, Alabama, Ohio, Massachusetts.
But I measure those trips (and my childhood) via the small together moments. I do not remember if the overall trip was good or bad, but when I think back on it, it’s a happy memory.
Some of my fondest memories is folding laundry with my mother, is drinking unsweetened iced tea with my grandfather, is my brother and I accidentally eating expired goldfish crackers from our grandmother’s pantry, is lying on the couch with my father as a young child watching Saturday TV shows while he napped.
These are the rich moments. They are plot-fillers in the Life movie, but they matter the most. They define my childhood, which was a damn good, happy one.
Why Would You Do It?
1. CONSCIOUSNESS & AWARENESS
All these steps demand an intentional awareness and consciousness to every moment in my day. To romanticize your life demands a slower kind of living with a focus on the current state of being.
Experiences might benefit me. They might weigh on me. But in both cases, I have to present in the moment to know that.
2. INTENTION, APPRECIATION, & GRATEFULNESS
Salinda Nichols says “It helps you learn intention, appreciation, and gratefulness.”
These are things I could dare to improve on.
As a Millenial, I am often lost in the hustle of Life experienced in drive. I’m a prime example, and it’s immensely upsetting to admit how many aspects of my life I dismiss.
I need to slow down. This is one of the great life lessons I want to train myself now that I’m an adult.
Which is hard when I’m over here trying to build a functioning, well-paid, happy life for myself. If that’s not #HustleCulture, I don’t know what is. But I need to slow down.
I need to take a step back from the grind. It’s fine to dedicate a day to work. No one’s saying to just wade through life with no direction, intention, or purpose.
Quite the opposite.
So, take a moment in the middle of that grind: Close your eyes. Feel the keyboard underneath your fingertips. Shift positions in your chair. Take a breath and experience the release of tension in your muscles. Reach over and pet your cat that you finally put a towel by your computer for her to sleep upon. Reach down and rub your dog’s belly. Kiss your loved one.
Even if you don’t fully separate your concentration from your task, don’t just mindlessly reach over to stroke your cat out of habit. Feel his coat beneath your fingers.
The Romanticization of Life requires we welcome the moments we would otherwise dismiss as unimportant. The plot-filler scenes are equally important to our development and happiness as the battle scenes.
(If you don’t know where to start, head over to Darling Desi on YouTube. She’s got a great aesthetic.)
I’m not done growing just because I’m an adult. I may not get any taller, but my soul needs growth and attention, too. That’s what adulthood is for.
