Romanticize Your Life!
Or, better yet, in everything give thanks.
The trend “romanticizing your life” has been everywhere on social media. Through the artful framing of everyday life by ordinary people, the viewer is called to enjoy the little things and make the best of daily tasks. From a morning cup of tea to a sunny walk, everyday moments are reimagined as worthy of attention, even reverence.
This digital shift mirrors an earlier cultural movement: Realism. Emerging in France around the 1840s as a response to the lofty idealism, heroic landscapes, and grand passion — Realism aimed to depict life “as it is,” often centering on rural, peasant life.
L’Angélus by Jean-François Millet, 1857-1859.
From the Realism movement, Millet’s piece elevates ordinary livings by depicting two peasants end their work-day in a field, bowing over a basket of potatoes, while saying the Angelus prayer. A church is depicted in the background.
In an era where people don’t feel they have access to upward mobility, we’ve created our own “realism” movement in the romanticizing trend. Self-directed and digital, the trend reflects a desire to reclaim meaning in everyday existence. Constant consumerism has failed to make us happy; we see this in adjacent trends like “de-influencing,” which encourages less consumption and more intentional living. I don’t know about your algorithms, but I’ve found the intersection practical and inspiring. It echoes what Realist artists and philosophers understood well: that beauty can be found in the deeply human details of everyday life.
The success of “romanticizing your life” points to a deeper yearning for connection, presence, and for joy that isn’t delayed until weekends or big milestones. But what if there’s something even better than just seeing ourselves as “the main character?”
Romanticizing your life asks you to notice. Worship does too.
The romanticizing trend has flourished in many niches and platforms because it taps into the ancient truth: gratitude makes life better. They each require we pay attention. We must slow down to identify moments or areas to romanticize. Then, we respond. After we’ve noticed something good, truth, or beautiful… we do something about it! We take a picture, we savour the moment, we search for a way to articulate our experience of joy in the mundane. This is also the posture of praise: noticing, and responding through creative expression.
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” - Psalm 118:24
The trend of “romanticizing your life” teaches us to find joy in the ordinary, and that’s a good thing. It’s an act of creative participation in your own life, a way of telling yourself: this is good, it matters, and it matters that I notice. But it begins and ends with you, or at best the reach of your content cycle.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism frames our ultimate purpose in this phrase: “to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” What a wonder, that God not only allows us to enjoy Him, but wants us to. This isn’t some somber, guilt-focused practice that limits our joy, it acknowledges the source of every good and perfect gift. The very act brings more joy!
So yes, please romanticize your life! Light a nice candle, go for a walk, enjoy your routines. But don’t just enjoy these gifts alone. Thank God for this moment… this cup of coffee, this outfit, the routine of washing the dishes or making dinner, messy bedsheets, the studio or your workspace…It won’t just be romantic, it will be real and it will be lasting.
