Rituals and how to find magic in everyday things
Making life special by romanticizing the mundane!
The welcoming of Spring is always a time to connect with my most sensitive and creative side and a time for new beginnings. It also happens to be my birthday around this time so for me, this is the real beginning of a new year and the perfect opportunity to kick-off new rituals.
For me, a set of intentional actions, a flow that allows me to execute my routines with intention as opposed to letting inertia direct my habits. As
writes in her own newsletter ‘I like doing certain things in sequence over and over. Rituals bring me a sense of calm and control, the balance I need against urgent emails, “I hate all my clothes” days, and unexpectedly altered plans’.Prioritizing my rituals has had a huge impact on my mental health and my overall wellness. Balancing work, personal life, side projects, and more can be challenging but my rituals make it easier for me to carry through life and stay sane.
Since starting with the habit of doing morning pages every day not only do I start my day with more focus, but also I’ve become more motivated to write in other formats, one of them being this newsletter! Doing my morning pages has allowed me to realize that I enjoy writing so much and that I want to share it with other people. Something that started as a tiny ritual every morning evolved into something bigger.
Taking 20 minutes every night to do my skincare routine with some music in the back is also another ritual that has impacted my life for the good. This is something that I do every single day despite how tired I am, and I have noticed that I sleep much better when I take the time to slow down before going to bed and do those steps with intention.
Today I want to share with you 33 rituals that help me romanticize life. The most important thing that I want you to take from today’s newsletter is the fact that practicing the self-discipline to keep up with rituals that make you feel good (even tough on days when you are tired or don’t feel like it) will take you to places you never imagined. Let’s dive in 😗
Journaling. Start by writing a few sentences every day as soon as you wake up or right before you go to sleep. In my previous newsletter, I shared my favorite journaling techniques to get into this practice.
Warm lighting at home. This is a nice one especially if you live in places with long and rough winters. Get some lamps and some candles and illuminate the rooms in your home with warm light. It will make a huge difference, especially in your evening routine.
Go on more walks and listen to your favorite podcast, audiobook, or your best friend’s long audio.
Write more letters to your loved ones or yourself. The perfect excuse to use all those stickers you have on your drawer and never use and make a cute little letter!
Have a picnic after work in your local park and watch all the dogs and their humans.
Cook more meals at home. Find a recipe, research the ingredients, and try to buy them from local markets. Connecting with the ingredients in our food makes eating more special.
Make your coffee, tea, or matcha at home.
Dance in your room to your favorite music like nobody is watching
Go to an art exhibition alone on a Saturday and develop an opinion on the art you are seeing
Make time for more road trips far away and close
Take a shower with the lights off and a candle. There are so many benefits to showering in the dark. I have tried a couple of times and it feels strange at first but then it’s vibe and a great way to connect with all your senses
Spend more time in nature with friends or alone
Do your makeup with your favorite playlist in the background
Practice mindful breathing
Do a fantasy meditation right when you wake up and let your imagination fly! This is one of my favorites by Raveena:
Draw something without thinking about the outcome just like kids do
Take care of a plant, and when you master how to take care of it, get another one. Without realizing it you will have a garden!
Go thrifting for new books and look for handwriting notes inside them
Buy a picture or a print from a friend and hang it on the walls of your house
Do a digital detox for one weekend and document your thoughts in your journal
Take a pottery class with a friend and make something for each other
Swap books with your friends
Try a new ingredient now and then so you don’t get bored of eating the same recipes every week
Take photos and experiment with editing them in fun ways
Burn sage, palo santo, or incense after cleaning your house for that final magic touch
Make time to call your friends who live far away each month so you don’t miss out on what’s going on with their lives. One of my best friends recently moved to Nova Scotia, in the east coast of Canada and we don’t want to lose touch so we have a meeting on the calendar to catch up on Sunday each month.
Drink warm lemon water when you wake up
Use a tongue scrapper every day when you wake up and before you go to sleep
Oil your body after showering, especially in the winter
Buy flowers for yourself and put them on your favorite base
Do an activity alone, it could be going to the movies, having dinner, or a walk
Learn a new language and fantasize about traveling to a country where you can speak with the locals (I am learning Italian at the moment haha)
Try not to use your phone 15 minutes before you sleep, then increase it until it’s an hour or more!
PRO TIP: Have some tools that motivate you to keep up with your rituals. It could be a piece of palo santo that you only light on when you are about to meditate or start writing in your notebook every morning, or a playlist that you only listen to when you go on your solo walk. Have a pajama set that you only wear on special occasions or buy a special candle that you only burn when you receive good news. Again, romanticize the mundane!
What rituals do you practice in your everyday life to make life more special? Please let me know in the comments! 💐💐💐💐💐💐
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thank you for this lovely, gentle reminder to build some rituals back into my life. needed this!
this was so lovely & wholesome. spring definitely makes me feel all the things since it’s my bday season too. are you an aries? also tysm for sharing that meditation. i’ll definitely try it tomorrow morning!