about spicing up your life

Do you ever have one of those days or weeks or months or even years where you just feel like you are stuck doing these motions every day that don’t seem to have a greater purpose and you aren’t mentally there? Almost… robotic? Yeah, same. Every single one of us goes through those ruts from time to time, that’s normal. Humans were not designed for such a fast-paced, corporate world where if you don’t have a go-getter mindset and about a billion years of experience listed on your resume by the age of 18 you are totally screwed. We get sick of it. Ruts are our mind’s way of telling us to take a little breather. Take a step back from the little daily tasks that make you feel like you are about to slip into psychosis at any given moment and remind yourself that you are human- you crave beauty, relationship, harmony, nature, creativity, and change.

Yes, you could absolutely book a session with your psychiatrist (or maybe a massage if you wanna be slightly less extreme) but before doing all that, just try… switching things up a little. What I have found works best for me is finding what aspects of life I actually do have control over regardless of how packed my schedule is and slightly tweaking them to add a little variety into my day-to-day.

For example, what is the very first thing you do when you wake up every morning? A lot of us roll over, grab our phones, and immediately check our socials. If you’re in a rut, this most likely will lead to an hour or so of doomscrolling on TikTok or Instagram Reels and then never seeming to want to get up and causing the never-ending cycle of “just one more video and THEN I’ll start my day”. I noticed within myself that social media first thing in the morning causes me to have a more negative mindset throughout the rest of my day, and I know the same goes for a lot of people. It sounds dumb, I know, but even just replacing that doomscrolling with getting on the New York Times website and doing the wordle, connections, and crossword mini to get your brain moving will make you feel more refreshed and alert. If you had a dream you remember, take out a pen and journal and write it down whether it makes any sense or not. Say a quick prayer for your day or set one established goal or manifestation in your head before opening your eyes. No matter what it is, just do something for you when you first wake up, you deserve for at least the first few minutes of your day to be for yourself. Choose one day of your week to wake up twenty minutes earlier to focus on your appearance. Try out a new outfit, curl your hair, or do your makeup before you have to go to work or class. Feeling like you put effort into your look for the day will make you more confident, productive, and energized.

If you have a break in between classes or at work, get outside and go on a little walk through a nearby park, or bring your lunch outside with you. Breathe in the fresh air and people-watch. Look around at the people passing by you and remember that everyone lives a different life. We aren’t just robots in a simulation, we are all real people having completely different days- take a look at one person and try to imagine a backstory for them. Did that girl passing by on the phone just get a call from her friend about the insane morning she just had? Are that older man and his adult son who are laughing over by the lake finally reconnecting after not being able to see each other for a while? The variety of life is so beyond beautiful- enjoy sitting back and watching it.

Next time you go to pick up some groceries put in headphones, put on your favorite playlist, and take your time if you have extra. Find that recipe you have been meaning to try out on TikTok or Pinterest. Look at some of the products you never noticed before. (Here comes my favorite one) While you’re there, pick up a fresh bouquet of your favorite flowers to breathe some life into your house, I promise it makes a HUGE difference and you deserve to get yourself some because hey, you knocked something off the to-do list.

Instead of staying in on a Friday night and binge watching that show you have seen so many times you can quote it, plan a girls night out or a dinner with an old friend you haven’t seen in forever. Or hell, even if your social battery is shot after a long week, at least treat yourself to a face mask, a glass of wine, or some cookie dough and maybe put on a movie that has been in your watchlist for the past year that you have just never gotten around to, it might just be the best movie you’ll ever see.

WRITE THINGS DOWN! USE AN ACTUAL PEN AND PAPER! It is such a simple yet overlooked concept when you can just ask Siri to put things in your reminders. Instead of your notes app consisting of 1 AM thoughts about that situationship that never worked out, your grocery list, your bank password, and your list of books you thought about getting around to eventually, write these things down! Even if it’s on the back of a receipt, it still requires a more thought-out effort than typing on a keyboard. The thought you put into pen on paper makes you feel less robotic- it makes what you write much more intentional. Plus, you could stumble across it while cleaning six months from now and reminisce on what your life was like at this time. Something as tiny as a note to remind you to call your friend back could bring back a wave of nostalgia you never thought would exist when writing it down. Especially in our twenties, life changes in the blink of an eye- you never know what you’ll appreciate about this time six months from now.

Do a little something to please the senses when having a bad day. Change and customize the lock screen on your phone for something new to look at whenever you get a notification. Create a playlist with a really niche vibe to fit the exact feeling you want to achieve (for example, last week I made a playlist of Oasis and The Script and John Mayer and Maroon 5 called “What the 28 year old white guy with earbuds on the subway in the 2000s is listening to”. Get SPECIFIC. Get NICHE. Really dive into it). Get a new body wash you like the scent of or a new moisturizer, light a couple candles, and listen to Lana Del Rey while doing your nightly routine with your new products. Wash your sheets while you’re at it, put on a pajama set, and slip into bed feeling completely clean and refreshed, and then pull out a book or journal before going to sleep- absolutely top ten best feelings ever.

It is so easy to forget that at all times there are some aspects of your life you ARE in control of. I know how easy it is to forget to do something for yourself every once in a while. The beauty is almost always in the tiny details we often overlook. Once you begin romanticizing even the smallest aspects of your life, you’ll notice you can find little joys anywhere.