SAWANT: You should romanticize your life
Column: Sincerely Rue
Life is certainly not a movie.
We face the raw realities of humanity every day, whether it be through our own experiences or from watching the news. Life will go on, to us and around us, and we find ways to cope and persevere despite it all. In my opinion, simply dealing with it is no way to live. If we go through every day in survival mode, we are not truly living. Yes, life is a string of events that shape us, but it is also all the little bits in between.
It is sitting in a cafe that is buzzing with quiet patrons and soft lights and doing homework while it drizzles outside.
It is taking your dog for a walk in the middle of the day with no one else in the street, letting him sniff the grass and watching him close his eyes at the breeze brushing his little face.
It is watching your friends laugh at something so silly, knowing you will not remember what was so funny later on, but you will remember how hard it made them laugh.
It is the car ride home from campus with the sun setting around you and music turned up like a scene straight out of an indie movie.
It is your friends' spontaneous decision to take the car and drive down to the shore after a night out and watch the sunrise — school, homework, and other obligations becoming a distant speck of a thought in your head.
These are a few of my favorite moments to savor while I live them.
There is a human obsession to be serious. Take school seriously, take work seriously, take being a sister, a daughter, a mother, a friend and a coworker seriously. There must be room to take things with peace and love, too.
Romanticizing your life does not imply living passively or obliviously as some make it out to be — it actually encourages the opposite. By romanticizing our lives, we practice mindfulness from the way we deliberately find happiness in the little things. By trying to live a life where we seek happiness in the everyday mundanity that surrounds us, we introduce ourselves to a version of our lives that we enjoy.
Especially since these "little things" make up most of our actual lives, finding pleasure in them works toward setting ourselves up in a life we can appreciate.
A student in Pennsylvania nails it on the head when she expresses how she "(wants) to make even the most mundane of days feel unique because they are what make up the majority of our lives — not the vacations or special events that happen once in a while." In a world where hating your life and dreading your day is so normalized, this alternative is a refreshing and healthy way to put things into perspective again.
Living with intention is something I have tried to prioritize since starting university. Life can get boring and repetitive with class and work, even more so once we graduate and enter the workforce. But it is what we make of it. Every part of it, even the most banal and bland, can be absolutely beautiful if we deliberately make it so.
Waking up early every single day sucks, but at least I get to see the sunrise and the sky turn pink.
I can be too tired to take a shower, but I can motivate myself by using my favorite scrub, putting on my music and having that time all to myself.
Yes, I have so many chores left to do, but I will first make time to take my dog out for his walk and play with him in the grass because he loves it, and it is the cutest thing to watch.
I really do not want to do my homework, but I put a fresh bouquet of flowers in my room and sit by the window so I can stay warm in the sunlight while I work on it.
Finding pleasure in simple acts of mental luxury is all it takes. It helps us get in touch with our inner selves by seeking what about our life makes us feel good, and then exposing ourselves to it every day to make our days just a bit better. While a spontaneous trip to a vacation destination is out of reach for many of us, little acts of beauty and kindness to ourselves are absolutely free.
Of course, life is not all roses and rainbows, but I find that a fresh set of sheets can do a lot to help me feel just a bit better about the day ahead.
Rujuta Sawant is a Rutgers Business School senior majoring in business analytics and information technology and minoring in political science. Her column, "Sincerely Rue," runs on alternate Sundays.
*Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
YOUR VOICE | The Daily Targum welcomes submissions from all readers. Due to space limitations in our print newspaper, letters to the editor must not exceed 500 words. Guest columns and commentaries must be between 700 and 850 words. All authors must include their name, phone number, class year and college affiliation or department to be considered for publication. Please submit via email to oped@dailytargum.com by 4 p.m. to be considered for the following day's publication. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
