Romanticize Your Life: Follow the Little Glimmers Back to Yourself

Today I had a few minutes between coaching and momming.

Not enough time for a big adventure. Not enough time to accomplish anything particularly productive. But enough time for a spontaneous visit to the rose garden.

Of course, I went.

Flowers bring me so much joy. The colors, the shapes, the smell, the way every flower seems to be doing its own beautiful thing without worrying whether it is useful or productive. I walked around for a little while, looked closely at the roses, took in the beauty, and felt myself come alive in that simple moment.

It reminded me of something I talk about often in my coaching work. When life becomes busy, we can become so focused on responsibilities that we forget to deliberately add things that make us feel alive.

We go from work to errands to children to appointments to dinner to emails to bedtime. We become very good at managing our lives while sometimes forgetting to actually experience them.

That is why I love the idea of looking for glimmers.

Add More Glimmers to Your Life

Glimmers are those little moments that make something inside you soften, brighten, or come alive.

For me, flowers are glimmers. Color is a glimmer. A beautiful garden can be a glimmer. So can music, dancing, sunlight coming through a window, laughing with a friend, drinking coffee from your favorite cup, noticing the moon, putting fresh flowers on the kitchen table, reading a book you love, or taking the longer route because the trees are beautiful.

These things may seem small, especially when your life contains very real responsibilities and problems that need your attention.

But small doesn't mean insignificant.

Sometimes we think wellbeing has to come from making major changes. We imagine the vacation, the career transition, the perfect morning routine, the retreat, or the future version of our lives when everything will finally be calmer.

But so much of our life happens between those big moments.

Our wellbeing is also shaped by what we notice, what we savor, what we make room for, and what we allow ourselves to enjoy today.

Romanticize the Life You Already Have

I love the phrase romanticize your life, but not because I think we should pretend everything is beautiful when it isn't.

Life can be stressful. Parenting can be exhausting. Work can be demanding. Relationships can be complicated. There are seasons when we are grieving, overwhelmed, uncertain, or simply tired.

Romanticizing your life doesn't require denying any of that.

For me, it means becoming more awake to the life that is happening while I am living it.

Put on music while you cook dinner.

Light the candle even though nobody is coming over.

Wear the dress you love.

Take the picture.

Buy yourself the flowers.

Walk through the garden.

Sit outside for five minutes.

Drink your coffee slowly enough to actually taste it.

Dance in your kitchen.

Look at the sunset instead of only taking a picture of it.

Savor the little moments that remind you, I am here. This is my life. And there is something beautiful here too.

Your Joy Tells You Something About You

There is another reason I think these little moments matter.

They can help us reconnect with ourselves.

When I work with clients who are burned out, navigating transitions, or trying to rediscover what they want, I often hear, “I don't even know what I like anymore.”

That makes sense. When we spend years responding to what everyone else needs from us, our own preferences can become quieter.

So start paying attention.

What makes you linger?

What makes your eyes light up?

What do you naturally photograph?

What music makes your body want to move?

What subjects can you talk about forever?

What colors are you drawn to?

Where do you feel peaceful?

What makes you playful?

What makes you curious?

What makes you feel more like yourself?

Your joys are information.

They are little clues pointing you toward your authentic self.

Listen to Your Own Music

There is so much noise around us telling us what a good life is supposed to look like.

What success should look like. What motherhood should look like. What your career should look like. How ambitious you should be. How productive you should be. What you should want next.

Sometimes we become so busy following those messages that we stop hearing our own music.

Part of living authentically is learning to listen again.

Listen to your passions. Reconnect with the things that delight you. Nurture the parts of yourself that have been neglected. Amplify what gives you energy. Ignite the inner fire that has been buried underneath responsibility and routine.

And then give yourself permission to be multifaceted.

You can be ambitious and playful.

A professional and an artist.

A mother and a dreamer.

Responsible and spontaneous.

Deeply committed to other people and deeply connected to yourself.

You don't have to reduce yourself to one role.

You Don't Have to Wait for a Different Life

Sometimes happiness gets postponed.

I'll enjoy myself when this project is finished.

When the kids are older.

When work settles down.

When I have more money.

When I lose weight.

When we take that vacation.

When I figure out what I want to do with my life.

But what if some of the happiness you're waiting for can be practiced now?

Not all of it, of course. There are dreams worth pursuing and circumstances worth changing. But there may also be a rose garden somewhere between where you are and where you need to be next.

Maybe you have fifteen minutes.

Maybe you notice something beautiful.

Maybe your favorite song comes on.

Maybe your child says something hilarious.

Maybe someone you love reaches for your hand.

Maybe the sky is spectacular tonight.

Notice it.

Stay with it a little longer.

Let yourself enjoy it without turning it into something productive.

These little glimmers don't solve every problem. They don't need to.

They remind us that our lives contain more than our problems.

Come Home to What Makes You Feel Alive

To me, coming home to yourself isn't only about doing the deep work of understanding your wounds, values, boundaries, purpose, or life direction.

It is also about joy.

What delights you?

What awakens you?

What makes you feel playful, creative, peaceful, curious, beautiful, free?

Listen.

Reconnect.

Nurture.

Savor.

And follow those little sparks of aliveness.

You don't need someone else to hand you a blueprint for your happiness. You can become more curious about what is already calling you.

Today, for me, it was roses.

Tomorrow, it may be music, dancing, writing, friendship, a beautiful meal, or something completely unexpected.

Your glimmers will be different because your joy is yours.

So when life gets busy, don't forget to add some color. Add some beauty. Add some rhythm. Add something unnecessary and delightful.

Stop occasionally just because something is beautiful.

And perhaps, little by little, you will find yourself dancing to your own music, creating your own happiness journey, and becoming more fully at home in the beautifully multifaceted person you already are.