Sometimes you just gotta go back to the basics and remind yourself why everyday life is so beautiful. This week, in the midst of a rather busy series of covering shifts and writing my novel, I compiled this list for myself and thought I’d share it with you too. So whatever kind of day you’re having—tough, awesome, or anything in between—here are a handful of pretty moments to cheer you up.
Morning
- Give yourself plenty of time for morning and evening routines; those hours are your sacred time for yourself, when you can wake up and enjoy the world and all its beauty.
- Please make sure you get enough sleep! You need at least 8 hours to feel like an actual human being. When you do wake up, get out of bed and open the curtains right away, let the sunlight in. Stretch for the sky. reach for your toes. Roll out your yoga mat and spend twenty minutes stretching gently and focusing on your breathing.
- Enjoy your morning coffee in quiet. Sip it slowly and do nothing else.
- If you’re lucky enough to be blessed with locally-grown fruit, make yourself a big bowl. Slice up some strawberries and nectarines and apricots, throw in some blueberries. The more the merrier.
- Go outside! It’s so important. Make sure you feel the sun on your skin, or breath the smell of a fresh rain, or feel the wind blow around you.
Afternoon
- Buy yourself a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Depending on your mood, the happiest ones are sunflowers, hydrangeas, peonies, or roses.
- Smile! It cheers you up. It cheers other people up. It’s a win-win.
- Be extra kind to anyone and everyone you meet. You never know what other people are going through.
- Surround yourself with pretty smells: a soft floral lotion, air freshener, pretty soap, essential oils—they make you feel ethereal.
- When you need a break, flip through a cheery magazine or coffee table book. My favorite is always Bella Grace magazine; it’s chock full of inspiration, personal stories, pretty photos, and lovely thoughts.
- Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and listen to the sounds around you: birds chirping outside the open window, the hum of the fan, voices muffled downstairs, running water from the faucet, passing cars.
- Go to a coffee shop!!! Get a fancy espresso drink. Sit by the window, if you can, and watch people pass by outside.
Evening
- Put on headphones and listen to the kind of music that you can just drown into.
- Make a gratitude list. It doesn’t have to be in your journal. You can even snap photos of the things that make you happy and save them to your Instagram story.
- Think about your future and make exciting plans.
- Scroll back through your pictures, all the memories from your point of view. Isn’t it all so beautiful? You have a beautiful life.
- Wrap yourself in a great big fluffy comforter. It feels like a hug. Read a good book for an hour so your imagination glows like fairy lights before you fall asleep.
<3 Olivia Grace
