A GUIDE BY FREYA HALEY
Romanticise Your Life
We spoke with our muse Freya about romanticising life, and what unfolded was a meditation on beauty, presence, and the art of truly noticing.
For her, everyday romance arises from the way we look at the world. Below, she shares the rituals and creative practices that help her feel grounded, enamoured, and deeply present within her own life.
To romanticise life is to notice and create beauty. To exist in sensitivity, curiosity, reciprocity and presence within the sensual world.
You need nothing to notice the beauty that is inherent and profound within each and every moment.
"Beauty doesn't need to be extravagant, I see beauty as art: anything that evokes feeling, evokes the senses, evokes poetry and presence and awe."
What calls you there? Is it a whisper of wind? An overheard sentence spoken by a stranger that reverberates in your heart like a poem? The way your food tastes? The sound of a song that stirs a feeling so nameless you can't help but swim in it?
Ordinary moments hold immense beauty. The way a cup of tea feels warm and grounding in your hands. The way a spider's web suspends morning dew like crystal balls ripe with prophecy. The way soft fabric feels against your skin. The way incense catches the light and dances in its soft, mellifluous way. The way your laundry feels warm in your hands fresh from the dryer or sun.
"Do you notice it? The poetry of it all? Marinate in it? Savour it?"
Life is full of it, those small, achingly sweet, fleeting moments of profound and breathtaking beauty.
I am sometimes left breathless by the pace, the enormity of grief that comes with living in this world.
Noticing this beauty, creating moments of presence, rest and ritual is the way I tend to myself and my relationship with the world.
Creating pockets of rest, beauty and art wherever there is a moment, a breath, an in-between space. Coming home to that soft place where awe, curiosity and love are my guides.
Freya's Practices to Romanticise Her Life:
⟡ Making my morning tea a meditation ⟡
With incense, a journal, closed eyes and deep presence.
⟡ Practicing creativity ⟡
I write, I paint, I draw, I collage, I make videos. I adore translating my experience into art.
⟡ Writing by soft candlelight in the evening ⟡
Letting all my creative energy dance before I rest.
⟡ Taking myself on artist dates ⟡
Spaces to go and read, watch the world and nourish my introverted nature.
⟡ Cleaning ⟡
Cleansing my space and adding corners of beauty: fresh sheets, open windows, fabrics that feel soft and comfortable, candles, flowers, antique pieces to make my home a place of beauty.
⟡ Dancing ⟡
To remember the joy of living in an imperfect body, to experience pleasure and presence.
⟡ Romanticising self-care ⟡
As I brush my hair, I envision all the thoughts being detangled from my mind, as I shower, I envision the water washing the day off.
⟡ Returning to stillness in nature ⟡
A long walk where I touch moss, listen to the cicadas and raucous cockatoos, smell that sweet earthy eucalyptus smell.
⟡ Noticing the beauty all around me ⟡
Whether it's on a mindful walk, where I'm seeking pieces of the world that strike me, or absorbing art in its various forms: a book, a song, a movie, a vision board.
We hope these words reminded you that everything becomes more beautiful when you look at it with love ♡
Words by @freyahaley