a mess & a masterpiece

If your life seems boring and mundane, this is the mindset you need! You don't need expensive clothing, beauty products or other items for this as it is purely a switch in your thoughts and the way you view the world.

Here is my two cents on how to best do it:

Gratitude journaling Take some time at the end of the day dedicated to journaling. Have a segment on what was good that particular day. Write down small things that made you happy. (e.g. sunrays falling onto your pillow in the morning, birds chirping as you go to work, buying a new fountain pen and using it for the first time etc.)

Write a list of aesthetic moments Either match this to the aesthetic you're trying to achieve or just generally admiring moments you find aesthetic. Go over this list and look for these things and opportunities to incorporate into your day-to-day life. A list for the "that girl" aesthetic may look like this: waking up to the first sunrays of the day, the feel of a new journal, making a pretty-looking breakfast for yourself to look at only, being the first person in the gym in the morning, ink stains on your hands after journaling, pretty colour-coordinated study notes, the smell of a new book, seeing your breath in the air on an early morning run, ...

Take photos or short videos of romantic moments in your life When you have collected a number of these, make a collage or a short video to summarise all the memories. Try to look at the finished product through the eyes of a stranger. It's only a snippet of your life, viewed through this romanticised lense.

Move into the new mindset Once you have realised how many beautiful little things your life consists of, try to notice them conciously in your everyday life with or without recording them. Find the beauty and special-ness in the details and moments that pass in the blink of an eye.

At the end, don't forget that sometimes life is ugly and bad things happen and that's okay. If you can't find special moments in some or even most days, that's fine too. Sometimes our mental health just makes us blind to what's positive and some people's lives just aren't that pretty in their current circumstances.

This whole idea is only a mental exercise for more positivity, gratitude and appreciation in your life and is in no way, shape or form mandatory.