La Dolce Vita · Little Rituals
Things I Romanticise for Absolutely No Reason
Completely ordinary things I have decided deserve a cinematic universe.
I have a talent for making completely ordinary things feel unnecessarily cinematic. I don’t consider this a flaw. Actually, I think life gets significantly better once you stop waiting for a special occasion and start creating one whenever you feel like it.
Buy the flowers. Open the good bottle. Put on the dress. Get up at five in the morning to watch the sky change colour.
Is any of this necessary? Absolutely not. That’s precisely the point.
01 — Champagne. Obviously.
We’re having an occasion.
There is something about opening a bottle that immediately changes the atmosphere. That little pop. The bubbles climbing up the glass. The first cold sip. Suddenly, we’re not simply sitting somewhere having a drink.
Do I need an actual reason to open one? Absolutely not. Sometimes the reason is simply that the bottle is cold and I am in the mood. I consider that sufficient.
02 — Dressing Up for Dinner
Entirely different category.
Give me a beautiful hotel, a room slowly getting darker as the sun goes down, music playing while I’m getting ready and absolutely no practical reason to wear the dress I brought with me. I love that tiny transformation that happens in hotels in the evening.
And yes, I will absolutely pack something wildly impractical just because maybe we’ll dress up one evening. We will.
03 — Buying Flowers When Absolutely Nothing Happened
Just flowers.
Not birthday flowers. Not I’m sorry flowers. Not Congratulations! flowers. There doesn’t have to be a reason. You bring them home, cut the stems, find a vase and suddenly the whole room feels different.
04 / Never Say No to a Sunrise
I have never watched a sunrise and thought, Well, that wasn’t worth getting up for. Not once. So if somebody asks: Sunrise tomorrow? We have to leave at five. The answer is yes. I’ll complain at 4:45. But I’ll be there.
05 — Buying Myself a Box of Chocolates Like It’s Jewellery
I bring the little box home. Open it slowly. Hear the paper rustling. Smell the chocolate before I’ve even decided which one I’m going to try first. That tiny crack of chocolate. The filling. The moment of discovering whether you accidentally chose the best one in the box.
Could I simply buy a bar of chocolate? Of course.
But where is the drama in that?
06 — My Nightly Date with the Bathtub
HOT WATER.
COLD CHAMPAGNE.
DOOR CLOSED.
It’s not self-care. It’s not wellness. I don’t need to turn it into some profound ritual of reconnecting with myself. I just fucking love baths. And apparently I’ve decided they require drinks. I’m comfortable with that.
Maybe Ordinary Things Aren’t Actually Ordinary
None of the things on this list will fundamentally change my life. Flowers die. Champagne disappears suspiciously quickly. The sunrise lasts a few minutes. But maybe something doesn’t have to last to be worth making special.
I like beautiful things. I like little rituals. I like anticipation. And I don’t think life needs fewer unnecessary pleasures.
I think it needs significantly more of them.
So buy the flowers. Wear the dress. Get the chocolates gift-wrapped. Open the Champagne. And if somebody asks what we’re celebrating?
Nothing.
Isn’t that enough?
