The term ‘romanticise your life’ was at its height in 2019. This term meant to be grateful for the little things in life. Gratitude lists and journalling became popular and remain a hot topic among wellness gurus. But this, of course, came with consumerism. Businesses sunk their teeth into this craze for living your best life. How could you achieve this? Buy their products. From skincare to candles, the vitamin craze to health supplements. These ideas aren’t new, yet this era of popularising wellness started connecting “romanticising your life” with products. This commercialised craze redirected our focus away from gems such as Conan Gray’s YouTube channel during his pre-music era. However, Florence Given recently came out of the woodwork to show us how to ‘live deliciously’.
Florence Given is a familiar name amongst many feminists in the online space. Better known for publishing one of our holy books *uh hem* I mean ‘Women don’t owe you pretty’. She has also recently published the incredibly sapphic ‘Girl Crush’ where she explores the world through a woman discovering her sexuality, navigating the queer space as bisexual and finding herself after a toxic relationship. More recently, on her podcast ‘Exactly’, she posted an episode on ‘Living Deliciously’.
“To me, living deliciously, you don’t require resources. To live deliciously, you just require this mindset that constantly wants to make the world around you a more beautiful place. ”
This idea is to shift away from consumerism. To not allow businesses to profit from what we believe will make us happy, and instead, to appreciate the little things you can do for yourself. Florence highlights that consumerism doesn’t just extend to businesses but to sharing on social media. Delicious things we often do alone, not sharing them with other people for attention as we have been encouraged to do. The things that make life exciting to you.
So how can we live deliciously? Florence has asked us using her Instagram story, and the answers have been divine.
“What does it mean to live a delicious lifestyle to you?”
“Living like latte art. Smooth. Beautiful. Purposeful.”
“Blocking him, olive green velvet everything, coffee, The Strokes” “Swimming in the ocean first thing in the morning”
“Brushing your teeth by candlelight”
“Noticing how pretty the sky looks in the morning with the moon still out”
“Cups of herbal tea, burning incense, decorating my apartment, drawing flowers at night.”
These are just some examples of hundreds of answers. All equally as beautiful. And so I leave you with some ways in which I live deliciously. I love to feel the hot steam of tea on my face, hang tiny disco balls from my ceiling, and lie in a patch of sunlight on a slow day, letting the warmth sink into my bones.
So braid flowers in your hair, drink tea out of bougie teacups and look for speckled sunlight.
Life is short, so make it delicious