One of my favorite things that’s recently been trending is bringing sensitivity and child-like wonder back into our everyday lives. We get so wrapped up in the constant flow and routine of our lives:
Wake up, eat, work, sleep, repeat the cycle until you eventually are too tired to continue.
It’s the expectation that adults are meant to “toughen up” and to just “grind out life,” and inevitably, that leads to people losing the inner spark or even creativity that once brought joy and life into their everyday routines.
The trend of “whimsymaxxing” as social media influencers have coined it, is the idea of finding some moment of joy, peace, or fun in the ordinary. Examples of “whimsymaxxing” would be taking a walk and appreciating the beauty around you, adding fun colors or patterns to your everyday outfits, or finding ways to bring joy to someone else’s life.
Growing up as a sensitive kid, I dreaded growing up into an adult because I was terrified life would become dull and lack the simple joys of being alive. I had a lot of emotions and feelings that I wanted to express through the words I spoke, the ways I treated people, the outfits I wore, and the hobbies I enjoyed.
I never wanted to lose the feeling of skipping in the rain, walking through a foggy forest, staring at a sunset, lying in a grassy field, or laughing so hard I can’t breathe with someone I love. I never wanted to lose my love for patterns and colors, and expressing myself through the way I looked. Thankfully, when I was little and brought these fears to my mom, she told me:
“Being an adult is just a mindset, you can be an old age and be as young as you want at the same time. It’s all about your mindset.”
Hence, this is where I mark the day I decided to live my life by “whimsymaxxing.”
In our overly saturated world of mass consumerism, grind mindsets, and high-intensity work environments, it is a breath of fresh air to have a trending mindset focused on kindness, love, and creativity. It takes the ordinary and looks deeper to empathize with the beauty in the mundane, something this world needs more of now than ever. Especially because life moves quickly, and if you don’t stop to appreciate the little things, your entire life will pass you by.