Romanticizing Life, Intentionally

I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. They put too much pressure on me to reach a certain goal, and when I stumble along the way, I end up feeling worse about myself than I would have if I’d never started at all. Instead, I’ve taken to choosing a word that I want to apply to different aspects of my life. This, however, is the first year I’m torn between two words: intention and romanticize. Let me explain.
“Intention” feels fairly self-explanatory. Going into 2026, I want to move through my days more deliberately. I don’t want to rush from one obligation to the next or say yes simply because it feels easier than saying no. I want to choose how I spend my time, my energy, and my attention with care. I started practicing that in small ways in 2025, and I’ve seen how much steadier life feels when I slow down enough to decide what actually matters.
“Romanticize,” on the other hand, feels like it needs a little more explanation. I stumbled across this idea a few years ago on Instagram, first in the homestead world and then in the book world. It doesn’t really have anything to do with romance or relationships. Instead, it’s the act of purposefully doing things in a way that makes you fall in love with your life, or at least one small piece of it at a time. When I think about romanticizing my life, I think of Audrey Hepburn. Slowing things down. Learning something just because it brings joy. Almost like you’re trying to woo yourself.
As I went back and forth between which of these words I wanted to be my “word of the year,” I struggled at first because they felt counterintuitive. Romanticizing your life feels light, almost indulgent. It’s about leaning into what feels good, following joy without needing to justify it. Intention, on the other hand, feels weightier. Purposeful. Rooted in choice and discipline. One seemed to whisper, do this because it makes you happy, while the other seemed to caution, don’t do something just because… make sure it matters. I couldn’t figure out how both could exist in the same space without canceling each other out.
Somewhere in the middle of this small, definitional dispute with myself, it dawned on me. Doing something just because it brings me joy doesn’t make it meaningless. In fact, enjoying my life, enjoying what I do and who I am, makes everything else easier to do with intention.
I want to intentionally set aside time and activities that make me love my life. There are plenty of things already weighing on me as I step into a new year, but I don’t want those things to outweigh the good ones I so often miss.
Maybe this year doesn’t need a single word at all. Maybe it needs a balance. Intention without rigidity. Joy without guilt. A slower way of living that allows meaning to grow naturally instead of being forced. If I’m honest, that feels like the truest way I know how to step into a new year.

​Happy New Year!
May this next year meet you gently. May you find meaning in small moments, joy without explanation, and the freedom to live a little more slowly than the world demands, trusting that you are never walking it alone.