5 Ways to Capture the Spirit of Whimsy in your Daily Life

 Whimsy. It’s the glittering sunlight shining through a windowpane, or the feeling you get when you’re snuggled into a corner of blankets and pillows as you hear the rain pinging on the roof. It’s the giddy feeling of a child waking up on a Saturday morning as the day stretches out before them full of promise and adventure. It brings color to the mundane and magic to your routine. We all want a slice of that heavenly pie that is whimsy, and we can invite it into our own lives in the simplest of ways! The key lies in cultivating a sense of curiosity and playfulness in everything we do.

In the hustle culture of today, schedules are packed full, and prioritizing is an art form. These small moments can pass us by unseen. As automatons we fulfill quotas, eat, sleep, and get on with our workday without a single reminder that our lives are more than just a cubicle and a deadline. If we take one step off the beaten path, and rediscover the joy in simple things, we can allow ourselves to experience the freedom of dreaming, exploring, and playing. Are you ready to capture the spirit of whimsy in your life? Here’s 5 simple things you can do to add a bit of that fairytale magic and curiosity into your routine!

1.       Read a Genre of Book You’d Normally Avoid

Humans are simple creatures. We find a favorite path to take, and we rarely stray from it. We eat the same item off the menu at our local go-to spot and we rarely try something different. It’s no different with the books we read! While there’s no problem with being predictable, a novel approach can spark new ideas, help you discover something new about yourself, and add a dash of whimsy to your day!

Books have an uncanny ability to transport us to different worlds. We can open a book and put on someone else’s clothes for a short while, becoming something we never thought we’d be in this lifetime. If your usual book consumption centers around mystery thrillers, consider opting for a fantasy adventure! If you typically reach for a modern romance, why not try a whodunnit? Love kicking it with the classics? Maybe a memoir will freshen things up a bit! If fiction has you in a chokehold, why not dabble in non-fiction for a change?  Take a good inventory of your bookshelf and ask yourself if you’ve been playing in your comfort zone for too long. You may find that new ideas will spring up in your brain with this simple change in routine! Broaden your horizons with a new genre added to your TBR pile!

2.      Explore Unknown Places, Even in Your Own City

There’s always something quite exciting about exploring a place you’ve never been. That coffee shop downtown that you notice on your commute, you recognize its name, but you usually opt for the Big Chain place because it’s slightly more convenient and predictable. What if you were to push open the door to the chiming of a bell, and step into a world you’ve never entered before?

Whether it’s a secret garden tucked behind a row of buildings, some old train tracks that have fallen into disrepair, or a street full of quirky little shops, the magic of discovery is something that will never leave us! We instinctively feel that pull to explore and discover new and exciting things! It’s like stepping into a world of whimsy! So next time you go for a walk or run errands, make it into a mini adventure to find a tucked away alley that’s just perfect to take pictures, or a cozy café to try an unfamiliar drink! Break free from the mundanity of your usual haunts, and strike out on an adventure into the unknown!

3.      Start a New Hobby, No Matter How Unconventional

Part of the beauty of whimsy lies in doing things just for the sake of fun! If you let your proclivity for perfectionism or “achieving” get in the way, you may never find that you don’t have to be an expert at something to enjoy taking part in it. Whether it’s painting in watercolors, amateur photography, knitting, or learning to juggle, the point is to step into something with a sense of lightheartedness and curiosity. There’s no pressure to perform or grade to earn. Who knows? Maybe you will have discovered a newfound passion!

Pottery, mixology, whittling, gardening, cooking new recipes, origami, playing an instrument, joining an dance class, flying a kite, putting together a jigsaw puzzle, the list goes on and on! It can be as simple as journaling and scrapbooking, or as intricate and complex as learning a technical skill. What matters is that you are keeping the spirit of wonder and curiosity alive by gifting yourself with new experiences to keep your hands busy, your brain working, and your spirit at peace. Freshen up your routine by introducing a new hobby! The process of doing is often more magical than the final result! 

4.      Bring Nature Into Your Routine

There’s something inherently whimsical about nature, there’s no denying it. All around us we can experience the magic and curiosity that exists in nature. One experiment is to use all five senses to help you tune in to the whimsy!  Take a step into your backyard or go on a walk in your local park and begin! Listen to the wind rustle the trees, hear the waves crashing or the birds singing. Feel the soft carpet of grass beneath your feet, crunch the dead leaves in your hands. Inhale the fresh air as it whispers against your face, smell the decay of a fallen tree or the petrichor of rain! Forage a wild onion and sample its taste, or fry up some dandelion greens. Grow a garden and eat of its bounty, even something as simple as an herb for an extra dash of flavor in your meal! Peer into the microcosm of the undergrowth and watch all the creepy crawly things in their natural habitat among the soil and weeds. Bring a picnic to the park and watch as the ants discover your bait and form a line to carry it away.

There’s still much to explore and delight in if we take the time to be observant. These small moments—watching the sun rise, plucking a flower to press and preserve, watching a bird build a nest, are more than just the simple joys of nature. They are an invitation to feel a deep sense of peace and whimsy.

5.      Create Playful Rituals

We all have special things in our lives that we do almost without thinking that adds the magic of whimsy into our routine. You find it hard to wake up to the sound of your alarm and find the energy to get going in the morning, so you create a playful ritual of blasting your favorite music and having a dance party as you get ready for the day. You love going to the thrift store in your free time once a week, and you can’t help but grab a new vintage teacup every time you see one. Your desk at work is filled with little tchotchkes that make your space a little less dreary (and a little more you) than it was before. You keep a little treat in your pocket for the dog you meet on your commute to work. You leave a surprise note for your loved ones to find while you’re gone so they think of you and smile. You love the experience of old media, so you collect vinyl records as your preferred method of listening to new music.

These little rituals may not seem like much, but they create a sense of wonder and joy that help to break up the monotony in your day. You can create these rituals consciously if you feel your day doesn’t contain enough playfulness and whimsy! Spend an evening meal by candlelight for an extra moody ambiance. Come up with a silly phrase to say each time you see certain kind of car pass by. Have a cup of loose-leaf tea at bedtime and use a beautiful tea kettle or tea infuser to make the process a little more magical! Carry a flip coin around with you to make little decisions a lot more whimsical with a toss in the air! These moments of silly joy are where whimsy can be found.

Whimsy is all about embracing curiosity, wonder, and playfulness in the everyday moments. It’s a reminder that life is full of small, magical experiences—if we choose to notice them. So whether you take a chance on a new genre on your next trip to the bookstore or library, or you finally explore that new hole-in-the-wall establishment in town, or find a new trail to hike, you’re creating spaces to infuse whimsy in your life. If you take a pottery class, go out in nature just to observe, or instill a new morning dance ritual, you’ll find that you can capture the spirit of whimsy anywhere you go!

So let yourself be curious. Let yourself be imaginative and playful. And most importantly, let yourself see the world through the lens of whimsy—it’s more magical than you might think!

Stay Curious~