20 WAYS TO ROMANTICISE SPRING WITHOUT SHOPPING
1/ make a little booklet zine out of a piece of paper (plenty of tutorials online) and go on a walk, draw every interesting thing you see - yesterday I went thrifting and instead of spending money i'd just draw the most ridiculous item in the store.
2/ get some scissors and go on a walk, collect flowers, weeds, branches and create a nature bouquet. i put them in vases with no water so they will dry out and look cool for years to come. you can try out dye smashing - get some fresh flowers or leaves and smash them into some fabric or paper with a hammer, creates cool dye splothes.
3/ sit in the sun. sit in the sun. sit in the sun. imagine you're a cat or a lizard on a rock. can be inside, outside, wherever.
4/ plate your food extra nice, cut some cool shapes out of your cucumber or arrange your cheese and ham into a checkered pattern. clean your eating space before sitting down and eating, put some spring music on (to me its gothic rock for example) and eat with no phone. extra good if you can look outside a window.
5/ choose an album of the month, that you've never heard before. listen to it very closely and actively and try to get to know it as best as you can, learn all the lyrics, maybe create some drawings or collages for it, or maybe a pinterest board. it will forever remind you of this particular spring and you will have a special bond to it.
6/ clean your flat and dust your shelves, while you do have a conversation with every trinket, about where you got it from and how much of your life it has seen, what do you like about it or the person you got it from. rearrange the composition for the new season.
7/ change the color of something. can just be eggs with some natural dyes like beetroot shavings or tumeric, or it can be a bland top with some cheap fabric dye. it can be a picture frame you spray painted or it can be the image inside of the picture frame changed to something new. or maybe its just some flowers painted on your walls with a marker. easy way to spruce up your space without buying a new thing. rearrange your furniture or cut your hair.
8/ have a clothing try-on party, either by yourself or with friends, where you try out everything in your closet and pick out an item you're ready to let go. you now have a mission to find that item a new owner without trying to sell it online or donating it.
9/ take photos of everything you see in your favourite colour. wander around aimlessly or do it at work. you can later print them out and collage them or you can make a digital collage and post it somewhere. this is a really good date idea btw.
10/ go read your favourite childhood book under a tree like they do on textbook covers. make yourself a nice drink to go with it, even if its just some fruit in water. if you have a hammock put it up in a park or someone's garden while you do this. alternatively go to a childrens playpark and read on the swings.
11/ fix something you own, weather that's a hole in your wall or a button that fell off your coat, or a lightbulb that gave out. take time to appreciate the living space you have and things you own and take care of them. also a good opportunity to learn a new skill. if you have leftover materials tell your friends about it - maybe they have the same problem and you could help them fix it as well.
12/ handwrite a letter, put a drawing in it or a sticker, maybe a zine or a friendship bracelet. if you can, mail it, if you can't, maybe just throw it into someone's mailbox yourself. you can just tell your friends about your recent life, or you can try to meet someone new this way, or it can be annonymous. if you dont know who to write to, look for posts of people searching for pen pals or maybe think of prison pen pal programs.
13/ skip instead of walking whenever you can. if you use a mobility aid put some seasonal decorations on it, maybe cover the brand logo with something personalised, like a sticker or a ribbon.
14/ look for free concerts/jam sessions in your area, sometimes its a public festival or sometimes its just people in a circle with a guitar singing folk songs together (will probably let you join in!). if you know how to play instruments or have friends who do join up and do it together. try to write the worst song you possibly can, put all your inside jokes into it.
15/ go to some kind of market with a very tiny amount of money. try to find something that you could buy with that budget. if you find it fun haggle. if you find the thing you don't have to buy it btw, its more about the search for it. you can make it a competition with a friend or a date.
16/ look for plants in your area and learn to identify them. get a library book about your local flora or use the internet. learn when they bloom and what animals rely on them. you can do this for birds, insects, trees, anything, just get curious about your surroundings and ecosystem you live in. maybe plant some native flowers if you have the spare money to get seeds. learn the geography of your area and what nearby hills and water bodies are called. visit them.
17/ put something seasonal in your wallet - i carry a dried flower in the photo compartment. you can gather up with friends and all exchange fun notes or drawings to put there.
18/ make something for your local community, weather that's creating one of those free library shelves or just painting a hopscotch game with chalk on the sidewalk.
19/ make friends with local birds, show up regularly in a spot they hang out and feed them appropriate amounts of appropriate food. they will learn to recognize you and you'll probably be able to pet them after a while.
20/ try to find a place you've never been to before, explore streets you've never turned to, go inside buisnesses you've never visited. snoop around, maybe do some urbexing if you're into that, or just look into the gates of private property. if you can't go outside you can do this on google maps (look up a tutorial on how to unlock the 3D feature, its a game changer)
21/ do not go shopping at flying tiger istg you don't need ANYTHING they sell.
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