Yep, February is in the door. There will be a deluge of adverts for making Valentine's Day special. Be prepared for chocolates, stuffed toys, hotels and trips, jewelry, dining, concerts, and yes, flowers. Lest we succumb to commercialism and make everything overly familiar and boring it would be good to revisit the motivation behind those things. Then perhaps, appreciate better the heart behind the gestures and the spirit behind those ubiquitous gifts.
Delightful, colorful, calming, healing...of all Valentine's Day gifts, flowers are the most popular by far.
Jeannette Haviland-Jones, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at Rutgers explored the link between flowers and life satisfaction in a 10-month study of participants' behavioral and emotional responses to receiving flowers. The results show that flowers are a natural and healthful moderator of moods.
1. Flowers have an immediate impact on happiness. All study participants expressed "true" or "excited" smiles upon receiving flowers, demonstrating extraordinary delight and gratitude. This reaction was universal, occurring in all age groups.
2. Flowers have a long-term positive effect on moods. Specifically, study participants reported feeling less depressed, anxious and agitated after receiving flowers, and demonstrated a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction.
3. Flowers make intimate connections. The presence of flowers led to increased contact with family and friends.
"Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy," said Dr. Haviland-Jones. "Now, science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well being."
With that let me just get some flowers for my husband, my children, and friends. Love is in those flowers.
