Receiving flowers as a gift is like any other surprise present from loved ones, it fills us with excitement and happiness from knowing that someone cares. Most gifts however stop there, having been given for a reason, whether it be a birthday, anniversary or some other set occasion. But there is something about receiving flowers as a present that is different from any other gift. If you don’t believe me try this, head over to clareflorist.co.uk , find some flowers you like and send them to a loved one just because you can, sit back and wait to see that persons reaction when your done.
Why is it that flowers make us feel good? Why is it that we use them to lift people’s spirits or when they’re feeling unwell? The link between emotions and flowers is one that has been well studied, research from The State University of New Jersey found that flowers effect our social behaviour far beyond what is normally expected from receiving gifts. As well as reinforcing the common sense notion that flowers make us happy they also discovered that the presence of flowers in the home, office or working environment lead to a prolonged decrease in feeling depressed, agitated and anxious and an similar increase in showing a higher sense of enjoyment and life satisfaction. It also showed that flowers helped to facility people to make more intimate connections leading to an increased amount of contact between family and friends.
The bonus to all of this is that we too feel happy. The selfless act of attempting to make someone else happy, for no other reason than you can, will inevitably make you feel happy to! The flowers that will sit on their desk or in the window will lift there spirits and make them smile for days to come. The watering, pruning and general maintenance put in to keep them alive is all an attempt to help prolong this feeling.
The moral of this post is then, random acts of kindness make us feel happy just as much as they make others feel happy to. So head down to the florist or over to clareflorist.co.uk and send some flowers to feel great all weekend. Next Friday we look deeper into the science of smell and colour and how the effects these factors have on our daily emotions.
