Did you know why decorating for Christmas makes us feel so excited? It may be because it wakes our beautiful childhood memories.
Christmas is right around the corner, and people already have begun with early Christmas preparations. This practice is very beneficial for our mental health according to psychology experts.
The people who are the most nostalgic about the holiday season are the first to begin with decorations. People who are excited for Christmas know that this could be a real source of happiness and efficient stress reliever and can help us connect with our inner child.
Steve McKeown, the founder of MindFixers and owner of The McKeown Clinic based in St Albans, who is also a psychoanalyst, believes that getting into the Christmas spirit as early as we can has many benefits for us.
Those who try to spend as little money as possible for the holiday season are not as happy and joyful as those who cannot wait for this period of the year to come and who are really excited about their Christmas home decorations.
According to Mr McKeown: “Although there could be a number of symptomatic reasons why someone would want to obsessively put up decorations early, most commonly for nostalgic reasons either to relive the magic or to compensate for past neglect.”
He points out that “In a world full of stress and anxiety people like to associate to things that make them happy and Christmas decorations evoke those strong feelings of the childhood. Decorations are simply an anchor or pathway to those old childhood magical emotions of excitement. So putting up those Christmas decorations early extend the excitement!”
Some researches have shown that decorating the outside of the house actually means that you want to be in a friendly relationship with your neighbors and you selflessly want to share your happiness and joy with them.
One study that appeared in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, shows that participants consider a decorated house to be more “friendly and cohesive.” This could be another sign and motif to decorate your house for the upcoming holidays, and this way show your neighbors that you love being a part of the community.
The holidays can also evoke negative feelings and make us feel sad because we cannot share these beautiful moments with our loved ones that are no longer among us. However, we could honour their memory by decorating our homes, in order to make them warmer and fill them with Christmas magic.
The best-selling author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do and psychotherapist said: “Perhaps the holidays serve as a reminder of when a loved one was still alive. Or maybe looking at a Christmas tree reminds someone of what life was like when they still believed in Santa.
According to her the holidays may remind us of the moments of happiness we shared with those people this time of the year: “For people who have lost a loved one, the holidays may serve as a reminder of happy times they had with that person in the past. Decorating early may help them feel more connected with that individual.”
Article based on: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
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