The Science Behind Putting up Your Christmas Lights Early and How It Benefits Your Mental Health !!!
Believe it or not, putting up your Christmas decorations earlier than you normally would is an ingredient to making you happier. And no not by a manner of Christmas miracle but by the manner of psychological science.
The experts say that those who pull out the tree as soon as reasonably possible are quicker to channel that real “holiday spirit” before everyone else does, leading to them being happier, for longer. The main idea of this is that generally for most people as I’m sure you will agree, Christmas time truly is the most wonderful time of the year. So by hanging up our lights and firmly planting that tree for all to see in the room, we trigger a neurological shift in our brains that open up all the pleasant and joyful reminders of Christmas past. It’s the nostalgia factor.
Aside from the mentally imprinted side of things, there’s a more immediate visual side of it too. The bright lights and colors that we hang in and on our home and see in our neighborhoods and all across the city, trigger something known as Chromotherapy (color therapy). Similar to aromatherapy, the changes we see boost our energy levels and increase our happiness meter. It brings us back to a time of joy and freedom we may have felt as children.
In addition to the positive effects this can have on you and your family personally, there’s also the notion that people who hang up their Christmas lights earlier appear friendlier to their neighbors.
According to the Journal of Environmental Psychology shows Christmas lights are used as ‘cues as a way of communicating their accessibility to neighbors’.
Apparently, we subconsciously think that the early Christmas bloomers are more sociable as opposed to the “right on time”s or the “better late than never”s. So if you just moved into the neighborhood this will be a good way to break the ice.
Of course, there’s a flip-side to this. If your Christmas time childhood wasn’t filled with the most pleasant memories then the lights and decorations would invoke a negative reaction. But fret not, there’s a fix for this as well. According to sources, all you have to do it start a new tradition for that time of year that you can relate to to eventually build the foundation for making it a pleasant enjoyable time of the year. Engage in something seasonal that you enjoy, that you will look forward to and remove those past burdens to brighten up your own Christmas spirit.
References
Smith, L. (2018, January 24). Putting Your Holiday Decorations Up Early Could Make You Happier, According to Experts. Retrieved from https://www.countryliving.com/life/a45769/christmas-decorations-make-you-happy/