Sunday, October 12, 2008

Why give flowers...?

Along with certain special events such as weddings, flowers play a big role in our daily lives through decorating our offices and homes. Rituals such as coronations and other celebrations feature specific kinds of these plants. We may also choose to bestow a bouquet to family or friends for birthdays. In part because they will always be there, flowers are a natural way to share the message that we care about one another.
Different meanings and beliefs are attributed to the language of flowers, depending on where you are from. Certainly, the beauty of these can be seen through the works of countless artists, writers, and others in the creative arts. Whenever we find ourselves at a point where words fail us, they can help us out by expressing how we feel.
Flowers definitely possess the ability to influence our emotions or moods. Researching the association between happiness and these plants is Rutgers University, whose behavioral scientists found a definite linkage between the two. They can also uplift the satisfaction we have with life, and have the ability to affect our social skills in a positive way. Moreover, flowers play important roles in our immediate happiness, increase the positive nature of our moods, and make our connections more intimate.

Over the years Flowers have developed meanings and are not selected randomly. Certain flowers are selected to convey different emotions for example; acacia flowers are given to express concealed love, chaste love or beauty. Furthermore, the Aster is a plant associated with love/daintiness, the pink carnation one that is linked with never forgetting, the yellow carnation with rejection or disappointment, and the tulip linked with seeing sunshine in another's smile.
It is also widely believed that flowers have numerous healing properties. For any patient that might have plants as a visible part of their hospital stay, Dr. Roger Ulrich - an environmental psychologist at Texas A&M University - has unique findings. It was found through the study that in addition to additional optimism and boosted well-being, the patients had less overall stress, experienced shorter stays in the hospital, and had a lower need for pain medications. Many health care facilities have taken steps to incorporate the findings of his study into hospital environments. As you can probably imagine, this means including as many flowers and plants in the atmosphere of the health care facility to help their patients heal.

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