People Who Put Up Christmas Decorations Earlier Are Happier

Even though Christmas is more than a month away, people are already itching to bring out the fancy lights, jingle bells, the snowman and everything else that comes with the festival of joy. There are many families who don't hold back and purchase what they need for Christmas even before buying the Thanksgiving turkey. This actually makes people happier so it is a good thing to start the celebrations over a month in advance. People who decorate earlier are simply tapping into the excitement of the festival sooner which in turn makes them happier in general. It is nothing but a neurological shift that is triggered by the change from our usual monotonous lives. Even viewing the house in the same way every day counts as monotony and this change with bright lights and colors from our regular habitat will definitely lift our spirits. Any change for that matter causes a neurological shift and which is then measured to be pleasing or not by our senses, thus affecting our mood. 

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Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that is released by the neurons in the brain that send signals to other nerve cells. The dopamine is responsible for many things such as motivation, it helps in memory and attention and also plays a role in helping with body movements. Another thing it is responsible for is happiness. The 4 main happiness hormones are dopamine, oxytocin, endorphins, and serotonin and these are released by the brain when there is any positive change in our environment. Christmas is definitely a positive change in the lives of most people. It is known as the festival of joy. One of the main reasons the decorations spread joy is because they are so colorful. Color therapy uses bright colors to increase the levels of happy hormones and energy. Even the ambiance of Christmas has a part to play in lifting our spirits, other than just the bright lights. Like the presents kept under the Christmas tree, the rest of the decorations put up across the house like the socks and the tree itself. A new scientific field called neuro-architecture has emerged and it studies how the environment plays a role in the way we behave and the mood we are in. 

Another reason for the excitement of the holidays is nostalgia. Christmas brings out all the feelings and memories from one's childhood. Almost every single adult misses their childhood and Christmas as children was a whole lot better. It was more fun and did spread a lot more joy than it does once we are all grown up. The decorations bring back all the happy memories we have of Christmas back from our childhood, not just the memories but the emotions we felt as well. This is then spread across generations. 

Since decorations are seen as a pathway into the excitement of the festive season, putting them up early only extends the joy. As we grow older, the holidays become a lot less joyful because of various other stressors in our lives and once we become adults we try to relive the good times and forget the bad ones. The habit of putting up early decorations is not just caused by nostalgia but it is also more of an overcompensation for the disappointment caused in the previous years and the only way to erase them is by playing on the feelings caused by the nostalgia.

Some people even put up decorations early after seeing the others put them up early. This is just one person's nostalgia branching out and triggering another's feelings. That is how starting the celebrations early becomes a trend. It is nothing but a chain reaction of joy. There is the added factor of not feeling like the only one to do it because if you are then you're going to be called names by everybody in the neighborhood and that is something people generally avoid. It isn't the right thing to do, you should do what you want to do regardless of what people say but most people don't follow that because of fears instilled in them by society.

The flipside to the happy nostalgic feeling is that not everyone has had happy memories during the season even as kids. These are the people who hate it when the decorations come out too soon in the neighborhood or at the supermarkets and malls. According to experts, the only way for them to change this association is by creating a new association. They should make it a tradition to do things that make them happy on Christmas like going out of town, meeting old friends, going out with family, etc. This way they start associating the decorations with happy memories and don't rant about early celebrations.

Not just that, there's another benefit to decorating early. Science says putting up decorations outside the house makes the neighbors think you're friendlier. Research has proved that people interpret Christmas decorations on a home as an indication that the people inside the respective house are sociable. There you go, what more do you need to bring that tree out?

There's a lot of reasons for celebrating early but like with everything else in life, we should always focus on the positive ones. Now, let's take a break from that and look at the best cities and towns in Europe to celebrate the festival of joy!