Boost Your Mood with Plants and Flowers
Living Beautifully can be something we do on the regular—not only with furnishings, art and accessories, but also by placing nature front and center.
One way to do this is to bring the outdoors inside. Just look around you. Nature is everywhere. Though we live pretty far south, and have a very mild winter climate, on the occasional dreary day, it’s nice to have something lovely to enjoy, indoors.
But what if it is not so mild in winter where you live and you don’t have any flowers springing from the ground? How about some cool branches with remnants of winter leaves, a sprig of greenery with vibrant berries? A bit of greenery from an evergreen? A dish of pine cones or tree nuts?
Enjoying nature while writing this post.
What plants do you have springing up around your yard? Use your creativity and imagination to make an arrangement to bring you joy.
Don’t have a yard? Go for a walk along a nature trail or in the woods. (Know the rules of your area, and don’t pick if it’s forbidden.) Are you totally urban? Head to your local Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, HEB, or other market and pick up a few springs of fresh flowers. Don’t forget the greenery. Eucalyptus leaves are not only pretty, but they also have a wonderful fresh scent. Need another reason to bring the outdoors inside? Clean air.
Remember your old science class when you learned about carbon dioxide and oxygen? Plants need that CO2 while we, humans, thrive on the oxygen plants give us.
The point is, bringing in some nature can be quite nice and actually produce some good endorphins. What’s not to love about that? It’s joy in a jar, or a vase, or a bowl, or whatever vessel you find to display your finds.
“An article by Harvard Health Publishing notes studies done at Harvard Medical School and mentions that nature can have a powerful effect on our mental state, even lowering blood pressure, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. They even have a name for it: ecotherapy, which is now a growing scientific field. ”
So get your scissors, and go out and start snipping. You will be surprised at what you can come up with.
Not sure how to do it?
after you make your selections, trim off the excess foliage and stems to a size and length fitting to your vase or jar
fill the jar with fresh cool water, and
have fun arranging
think in shapes
you will want some tall sprigs, some medium ones, ones that seem to drape over,
add a tiny bud or two to peek out from the edge of the container, and
use varying colors and textures for interest
Not only will placing these flowers into a vase brighten your days for the rest of the week, you will also get the immediate gratification of creating.
In this arrangement, I also added a few of the pebbles and rocks we picked up at the beach on on summer vacation last year. Not only can I enjoy the colorful arrangement, but also a nice memory of a day on the beach. I can almost smell the sea salt air and feel the warm sand between my toes.
Well, what are you waiting for? Go pick some flowers…and as the old saying goes, don’t forget to smell them too!
Oh happy day!