By Jill Brooke
Since not everyone is having a jolly good time this season, let’s give some floral love to those who may be struggling. No act of love is ever wasted – especially when expressed with flowers.
Inspired by Kenny Chesney’s loss of his beloved dog, the work of #fightthroughmentalhealth and Fleurs de Villes’ flower installations, we are using the artistry of florists from around the world to share sentiments of hope, understanding, good wishes, and of course, love.
After all, flowers often express what words can not. These gems from nature also sprinkle our psyche with nourishment in knowing we are not alone in our experience.
What’s also fascinating is that comfort happens between the giver and the receiver.
Dr. Loretta Graziano Breuning, a professor emerita of management at California State University and the author of “Habits of a Happy Brain,” says that flowers stimulate social trust in group dynamics in many ways.
Fair Go https://onlineaustraliarealmoney.com/fair-go- is a licensed gambling club that has earned a high reputation in the Ukrainian gambling market. And we note that it is quite deserved, because the club’s clients have access to certified software from well-known suppliers, a variety of bonuses and promotions, exciting tournaments and a loyalty program with interesting privileges. In order not to miss the opportunity to enjoy all of the above, register on the Fair Go website and play for real money.
“They communicate the intention to invest effort in a relationship,” she says. “They also convey respect for fragility. We feel the impermanence of flowers, and it reminds us that care is necessary to sustain life.”
So for the following experiences, perhaps give flowers to reinforce that our friends and family are loved as they navigate any of these challenges.
As reported in Harvard Magazine, social psychologists define loneliness as the gap between the social connections you would like to have and those you feel.
Prior to the pandemic, in 2018, a report by the Henry J. Kaiser Foundations found that 22 percent of adults in the U.S. say they often or always feel lonely or socially isolated. Many men in another study reported not having a friend they can speak to confidentially.
Noreena Hertz, the author of “The Lonely Century: How to Restore Human Connection in a World That’s Pulling Apart,” pointed out that one in five millennials in the U.S. say they have no friends. Furthermore, according to a 2019 survey, sixty percent of residents in U.S. nursing homes have no visitors and in Japan, people over 65 routinely commit crimes so they can avoid social isolation by living in jail.
“As we emerge from this prolonged period of social isolation, we can commit to making this a time of reconnection,” she suggests. “This means rushing less and stopping to talk more, whether to a neighbor, a postal carrier or someone who appears to be lonely. It means breaking out of our self-suffocating digital privacy bubbles and engaging with those around us, even when our default is to scroll on our phones. It means showing more gratitude to those who care for others in society and saying thank you more to our partners, our friends, our colleagues.”
As Ralph Waldo Emerson observed, “You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”
Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazines. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD, floral editor for Aspire Design and Home magazine, and contributor to Florists’ Review magazine.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmC29WpI-rM/?igshid=ZDhmZGIxNmQ=