OK, I caught the fever. Spring fever! It is contagious and one can get it very fast. The cold, the rain and the missing sun have got me thinking more and more about Spring. I love being in the moment and I don't usually dream of being somewhere else or doing something else; I even love winter, but this year it feels as winter may never end. It is the middle of March and no sunshine in the morning, no pretty blossoms blooming on trees, no white carpets of snowdrops signaling the new season... 
While waiting for Spring to finally show all its splashes of color outside, I found a very secret way to capture the mood of the season inside. I got in the car and paid a visit to the local florist. Spring was ruling there... like it was her kingdom. 
I bought white tulips, white carnations and white hyacinths. {To me, the smell of hyacinth is the smell of Spring. What is yours?} 
I got home and planted the flowers in various white containers, arranged simple spring bouquets in white vintage pitchers and sat on the sofa and looked at them. My heart filled with joy, my face covered with a smile, my journal of awesome got filled up with a whole new page... the home brightened with light, the chalkboard had a new not-so-carefully written sign on it... I got out the pretty vintage china with floral motifs and I was putting on the kettle... I cracked the eggs and I baked mini vanilla fig cakes... 
It felt like the lyrics to the song I was listening to were written just for me:
"I don't mind if it rains
 I don't mind if it rains
 if I leave my friends where I found them
 could I make my soul a mountain?
 could I tell them not to worry if it rains?.."

It is truly awesome how random little things make you want to give the world a high five!     

Well, we all know, that flowers are more than just eye candy and they make us smile. But do you know that scientific research has proven they are in fact "a powerful positive emotion "inducer". The presence of flowers triggers happy emotions, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affect social behaviour in a positive manner far beyond normally believed. The results of a 10-month study at Rutgers University (paied by the floral industry)  reveal that flowers:
* have an immediate impact on happiness  
* effect moods in the long run
* make intimate connection with others
* brighten up spaces and create a sharing atmosphere. 

I have already experienced the difference for myself. I hope you did, too.

 You can read the academic paper here.  
   





" When someone holds up a flower and shows it to you, he wants you to see it. If you keep thinking, you miss the flower. The person who was not thinking, who was just himself, was able to encounter the flower in depth, and he smiled."

                                                                                                                                ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, "Peace in Every Step"




Thank you!


It's a Spring Thing Link Party/ Savvy Southern Style/ Blissful White Wednesday / Be Inspired