Raise your hand if you’ve ever wondered, “Is it too early to drag the Christmas decorations down from the attic?”
*Hand raised.*
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If you have the internet, you’re well aware of the debate between people who think it’s too early and those who are ready to deck their halls with ALL the Christmas things.
We’ve already seen the debate on social media, as people seem to be decorating much earlier than normal (thanks to a second year in a row of a little thing called a global pandemic).
Well, Scrooges, it turns out all those chipper, ready-to-decorate enthusiasts have the right idea.
After much debate, we found a psychologist who confirmed that decorating early can definitely lift your mood.
"It does create that neurological shift that can produce happiness," psychologist Deborah Serani told "Today." "I think anything that takes us out of our normal habituation, the normal day in, day out ... signals our senses, and then our senses measure if it's pleasing or not."
Think about it -- all the bright colors, the joyous ambiance, seeing the cheer in children’s eyes when they see all the magic. On that note, do you remember how much you loved Christmas as a kid? There’s something about the lights and the decor that strike that nostalgia chord.
“For a lot of us, Christmas is a magical time, it’s a time of innocence, it’s a time of joy,” Serani said.
If you’re, unfortunately, someone who doesn’t have happy childhood memories of Christmas, now is the time to create new, happy ones.
"Whether it’s going away, seeing a movie as a family, volunteering -- it creates a new association,” psychologist and happiness expert Elizabeth Lombardo told “Today.” “Start a new tradition.”
Plus, for every set of eyes you make roll, you can bet you’re probably bringing a smile and warm fuzzy feelings to someone else.
This article was initially published in 2020. It has since been updated.