’tis the season to be jolly fa-la-la-la-la-la…
You have been hearing a lot of these holiday songs everywhere lately because the holidays are fast approaching. Indeed, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!
Whether you love them or hate them, holiday songs are powerful.
Why?
This type of sound carries strong emotional triggers that could make a person feel nostalgic.
Holiday music is one of the sounds that could transport you back to your childhood, a time when you wake up on Christmas morning, with eyes half-open in your pajamas, and your parents yell it’s Christmas day.
Most holiday music are uplifting—from Frosty the Snowman to Jingle Bell Rock, these songs can naturally uplift your mood. This has been proven by scientific studies! The emotions we feel when we listen to holiday music are sorted into two categories:
- Perceived emotions: When we appreciate the tone of the piece but we don’t feel the emotion.
- Felt emotions: When we connect to the emotion behind the piece and it has a direct influence on our emotional state.
If you have ever listened to holiday songs and you felt nostalgic after, don’t be surprised. Sounds have a strong tie to nostalgia, which is why you get the warm, fuzzy feeling every time you hear Christmas songs. Part of this is because the holiday music that we hear is associated with joy that brings happy memories with it.
Nostalgia is closely linked to psychological resilience and social bonding development. For many people, these holiday songs can unite and act as a lovely reminder of the joy the season brings.
It’s normal to feel blue during the holiday season—in fact, this is one of the most common issues of many people. An excellent way to uplift your mood is to create a playlist of holiday songs that could take you back to the great times during your childhood.
Crank up the jingle bells, and get on the holiday spirit!
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