The Christmas tree out of the house makes happy

If you drag a Christmas tree into your house on November 18, solemnly promise yourself that it can stay until Epiphany, and suddenly put it outside on December 31. Welcome to Adeline's Christmas Tree Troubles edition one hundred thousand eighty.

Suddenly I was done with the tree. This could have to do with the growing number of bugs that decided to leave the tree instead of neatly sitting on a branch, but that's beside the point. The tree had to go, while I solemnly promised myself and tree number two (yes, I had multiple this year) that we would enjoy each other's company at least until January 6. Why does everyone put the tree outside by January 1 at the latest? Very simple, says science: this also makes you happy.

In the past, it was actually not done to throw away your Nordmann before Epiphany, because saying goodbye to your Christmas tree too quickly would bring bad luck. But why do we feel so tidy after getting rid of the spruces and pines? Well, because this is what tidying up does to you: it makes you happy. Not so much the tidying itself, but the feeling you get afterward, which explains the shared happy feeling after disposing of the tree.

Tidying coach Annelies Mentink explains to GezondNu.nl that we even become a little afraid of the tidying itself, but the feeling it gives is what attracts us. “It gives a blissful feeling when you have peace and overview again,” she says. As blissful as we are at the moment the tree goes in, so blissful it also turns out to be to toss it in the trash. It provides clarity and a clean slate, for a hopefully very normal year. Clear.