Time To Bloom, What Allows Us To Truly Flourish As People?

Jacarandas in bloom arouse amazement, someone has spontaneously said something to me about how pretty they look and how they brighten their day. 

What does this have to do with Psychology and Well-being? Well, one: that the jacarandas in bloom make me happy and make me feel wonder and admiration. Wonder is one of the forms of positivity that makes us feel happier and appreciation of beauty is one of the strengths associated with transcendence. It is well known that for many people, being in contact with nature is a source of pleasure and an almost spiritual experience.

Above all, being surrounded by flowering trees, I cannot stop thinking about human flourishing, which for many is the object of study of positive psychology: what allows us not only to survive or not be so bad, but to truly flourish as people? Barbara Fredrickson defines such “flourishing” as feeling fully alive, being creative and resilient (able to overcome adversity), feeling that we are growing and that we have a positive impact on our environment. I have a colleague who tells me that he doesn’t like the term “bloom” applied to people at all, that it corresponds to the world of gardening and that it goes wrong to refer to a human process, I respectfully differ. It may sound cheesy, but by now I’ve come to the assumption that I love the word “flourishing” because it evokes that potential we all have to periodically transform ourselves and be the best we can be.

Margarita Tarragona Ph.D.