The fascinating language of flowers

The well-known custom of offering flowers as a gift dates back to ancient times and has been carried on in the Middle Ages, forming part in almost all important celebrations. To  this day, the practice is considered as one of the best ways to express feelings such as gratitude, friendly affection or passionate love. At first glance, it appears that there’s no difficulty in composing a bouquet at a flower shop or picking a ready-made one in the supermarket, yet the most significant aspect that makes the custom so special and intimate, the meaning behind the different flowers and their colours, is almost at all times forgotten. Here’s a brief guide to the hidden symbolism of flowers in order to help you make your future gifts even more memorable and meaningful.

The most popular kind of flowers traditionally offered as a present are undoubtedly roses. There’s plenty of various cultivars available at most flower shops in all colours and shades you could imagine. Most customers opt for the conventional red roses, although, taking into account their symbolic meaning, it might not always be suitable for the occasion. In the general meaning, deep red roses represent passionate romantic love and yearning for one’s lover, therefore it may not be advisable to prepare such a gift for a co-worker or a family member. Under such circumstances it is better to choose pink ones which express happiness and friendly affection, while leaving the scarlet ones for more intimate occasions. However, it is also important not to go overboard with the intensity of the colour, as we must  keep in mind that deep crimson roses are a symbol of mourning. 

Not only roses vary in symbolic meanings based on their colour. Another example of  such difference is present in case of equally recognized hyacinths. While blue ones are attributed to consistency of feelings and white ones are associated with loveliness as well as spiritual connection, yellow ones symbolize jealousy and purple stand for sorrow. These subtleties of shades play a significant role when it comes to tulips as well. Here, the yellow ones remarkably don’t follow the trend of being associated with jealousy, but rather with feelings of happiness and excitement, while the red ones traditionally symbolize a love confession.

Other flowers with fascinating meanings hidden behind them include lilies, conventional symbols of feminine beauty, as well as gardenias which represent yearning for one’s loved one in secret. Lavender is surprisingly attributed to distrust, while lily-of-the-valley and gerberas are considered two of the commonly recognized symbols of purity and innocence. Moreover, violets represent loyalty and faithfulness while hibiscus stands for delicacy. Not only do these flowers enchant with their enticing colours and dreamlike scents, but also provide an excellent opportunity for expressing the emotions that are difficult to put into words thanks to their unique yet precise symbolic meanings.

“First Front” – a student initiative to spread awareness on the subject of mental health

Covid-19 is a difficult time for all of us. It limited our social relations, possibilities and made a lot of plans impossible to happen. Long lasting period of staying at home, rising level of stress and lack of stability connected to work resulted in big harms in a really important field – psychological health. And even before Covid, the situation was not good. Over 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. It is estimated that 1/5^th of women and 1/10^th of men will have depression experience through their lifetime.

We have to agree on this – resolving this issue as fast and as effectively as possible should be our priority, because every year without systemic solution costs us lives and dramatizes people’s situations.

However, in Poland this problem is not solved to a sufficient extent. Not everyone has neither access to private health care nor the possibility to get actual help. We spend 3% of the public health budget on mental health. There are no psychologists in around a half of polish schools…

We can rather wait for the government to do something, or we can do something on our own. Hopefully, there are many examples of different social projects and campaigns which are raising awareness and educating the society.

One of them is conducted by students of 1349 IB World School and their friends from other high schools. First Front is a project made for Olimpiada Zwolnieni z Teorii 2020/2021. Through their accounts on Instagram and Facebook, students try to raise awareness about the problem. They are mostly focusing on educating adults about teenage depression. As we can read in their posts, parents can be a first front fighting with depression in terms of young people. Apart from that, First Front organises lectures with psychologists and psychiatrists who can provide participants with more specialistic knowledge about mental health. What is more, First Front also helps other youth organisations and spreads knowledge to their followers as well. In March 2021, together with Samorząd Dwójki, they organized a Week about Hate Speech.

As one of the coordinators of the project – Ola Adamczak – says: “Our group spreads information about mental health: diseases, prevention, treatment. We organised free online lectures with a psychiatrist, doctor and a psychologist. Due to the great interest and the still perceivable need for such actions, we intend to carry out the project also next year.”

The editors of IB Journal encourage everyone to follow First Front on Facebook and Instagram (firstfront.zzt). Let’s not forget that mental health is not a taboo subject!

Eat better, feel better – three simple ideas on how to improve your nutrition habits

In times of readily accessible microwave meals and fairly cheap takeout options, the idea of cooking homemade meals on a daily basis seems more abstract than ever for teenagers and young adults. It consumes time, energy and money, not to mention requires practical skills and focus. However, preparing our own meals at home has invaluable benefits for our health, both mental and physical, as well as for our sense of accomplishment.

The health benefits of home cooked meals have been a matter of many scientific researches and dietetic approaches over the last decade. Maya Adam, a lecturer at the Stanford University and a famous cooking expert, besides mentioning the advantages usually considered while taking about the superiority of preparing food at home such as the reduced use of fats, perservents, salt and sugar, which result in lower risk of obesity, hypertension or coronary disease, also puts stress on the aspect concerning mental health. According to the content present in an online course covering the basis of modern nutrition approach (link below the article) , cooking at home not only brings nutritional benefits; it can also contribute to the improvement of our sense of accomplishment and strengthen the relationships in the family thanks to preparing and eating meals together. Moreover, it is proven that consuming aesthetically served dishes in a pleasant atmosphere increases the satisfaction we get from the quality of our lives. Taking into consideration all these indispensable benefits, why not give homecooking a try?

Cooking doesn’t necessarily have to be overly expensive and time consuming. The key is to shop responsibly and to manage the ingredients in a responsible way, taking into consideration their due date and storage time. It is also important to diversify our diet based on our individual health condition and needs. There are however some nutrients that are proven to be universally beneficial and incorporating them in an easy and tasty way into our everyday diet seems like a good idea for almost all of us!

Fresh Vitamin Boost Smoothies

The first step to improving our eating habits is to mind the sufficient consumption of fruit and vegetables – the healthiest and most balanced source of vitamins and minerals. A fantastic idea to incorporate many different kinds of these is preparing fruit-vegetable smoothies. Any selection can be chosen to use in this recipe, yet the suggested ones are proven to taste just as delicious as they look.

Step 1: Carefully wash and chop, slice or grate the following ingredients:

• 1 or 2 juicy oranges, 1 carrot, 1 apple, 2 tangerines and half cup of chopped fresh pumpkin (optional) for an orange boost smoothie
• 1 apple, 1 banana, 2 kiwis and around 150g of fresh spinach or kale for a green boost smoothie.

Step 2: Put the ingredients in a blender, add water depending on a desired consistency, and mix until smooth and flowy. 

Volià, your daily dose of vitamins and minerals is ready to drink.

Salmon-Avocado Salad

Next important nutrient that could do wonders to your health and wellbeing is unsaturated fat, especially omega 3 fatty acids, present mostly in fish. Another great source of healthy fats are avocados (although it is not recommended to eat too many of them – around 10% of the fat content is saturated), so why not combine these two in a delicious salad, also containing various types of other vegetables?

Step 1: Slice one medium cucumber, a dozen of olives, 5-10  tomatoes (dried or cherry), 1 ripe avocado and chop half a package of marinated tofu. You may also add marinated artichokes if desired. 

Step 2: Slice the smoked salmon in small pieces. If you have time, you can also prepare cooked or grilled salmon on your own and use it instead – it would definitely be healthier. 

Step 3: Prepare the dressing by whisking together 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and a pinch of salt. 

Step 4: Wash around 4 cups of Roman lettuce leaves and mix all the prepared ingredients, joining it with the dressing.

Mixed Berries Smoothie Bowl

Berry fruits are among the healthiest foods you could provide your body with and not only are they full of fiber, vitamin C and antioxidants but also especially delicious. In order to keep your supply of nutrients diverse and colourful, let’s mix all different kinds of berries in a fresh smoothie bowl, which is an excellent idea for a quick breakfast to boost your energy in the morning.

Step 1: Put 1 banana, 1 cup of strawberries, 1 cup of raspberries, ½ cup of blueberries and ½ cup of blackberries (optional) in the freezer for at least 3 hours. All the ingredients need to be frozen in order for the smoothie to have thick consistency. 

Step 2: Mix all the frozen fruits with ½ cup of almond or coconut milk in a blender until smooth. If the ingredients don’t mix well, add more milk. 

Step 3: Put the smoothie in a bowl and add toppings as desired. Fresh fruit with chia seeds are a wonderful choice. 

Maya Adam’s  online course:

Stanford Introduction to Food and Health (coursera.org)

Inspiration for the bowl smoothie recipe:

Strawberry Banana Smoothie Bowl (Gluten Free, Paleo & Vegan)