If you didn’t know, today is World Happy Day. It is the brainchild of documentary filmmaker Roko Belic, who wanted to co-ordinate screenings of his new film Happy – a look at the scientific and spiritual underpinnings of that most elusive emotion – all over the world.
It is being supported by many worthwhile organisations, including Action for Happiness, of which I am a member, and you can see the film in London today.
While I accept that Belic’s aim – to encourage people to come together in their communities to see the film and reflect on the nature of happiness – is a noble one, I can’t help but groan inwardly at the concept of a World Happy Day.
We can’t all be happy at the same time, on the same day. It’s like telling everyone to “think positively” when they’re in a low mood. It’s dangerously close to enforced jollity. Am I being too “bah, humbug!” about this?
The word ‘happy’ is bandied around like a Smiley face or a Valentine heart – so much so that it’s in danger of losing all meaning. Happiness is an entirely subjective and personal experience, which is why I side with positive psychology pioneer Dr Martin Seligman in his debate with Action for Happiness’s Lord Layard. Seligman wants to move away from the words happy and happiness and towards flourish and flourishing.
Action for Happiness has achieved an awful lot since its launch last year in putting wellbeing on the agenda but it has had to endure a degree of cynicism from the mainstream media, who have put their own spin on what happiness means and paint it as some kind of luxury, or indeed something that is somehow naive and not serious. Whereas most people – even hardened cynics – would agree that human beings can benefit from flourishing.
So perhaps we would be better off focusing on how we can flourish in the longer term rather than holding one-off World Happy Days. Having said all that, I’m sure Mr Belic’s film is well worth watching. Happy days 🙂
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