Life Happens: Inspiring world happiness

I read online that Feb. 11 is World Happy Day. I had never heard of this particular day before, and I was instantly intrigued and curious about a few things. Was the entire world celebrating happiness? Where were the festivities going to be? How does one celebrate World Happy Day?

On this day (which I think is the first World Happy event in history), all across the globe, a film called “Happy” will be shown. According to WorldHappyDay.com, venues everywhere from Amherst to Antarctica will show the movie, in a worldwide effort to join communities and people together in the pursuit of happiness in their lives.

One could say that people should already know how to be happy. One could argue that the only happy people will be the ones charging admission for the movie. There are hundreds of negative things that people might say about this event. I personally know at least one naysayer who may audibly snort in self-righteous indignation at the idea of a simple movie shown on one day across the world as a how-to guide for global happiness.

But I would say to that one person, don’t knock it ‘til you try it! Is there harm in proclaiming a World Day of Happiness? Of course not. At the very least, it mobilizes positive energy across language barriers, time zones and cultural divides. At its best, it might give the world a little piece of unity, if only for one day.

The movie “Happy” was made in response to an annual poll that has been conducted every New Year’s Eve since 1977, the Global Barometer of Happiness. The 2011 poll consisted of more than 52,000 participants from countries all around the world. The results were interesting. The United States scored 33 percent on the happiness scale. Canada came in at 47 percent. Japan, a country devastated by a tsunami last year, tied Canada at 47 percent. Fiji topped the list at 85 percent.

What makes people truly happy? That’s what Director Roko Belic set out to find when he made his film “Happy.” To quote the film’s trailer, “Search the world for the secrets to life’s greatest emotion.”

Should being happy be that complicated, that it needs a movie and a day of its own to help people experience it? My favorite naysayer might say that people shouldn’t have to watch a movie to learn how to be happy. But happiness seems like a simple concept and yet it can be one of the most elusive states of being that there is.

I will go to see “Happy,” because being part of something larger than my own perceptions makes me happy. The movie is showing at the AMC Maple Ridge 8 theaters at 11 a.m. on Feb. 11.