Everyone needs to have a happy place.
Those happy places are examined in the film “Happy,” a documentary that explores mankind’s capacity and ability to find happiness in any situation.
The main focus of “Happy” is the science of happiness and how it is created. Man has long been fascinated with what makes him depressed and mentally ill, but this film discusses how the trend has changed to center on what makes man happy and lifts his spirits.
I watched this film in Annie McKinlay’s intercultural communications class and I found it to be captivating as well as a bit of an eye opener. My heart strings were also strummed a few times.
The main thing I felt while watching “Happy” was that people don’t allow themselves to be as happy as they can be. We strive to make money, which we believe will bring happiness, however all it does is enable us to buy more stuff, and stuff does not equal happiness.
What I found to be truly compelling is that even those in the direst and most impoverished of situations can be as happy as wealthy Americans. Happier, really, because they have family unity and love, where Americans are too damn independent to let themselves be loved.
This is a generalization, of course. Everyone has a different range and level of happiness. Research on the subject reveals that our outlooks and good feelings are balanced by neurotransmitters such as dopamine, which are increased when we experience those things that bring us joy.
One aspect of generating good neurotransmitters is known as “flow,” a mental state we enter when we are in time with the universe and everything is moving in rhythm. This means being engrossed in a productive activity or immersing oneself so fully into something that stress melts away and self consciousness disappears. Flow can happen anywhere, like at work or school or when we are just hanging out with our loved ones.
I bring this to your attention because it is my sole wish to be happy in my life, and I wish that for you, too. We need to remember that money and success don’t maximize happiness… it’s the simpler, sweeter things in life that do. But will we ever allow ourselves to stop working long enough to enjoy our lives and embrace those little things? Can we take the time to let our flow, well, flow? That’s up to each individual. I know I try to do that, and when I do, I definitely feel better.
This is my last issue as managing editor of the Sentinel. It has been an amazing part of my life, a place that I have found my flow for three years. In parting from it, I want nothing more than you, the reader, to know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading our publication and investing your precious time into us. I also want you to be the happiest person you can be, whatever that means to you.
I hope you can indulge in as much flow as your life allows. May the joy of the world be yours, and may you easily find your happy place.
Opinions expressed in editorial and opinion articles are the views of individual NIC students. These views do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Sentinel, North Idaho College, or any other organizations or groups there-in. North Idaho College is not responsible for the accuracy of statements or opinions shared.
