The Discovery of happiness

My Project: What is happiness? Is it the love of family, sunny days, friends, trying new things, self-love, chocolate?

I am no expert in the field of happiness. Happiness is an emotion that all humans experience. Although it is quite common, it can be, at times, confusing and challenging to understand. Alone, I couldn't answer the question. I don't have enough life experience to figure out what happiness is, and my opinions on happiness vary based on the person. For my IP10 project, I asked strangers and friends what they define as happiness so I could find my happiness through them and researched the science of happiness.

At the beginning of the year, when I was tasked with choosing an IP10 project, my mind was blank. I wanted to do something that involved journalism. Whenever I researched anything about journalism, only the horrors of the world appeared. Slowly, it started to click. So much of the news is depressing. There are very few headlined articles about happiness,  so I decided I wanted to share some good news.

My family is a huge fan of the American Office. In the show, there is a character named Dwight K. Shrute. The actor who plays him, Rainn Wilson, released a show on Peacock called "The Geography of Bliss," in which he travels around the world to find happiness. My dad turned on the TV show one night, and I watched it with him. In the show, Rainn Wilson travels the world and tries something in each country that makes the population of that country happy. I was inspired by his idea of using others' happiness to find his own. 

I wanted to follow in Wilson's footsteps and travel the world; however, sadly, I did not have the time or money to do so. I decided on the next best thing: interviewing people off the streets of NYC!

Instead of only filming people off the streets, I also decided to add an element of the use of my peers. Not only have I filmed strangers off the streets, but also my friends, with whom I share some of my happiest moments. 

I also decided to combine film and photography to display the happiness I found.

With my footage, I created this website where people can look at and watch the photos and videos I've captured to make them happy and remind them there is happiness in the world. They can also look at all the research I've done on happiness to remind them what it scientifically is. My project can be a reminder that even the simplest things can make people happy.