Yesterday evening, out to see the lights of Lyon, I found myself in the park of la Tête d'Or, on a path with lights and sounds so surreal…and relaxing ! A real moment of happiness after a day of hard work.

How to propagate the Virus of Happiness?

In fact, it's quite simple !

  1. Answer this question; "What makes, or has made you, happy?" and become a Happiness Agent
  2. You earn some "Points Of Presence" (POP)
  3. You invest your Points in the city of your choice
  4. You spead the Virus of Happiness around the world.

What is the virus of happiness and how it works?

What is Happython?

And how does it work?

About Happython

Happython was founded in 1998 on this simple question: "What makes you, or has made you, happy?".
The answers of many people were printed and then exposed-pinned on clothes dryers called "Porte-Bonheurs".
These exhibitions took place in galleries, public places, post offices and finally on the web.
The idea of a Happening Record of happy moments has germinated: the Happython and the Happiness Virus have been created!
For more than 20 years, tens of thousands of people between the ages of 2 and 109 from all over the world have testified about what makes them happy.
Now it’s your turn!

What makes them or has made them happy?

My most beautiful moment of happiness was when my love, Nuno Filipe, had prepared for me the most beautiful Valentine's day…. We went to the highest place in the region. Without me noticing anything, he took out two crystal glasses of champaign and a red roses bunch where there was a little note: with lots of love. And the best: a ring, a solitaire and the most important, lots of love…

Silvia , 23 years old, Pombal (Portugal)

To travel to Europe to see my brother's son who was born the day before yesterday.

Mohamed-Amine , 19 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy ? Sitting between others, while I feel a little wind on my face and watch the sunset.

Méliza , 19 years old, La Prairie (Canada)

What makes me happy is writing a message to Happython and knowing that one day, maybe, my testimony with help spread the virus of happiness.

Hélène , 20 years old, Toulouse (France)

What makes me happy is staying in contact with my old friends and making new friends.

Cynthia , 18 years old, Shawinigan (Canada)

What makes me happy is seeing that my best friend is always there, even when things aren't going well.

Maxime , 22 years old, Lyon (France)

What made me happy was seeing that people haven't yet forgotten Ingrid Bettancourt and her thousand-day-detention, November 19, 2004.

Hervé , 20 years old, Paris (France)

What makes me happy is to talk to people and to learn something from them.

Sofiane , 30 years old, Béjaïa (Algérie)

What makes me happy is doing little things every day and realizing that those are what bring lots of happiness.

Hélène , 42 years old, Gracefield (Canada)

The purchase of a house in the country made me happy. It gave me a goal.

Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is to think every morning when I read the happython, that I'm not the only one to think that way

What makes me happy is life... the simplicity of people... their joy of living and the smiles that surround me... I want to be happy with them like with myself... I want to live in the moment without ever forgetting the past that made me grow up so well.

Kalina , 23 years old, Laval (Canada)
Exposition citatine

What made me happy is when I was offered a chimpanzee, which was my dearest dream.

Ophélie , 21 years old, Valenciennes (France)

I'm happy when my pupils smile in class and when they seem to be happy to be at school.

I am happy as soon as I get home from the office in the evening and see my child's smile.

Sam , 25 years old, Toulon (France)

What makes me happy is finally being able to walk, because I was in a wheelchair.

Simon , 13 years old, Lille (France)

The idea of finding the love of my life makes me happy.

Mouna , 22 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)

What makes me happy is having sponsored a little african, who comes from Burundi !

Christelle , 21 years old, Pont-Saint-Pierre (France)

What makes me happy is that I've found my ideal girl.

Fethi , 35 years old, Tlemcen (Algérie)

What makes me happy is seeing my girlfriend after two or three days when we haven't seen each other and she has a smile on her lips... That means we aren't going to confuse ourselves.

Karim , 22 years old, Meaux (France)
Exposition citatine

Hello everyone, what made me happy this summer was just swimming in the lake with warm sunbeams... letting myself be carried softly away by small waves.I find that that's complete happiness.. it's peace, calm, joy, it's relaxing... it's being happy... and all of that accompanied by my dear husband xxx -ps: the heat is much easier to stand that way hmm...

Jeanne , 46 years old, Montréal (Canada)

To feel the blending of warmth and cool in a summer evening, to drink a cool beer, to eat spiced olives, to hear my friends laugh, for me, that is happiness (in summer).

Emilie , 22 years old, Montpellier (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is to think every morning when I read the happython, that I'm not the only one to think that way

To see my baby's birth.

Fatima-Zohra , 30 years old, Marrakech (Maroc)

What makes me happy, it is to crochet fine mats and advise some people how to do crochet and knitting.

Emilienne , 97 years old, Mons-en-Baroeul (France)

Happiness for me is to get miraculously cured of my disease.

Raynald , 50 years old, Roubaix (France)

I am getting divorced, my husband prefers men, my 14-year-old daughter is pregnant, I am in love with a 22- year-old man who left for Mozambique, I am jobless, I am walking on air, Life is beautiful, I am alive ! Cool, isn't it ?

Ana , 45 years old, Melun (France)

What makes me happy, today, is seeing a magnificent carpet of dead leaves at the foot of a tree and hearing a bird singing on the bare tree.

Jacqueline , 79 years old, Lille (France)

I have just come out of a coma. Here it is : happiness is to be alive again.

Laura , 38 years old, Lille (France)

What makes me happy is the idea of not waking up early in the morning, not taking the bus to school, not working, because studying too much can kill, but I do it anyway, I'm still happy.

Thomas , 15 years old, Aix-en-Provence (France)
Exposition citatine

lived my greatest happiness after having gone through a period of depression. I walk outside and I kneeled before the color of the starry sky and I told myself: God it's beautiful!

Yann , 35 years old, Toulouse (France)

What made me happy lately was to hear that I was pregnant after so many fruitless attempts.

Christine , 35 years old, Liège (Belgique)
Exposition citatine

What made me happy : learn that Caro and Math are excepting a baby !

Vanessa , 21 years old, Rome (Italie)

What makes me happy is freedom of thought and see how deep and creative and generous people can be when they are free.

Poly , 29 years old, Paris (France)

What makes me happy is seeing my sweetie smile while reading the Happython each day.

Lilou , 21 years old, Paris (France)

What made me happy...I'm going to be very original: the birth of my son! When they put him on my stomach and I saw his face for the first time.

Marie , 28 years old, Toulon (France)

What made me happy is when I was offered a chimpanzee, which was my dearest dream.

Ophélie , 21 years old, Valenciennes (France)

What makes me happy is to be in Italy.

Vanessa , 21 years old, Rome (Italie)

What makes me happy is seeing my best friend again after almost two years apart.

Samya , 17 years old, Mohammédia (Maroc)

The day when I had to defend my DES thesis I was really happy because of all the things I had endured achieving the project.

Meriem , 24 years old, Béjaïa (Algérie)
Exposition citatine

This morning, while feeding my fish, the ingrates finally recognized me ! I was crazy with joy ! (laughs)

Marie , 31 years old, Paris (France)

I'm happy when I'm part of the happiness of the people around me.

Soade , 40 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is doing little things every day and realizing that those are what bring lots of happiness.

Hélène , 42 years old, Gracefield (Canada)

What makes me happy is to eat braised fish with my fingers, in the shade of a tree, in the Ivory Coast, and to watch the sunrise on Buttes Chaumont Park.

Aline , 28 years old, Paris (France)

Surprising a little sparrow while he's taking a bath in a puddle of water, that's what makes me really happy.

Céline , 22 years old, Langoiran (France)

What makes me happy every day, it is to see black slaves'sons and daughters appointed to fairly important positions, in a country where there were schools for Whites and schools for Blacks, buses for Whites and buses for Blacks, just very few decades ago.

Alex , 43 years old, Paris (France)

What makes me happy is little everyday moments like for example : sitting on the edge of a lake and contemplating nature, horsebackriding in the woods, among other examples.

Carine , 32 years old, Granby (Canada)

What makes me wild with happiness is to think that I get life ahead of me to make all my dreams come true, to meet ‘the' woman willing to offer me some kids, to see my babies grow, to make a contribution to tolerance for everyone, and mostly do my best not to wake up one day and think that I have made a mess of my life…

Jean-Daniel , 24 years old, Bastogne (Belgique)

What makes me happy is telling myself that I am going to see the man of my dreams on my right during my classes.

Clémentine , 18 years old, Gennevilliers (France)

What makes me happy is when I have the giggles and when I laugh so much so that I have a stomachache… I feel so well after shading tears of laughter.

Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is to please to my parents so that they are proud of me. Thank you Dad and Mum, I'm madly in love with you!!!

What makes me happy is when my husband tells me “I love you more than my life!”

Magalie , 23 years old, Marrakech (Maroc)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is to get up in the morning and think that I'm still there despite the past difficulties.

What makes me happy is to be desired.

Nacéra , 33 years old, Noisy-le-Grand (France)

What makes me happy is to be at the bottom of a mountain, a hill…watching the top and say to it: “see you soon”… To walk, sweat, breath, sometimes to suffer a little… and reach the top and think: “I've done it, thank you”. Just a challenge with nature. This is one of the most wonderful things in the world.

What makes me happy is life in general  Lots of good things happen to me, like my three boys...

Céline , 33 years old, Montréal (Canada)

What makes me happy is to be loved by the man of my life, a loving Canadian that fate put on my way.

Christelle , 25 years old, Nivelles (Belgique)

What makes me happy is to be pretty.

Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)

What makes me happy : Luigi who brought me a chocolate egg, only for me !

Vanessa , 21 years old, Rome (Italie)

To take the time to eat in a fine restaurant in Marseille and to savour the different meals…

Exposition citatine

Nothing makes me happier than to create something with my own hands, to prepare some tempting meal that we can all share together later, or to sew cushions myself. There is a magic in creating, making, concocting something with ones own hands. It is a proof that our hands are just an extension of our thoughts.

Most importantly a woman in my life and then my studies that have made me the person I am now.

Ahmed , 50 years old, Oran (Algérie)
Exposition citatine

My relationship makes me very happy. I really have the impression that I create that every day. What allowed me to live this relationship, was when I started to respect myself and to listen to myself. Of course the other person senses that and naturally comes to you without effort. Afterwards the secret is not to tie the net, not to become a living prison, but on the contrary to open up the space with kind attention and love. Programme for a beautiful relationship: - Respect it – Listen to oneself (and the other too !) – Encourage light thoughts towards the other – Continue as if you were alone - Love the other person tenderly - Have fun together.

What makes me happy is that I have found a bigger appartment that mine for the same price in the region where I am moving (a region where real estate is normally more expensive than in my region).

Maxime , 28 years old, Amiens (France)

What made me happy is that my best friend came with her boyfriend and offered me to go out to take my mind off things because I had just been chucked.

Valérie , 21 years old, Liège (Belgique)

What made me happy was when I could walk again for the first time after my operation, when I had been paralyzed.

Jocelyne , 40 years old, Lourches (France)

What makes me happy is writing a message to Happython and knowing that one day, maybe, my testimony with help spread the virus of happiness.

Hélène , 20 years old, Toulouse (France)

What made me happy Tuesday was seeing my cashier at the supermarket.

Claude , 35 years old, Rosny-sous-Bois (France)

What fills me with joy is simply that a smile from me can make my companion happy and make him smile too.

Séverine , 27 years old, Bordeaux (France)

What warms my heart and makes me happy is when nothing relents, seeing that my ideas come back stronger and more definite.

Jeff , 22 years old, Marseille (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is making bread : to knead it, arrange the dough, cook it in my oven, and smell the aroma of fresh bread.

Josée , 54 years old, Paris (France)

Hearing that a friend is expecting a baby makes me happy.

Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is nature. Walking in the grass or on a beach, lying in fields, watching the sunset, picking wild leeks to make an omelette with them.

Lorenzo , 22 years old, Paris (France)

Oh… little everyday trifles make me happy … a smile, a hand in mine…a look, a laughing child…happiness is very relative…but we must know to appreciate the little things.

Angela , 40 years old, Benidorm (Espagne)

What makes me happy is that, though I am agoraphobic, I have made a great friend Pascale thanks to Internet, and I thank her for having friendly feelings for me.

Julie , 39 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)