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 !
- Answer this question; "What makes, or has made you, happy?" and become a Happiness Agent
- You earn some "Points Of Presence" (POP)
- You invest your Points in the city of your choice
- You spead the Virus of Happiness around the world.
What is the virus of happiness and how it works?
About Happython
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?
It's snowing. I didn't drink today (well… yeah, a little). I'm trying to answer your question… happiness ? For me this intense, deep emotion that moves me : I feel that I'm going to go away… I won't tremble anymore… live, that's all. Happiness is knowing that you can go away, happiness is the smile of someone who doesn't know that I'm an alcoholic. Happiness… is thinking that I'm normal. Happiness : being right, loyal, and honest.
Victoire , 28 years old, Paris (France)A kind of happiness that will never pass away is giving birth to a child, it is the most beautiful happiness to my mind.
Evelyne , 46 years old, Namur (Belgique)
Brought up and educated in Brazzaville, The Congo, by missionaries. A war has broken out... Everything is destroyed, the town devastated, there is nothing to be found anywhere. However with courage the sisters go back to work, open the nursery and primary schools without any materials. They send out an SOS to ex-pupils of which I am one. Since that time I am running around the shops with my limited means of a retired person. Paints, folding books, etc. etc.... meetings with the people who will carry my packages to Brazza. And in return I receive letters and drawings from little children thanking me and calling me godmother and sometimes mother, this is happiness !!!
I adore my little kitten's caresses. That makes me happy.
Karma , 28 years old, Palma de Majorque (Espagne)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.
Muriel , 44 years old, Lyon (France)What makes me happy ? To be a granny, nothing is more beautiful than to see your family grow larger and be able to play the doting mother again. It makes you feel young again.
Liane , 54 years old, La Louvière (Belgique)What makes me happy is the generosity of people who support Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun. Finally solidarity doesn't end.
Lulu , 21 years old, Aubenas (France)I no longer remember exactly when, But it was approximately in 1996 that I decided to “do something with Internet” It took me until April 1997 to get together the equipment, the connections and the supplies, but then bang, I saw photos of people far away appearing before my eyes, with immediacy of connection and of memory. Wow. For each question I had to do with actual things, ideas or sources of ideas, or how to do something, etc. etc. I could find the reply in a few minutes, and that's when I realised: One doesn't need to know how to reach one's goal before one has decided it - simply dream it and the answers to how you can succeed are on Internet – even if you wish to work towards an enlightened planetary civilisation…
My happiness is eating my favorite meal: pureed sausage.
Thomas , 10 years old, Mons-en-Baroeul (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 when you resuscitate a baby and suddenly hear his first cry of life tearing the silence of the room.
Delphine , 24 years old, Paris (France)
I am most happy when people thank me for holding the door for them on the metro. I leave with a lively step to the RER A.
Sylvie , 38 years old, Rueil-Malmaison (France)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 made me happy ? After loving lots of men, I fell in love with a woman and for that wonderful love, I gave up men and my former way of life. But it is worth while, I love and I am loved, peaceful and completely happy, that great affection…
Gisella , 51 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy ? Scouting when I was young, then my commitment to a trade-union and a political party, my family – children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and hearing that my great-grandson Guillaume will soon be christened.
Louis , 88 years old, Chatellerault (France)What makes me happiest is all the little daily pleasures... Why search so hard, look what we have near
Louise , 43 years old, Chicoutimi (Canada)What makes me happy is being in an excellent mood and knowing how to share it with those around me.
Franck , 37 years old, Toulouse (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)
When something wonderful appears in my life. Coincidences, signs, dreams which become reality with the impression that it's life which is organizing everything, lucid dreams.
What makes me happy is eating calamari beignets in the university restaurant.
Lora , 18 years old, Versailles (France)Happiness is when I see my mother again, for whom I'll always be the same kid (even if I'm not this kid anymore) and to see her face lighting up and smiling.
Mehdi , 27 years old, Tunis (Tunisie)What makes me happy ? A bird singing in the morning when I get up.
Thérèse , 47 years old, Charleroi (Belgique)What made me happy lately was to hear that I was pregnant after so many fruitless attempts.
Christine , 35 years old, Liège (Belgique)feel like the Tibetan climbing the sacred mountain ! Happiness is not the end of the path, but happiness is the very path.
Brigitte , 49 years old, Nivelles (Belgique)What makes me happy is getting up in the morning, stretching out on my sofa and letting the sun warms my bare feet through the window.
Bertrand , 23 years old, Bordeaux (France)What makes me happy is cracking my toes in bed instead of studying math during that time.
Ronan , 19 years old, Marseille (France)
What makes me the happiest is to see the people I love happy.
Noélie , 16 years old, Mons (Belgique)
What makes me happy is to talk to people and to learn something from them.
Sofiane , 30 years old, Béjaïa (Algérie)For me, it's the sea that makes me happy!!! When I see it or just even think about it I feel good deep inside. It might be quite trivial but the blue ocean makes me happy.
Mina , 30 years old, Tizi Ouzou (Algérie)What makes me happy is to see that people can work together to overcome difficulty.
Leïla , 29 years old, Sousse (Tunisie)What makes me happy : all the young people getting involved in the life of a new family…and those babies continuing life.
Brigitte , 50 years old, Chatellerault (France)Hearing someone whistle will always be for me, synonymous with happiness. Thans Papy.
Mélanie , 21 years old, Toulouse (France)Surprising my brother and seeing the happiness on his face, that's enough to make me happy.
Kamila , 28 years old, Marseille (France)
What makes me happy is to skid and slide in front of the tobacco shop !
Mélanie , 12 years old, Epinay-sous-Senart (France)Overall, my friends (boys or girls) are the ones who make me happy, because they're always there for me.
Asma , 37 years old, Rabat (Maroc)
What makes me happy, even if it may look strange, it is when I drive to work in the morning.
Elodie , 26 years old, Limoges (France)I am most happy when people thank me for holding the door for them on the metro. I leave with a lively step to the RER A.
Sylvie , 38 years old, Rueil-Malmaison (France)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)What makes my happy is that , currently, I only come across friendly people : the optician and her manager, the sales assistants of the sporting goods store ,of the hardware store and at the cultural goods (cds, dvds, books and video games) and craft arts stores , and the waiters and cashiers at the chinese restaurant).
Maxime , 28 years old, Amiens (France)
What makes me happy, a great privelege in my heart, when my little 4-year-old friend, Joey, takes my hand, taking this gesture of love from this child who moves me, but completely... I become gaga with...
Hélène , 51 years old, Shawinigan (Canada)A kind of happiness that will never pass away is giving birth to a child, it is the most beautiful happiness to my mind.
Evelyne , 46 years old, Namur (Belgique)
What makes me happy is that my scientific experiments are progressing.
Amira , 26 years old, Monastir (Tunisie)The idea of free time makes me happy. Let me explain: life is such that we are always doing something, stressed, running around, always going faster... So, to programme some free time, time to do nothing, is an idea that gives me a real sense of happiness.
What makes me happy is the ability I have to express myself in any languages, even if that is not the spoken language, but by gestures or feelings.
Claudia , 23 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)What makes me happy at this moment is that I have got rid of everything in Paris, my job and a hard life, to retire and live in Tunisia at a wonderful man's side.
Françoise , 52 years old, Rades (Tunisie)My wife makes me happy… She helped me to discover what real life is like!!!
Nacer , 34 years old, Chlef (Algérie)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 makes me happy is when my neighbour kindly offers me « tourtisseaux » to thank me for a small favour.
Annie , 47 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is seeing all the different colors and ethnicities in the metro when I run errands in the morning…
Mathieu , 22 years old, Toulouse (France)
For a very long time I have wanted to play a musical instrument while avoiding the forbidding aspect of learning the solfeggio. By some wonderful chance, I saw a photo of a man. Playing the tampoura in the desert, the flash !

What makes me happy is when in the dreams' fall when the breath of the day raises my eyelids, I'm aware that the moment when finally I'll be free is close. Every minute, every second that goes by is a step towards our reunion, my darling, my Night, my life.
What makes me happy is finally being myself in my own eyes and in the eyes of my loved ones.
Didier , 34 years old, Paris (France)What makes me happy is knowing that I am loved for who I am and that fills my heart with emotion to have tears of it in my eyes ! Then I understand that life is more than magic. Thanks to life.
Petrouchka , 21 years old, Marseille (France)As far as I'm concerned, what made me happy was to meet this great guy who I really love a lot.
Lina , 30 years old, Tigzirt (Algérie)A moment of happiness: the kiss from this little girl who thanked me for having cured her mommy. What made me happy yesterday was passing the evening with the man I love, dancing all night with him and showing him that his black skin and my white skin show at the same time both contrast and harmony.
Muriel , 48 years old, Blois (France)What does make me happy is to watch the waves lapping on the fine sand
Nadine , 33 years old, Mons (Belgique)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)What makes me happy is to eat everyday with my friends, each bite is for me a breath of life.
Estefania , 18 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)
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!!!

Smelling the aroma of the pizza that's baking in my oven and thinking that I'm going treat myself !
Mary , 21 years old, Aix-en-Provence (France)