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?

What makes me happiest is laughing, with time, over things I've cried a lot about. That's how I finally tell myself that life is too beautiful but it's us who often see the world in black.

Aysel , 20 years old, Macon (France)

What makes me happy is the feeling of a smile!

Emmanuelle , 27 years old, Marseille (France)
Exposition citatine

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 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 happiest is the love of my future husband who, despite leukemia, helps me to get through life.

Lucie , 33 years old, Deux-Montagnes (Canada)

Happiness is in my nature, I always say that the sun is shining in my head. What makes me happy is loving life and every day there's always the same intensity inside me.

Hamed , 35 years old, Marseille (France)

What makes me happy is seeing the popcorn head of my love waking up.

Hélène , 30 years old, Lyon (France)

This is great !! The virus of happiness !! I'd like to give you my own definition of happiness... : “Happinees is like a butterfly. If you run after it, it will escape... But if you let it be, it will land softly on your shoulder...”

Louise , 42 years old, Chicoutimi (Canada)

Getting married to someone I love. A nice trip with my family. Having a good job!

Fatia , 24 years old, Sidi Bel Abbès (Algérie)

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)
Exposition citatine

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

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)
Exposition citatine

I like eating spaghetti and curly lettuce with some surimi, I like cuddles and playing with my friends, it makes me happy.

Olympia , 5 years old, Champigny-sur-Marne (France)

What made me happy is when my boyfriend proposed to me, but also when the Americans demonstrated against war in Irak.

Maud , 21 years old, Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois (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 to see that people can work together to overcome difficulty.

Leïla , 29 years old, Sousse (Tunisie)

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)

What makes me happy is to stop and enjoy a few quiet moments in my very busy life, so I can think of the distance covered, trials, moments of joy, and then I think that life is great!

43 years old, Waremme (Belgique)

What makes me happy is to experiment with love.

So passionate, so tender, to hold me in your arms, kiss me gently and… tu make me fall on the bed ! You are so clumsy, my love, but how I love you, ooof ! I think about it in the metro, and I burst out laughing. I am happy.

Florence , 21 years old, Paris (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is seeing all the cherry trees blooming in Japan, and telling myself that nothing is more beautiful and nothing pleases us more than this langourous pink…

Alex , 20 years old, Nice (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)
Exposition citatine

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)

What makes me feel really happy is to be free to act, speak and realise my dreams.

Hazar , 26 years old, Tunis (Tunisie)

What makes me happy is seeing middle aged couples still walking together hand in hand.

Andrée , 56 years old, Sevran (France)

What makes me happy is being able to hold onto my freedom that I can use again and again.

Anne , 36 years old, Paris (France)

Happy to hear you smile...

Richard , 27 years old, Paris (France)

What makes me happy is to read Happython in Metro newspaper with my beloved chums every day.

Duggy , 20 years old, Pantin (France)

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

Raynald , 50 years old, Roubaix (France)

What makes me happy is to live without any worries.

Soufiane , 28 years old, Tébessa (Algérie)
Exposition citatine

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.

I met a person in the metro that made me smile…for no reason and that made me happy.

Sylvano , 24 years old, Madrid (Espagne)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is the sunset above the sea.

Andrade , 52 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

Breathing everyday and going with the flow of my dailyjourney enjoying a beautiful sunny day and if possible near the sea, the lake or a river.

Monique , 46 years old, Heisdorf (Luxembourg)

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)

Giving birth to my two children made me happy.

Joëlle , 44 years old, Liège (Belgique)

My marriage has made me happy.

Thérésa , 48 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)

What makes me happy is that when I walk in the street, my steps are exactly as long as the bands on the crosswalk. I feel like I'm in harmony with my environment

So , 22 years old, Levallois-Perret (France)

Hugs!

Sophie , 22 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

What makes me happy is feeling so small in front of a stormy ocean, smelling the spray on my face : I simply feel content, and I realize the futility of all my little everyday worries.

Marcelle , 62 years old, Québec (Canada)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is all that is beautiful, pure, frank and honest and that doesn't cost anything because these are the simplest things that are the most wonderful.

Steven , 33 years old, Rivière-du-Loup (Canada)

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 !!!

Exposition citatine

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 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)

I am happy when I am loved for what I am.

Marcella , 37 years old, Cagliari (Italy)

What makes me happy is people who return my smiles and especially grannies, babies and good-looking

What makes me happy is seeing my reflection in the eyes of my son.

Vincent , 25 years old, Madrid (Espagne)

It's when a simple look is enough.

Julie , 24 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

What makes me happy is when there is music on the streets or in the metro. It gives me the impression that the quick steps of hurried people are in rhythm on the tempo, like an urban choreography !

Sandy , 19 years old, Toulouse (France)

A wet spring evening simply makes me happy.

Thomas , 23 years old, Gand (Belgique)
Exposition citatine

My wife makes me happy… She helped me to discover what real life is like!!!

Nacer , 34 years old, Chlef (Algérie)

What makes me happy is to be desired.

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

My little world makes me happy… I first of all have all my pets: Loulou, Fofinha, Nina, Cleo, Cesar, Micas they are my dogs who, I can assure you, are also very happy with 3400 feet of field and two little houses… My cats: Tigrao, Faisca, Princesa who have 4 little kittens Milady, Aramis, Dartanhan, Portos… My tortoises whose names are: César and Cléopâtre…. My birds in big cage…

Silvia , 23 years old, Pombal (Portugal)

What makes me happy is that my three and a half year old son gets angry if someone wants to smush an insect or when he asks us to be quiet to not scare a bird.

Marie-Noëlle , 32 years old, Ham-sous-Varsberg (France)

What makes me happy is sharing my newspaper with a neighbor on the metro who reads it over my shoulder.

Etienne , 21 years old, paris (France)

What makes me happy is to know that I am the artist of my life ! Happiness exists provided I really want.

Christophe , 34 years old, Neuville-en-Ferrain (France)

What makes me happy is really knowing that one day I'll have enough power to spread love and happiness.

Meriama , 15 years old, Marrakech (Maroc)

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 ? To create.

Jacques , 68 years old, Paris (France)

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

Vanessa , 21 years old, Rome (Italie)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy: to know that even far away, we can count on friends !

Vanessa , 21 years old, Rome (Italie)

What makes me happy is seeing my daughters happy and in good health

Lilou , 33 years old, Montréal (Canada)
Exposition citatine

My first contact with her, my hands on her marvelous body, our first heartfelt words, our first steps along the Rhine to exchange, a little timidly, our visions of the world

Boris , 18 years old, Strasbourg (France)

Ce qui m'a rendue heureuse c'est d'avoir eu ma fille.

Sophie , 28 years old, Laval (Canada)

What made me happy was to spend my birthday evening with my son and his girlfriend, and tomorrow it will be the same with my sister and her husband. Hurray for the family!

Josette , 52 years old, Saint-Nicolas (Belgique)

What makes me happy is the sea. When I see it or when I think about it, I am really comfortable in my own being. Oh yes, it's boring but it's the ocean blue that makes me happy.

Mina , 30 years old, Tizi Ouzou (Algérie)

What makes me most happy is when I see happy people. That's the reason why I try to make people happy. Sometimes a simple smile is enough…Fortunately there's a universal language that everybody can communicate with: the “language of the heart”.

Maïssa , 21 years old, Tunis (Tunisie)

What made me happy, it is when I was elected Miss France 2003 on december 14, 2002 and my great pleasure was when I saw my mother after that. In her eyes I could see how proud and happy she was. I think it is the most beautiful present I can offer her.

Corinne , 20 years old, Paris (France)

What made me happy was rowing with my father one night with a full moon, at 4 in the morning, in the Parana delta in Argentina.

Eugénie , 27 years old, Buenos Aires (Argentine)

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)
Exposition citatine

0n Saint Valentin's night I decided to make love with a 40-year-old man. I was his little princess, I desired him so much that I was afraid. I was trembling. He made love with me as none had ever done . On that night I saw the wolf : happy.

Amira , 25 years old, Paris (France)

Lots of things make me happy : I bought an appartment, I slept with a girl and I stopped smoking !

Lolie , 21 years old, Paris (France)
Exposition citatine

Walking barefoot and feeling the sun under my feet.

Mary , 21 years old, Aix-en-Provence (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 makes me happy is meeting passionate people. They always lend me an admiration like an imprint of their ardor, of their taste for life and love.

Carole , 27 years old, Lyon (France)