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
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!
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 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)
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)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)What makes me happy is telling myself that, whatever happens, if we separate or find each other again, whatever time passes, no one will be able to erase our most cherished memories.
Charlotte , 16 years old, Strasbourg (France)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)Getting married to someone I love. A nice trip with my family. Having a good job!
Fatia , 24 years old, Sidi Bel Abbès (Algérie)
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)What makes me happy is getting a love letter meant for someone else... and getting a love letter really meant for me!
Charlotte , 17 years old, Amiens (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 is making up with a colleague ! ( a little daily pleasure)
Christian , 44 years old, Paris (France)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)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 to listen to Danièle's music, dance the tarentelle and tammurriata and sing with my friends (especially napolitean songs).
Anna , 45 years old, Naples (Italie)I am learning to develop my ability to « not define » life, to melt into it rather than dominate it… and by so doing… I learn to love… and the more I love… the happier I am every day!
What makes me happy is when the people in the metro don't look just at their feet but at each other, and smile.
Axelle , 21 years old, Lille (France)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 !!!
To travel to Europe to see my brother's son who was born the day before yesterday.
Mohamed-Amine , 19 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)What makes me happy is to get up in the morning and thank God for letting me sleep in peace.
Rabah , 31 years old, Grenoble (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)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 made me happy lately was to hear that I was pregnant after so many fruitless attempts.
Christine , 35 years old, Liège (Belgique)What makes me happy is to see his first name show up on my cell phone when at the same moment I'm thinking of him.
Ana , 22 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)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 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)
What makes me happy!!! Well, I'm only 17 years old, so my happiness is far from complete, but I'll say that what makes me happy is seeing people smile.
Mary , 17 years old, Terrebonne (Canada)Someone who is able to listen to you, to have a discussion with you. Also to be able to open your heart to someone who knows about human qualities.
Fathi , 45 years old, Sfax (Tunisie)What makes me happy is that people read the little Happython phrases that I cut out of the newspaper and paste on the walls in my bathrooms. Even Charlotte, who is preschool, sometimes takes more than twenty minutes.
Maïwenn , 28 years old, Champigny-sur-Marne (France)My happiness is eating my favorite meal: pureed sausage.
Thomas , 10 years old, Mons-en-Baroeul (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)
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, you see, is that I live fully in the present moment. I savor each minute with pure delicacy, that's all!
Isabelle , 28 years old, Drummondville (Canada)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)Each morning on my way to work, I read the newspaper and I hurry up to read the Happython. Often I find myself in what was said. Today, it's my turn. What makes me happy is going to bed early and waking up late when I don't have to work.
Aline , 45 years old, Villepinte (France)What made me happy was being born into softness, joy and love, and knowing that when I open my door, all of it spreads out to the entire world.
Jessica , 18 years old, Bordeaux (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)
Having brought to light a vocation. My son was studying Sociology and Economic Sciences at the University of Jussieu. One summer I forced him to work in a hospital to earn some pocket money. He dropped his studies to study at the I.F.S.I. (Nurses Training School) Today, at 25 he is happy, his job is a true vocation. His patients are happy and me too, I'm happy
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 to be sitting outside a café with nothing to do but let my mind wander (daydream), sip my drink and watch people walk by.
Catherine , 47 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)What makes me happy is that it's raining today instead of a day when the weather's nice.
Arthur , 18 years old, Toulouse (France)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)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)What makes me happy is staying in contact with my old friends and making new friends.
Cynthia , 18 years old, Shawinigan (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)What makes me happy is learning that my parents are going to leave for a lover's weekend. After 23 years of marriage, isn't it still really cute?
Pierre , 18 years old, Marseille (France)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)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)What made me happy was when I played my first notes on the guitar a few months ago. So far I believed music was not for me.
Caroline , 21 years old, Namur (Belgique)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)My greatest happiness has been the birth of my two children! One boy one girl:
Marie-Lise , 43 years old, Forestville (Canada)What makes me happy, hmm... The first is waking up and seeing sunbeams... the second is payday... the third is my last day at work!
Chantal , 33 years old, Saint-Léonard (Canada)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 running with people who are going to miss their train: not because I want to catch the train, but just for the pleasure of running and being out of breath...
Mélanie , 22 years old, Paris (France)