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 happy, hmm... The first is waking up and seeing sunbeams... the second is payday... the third is my last day at work!

Claire , 48 years old, Longueuil (Canada)

I'm in college prep, and what makes me happy is that my scores went from 2 over 20 to 4 over 20. I tell myself then, that now I see the fruits of my labors.

Laly , 18 years old, Paris (France)
Exposition citatine

Whenever I start to really like a person, I look at them straight in the eyes and I tell them that I love them (which is always true) : the glint that I see shine in their eyes, sometimes only for a fraction of a second, fills me with joy, and I am happy.

Louis , 47 years old, Lyon (France)

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)

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 going to the Happython site every day, reading the testimonies of people filled with happiness ready to break up the sadness, to put my little foot on the wall, too. That puts sunshine in my eyes for the rest of the day.

Céline , 18 years old, Toulouse (France)

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

Soade , 40 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)

What makes me happy is after washing my hands, to dry them in the hot air of the hand dryer. That marks a nice pause in my day.

Julie , 20 years old, Lyon (France)

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)

What makes me happy is that everybody is fine.

Catherine , 18 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)
Exposition citatine

An evening between friends, with a little to drink of course. One of them accompanies you back to your taxi, one of the ones with whom you share the same complicity and sensitivity. And on a « goodbye » you steal a kiss from him, instead of an ordinary « see ya soon ». A kiss that lasts for a little while, a kiss he returns. The kind of kiss that makes you smile each time you think about it again and makes you happy.

Aurore , 22 years old, Paris (France)

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)
Exposition citatine

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)

Wednesday afternoon, I visit my grand mother at the old folks home. Our walk in the park brings us closer. Seeing her smile and her joy makes me happy.

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)

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, 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)

What makes me happy is my man's love.

Martine , 43 years old, Wavre (Belgique)

Up until now nothing that I have accomplished or created in my life is worth mentioning compared to that freedom I have acquired through the fact of doing nothing to accomplish, change or improve anything in the world, including myself

What makes me happy is reading or writing to my loved ones. It's knowing that I am there for them and that they're there for me.

Cyril , 17 years old, Toulouse (France)
Exposition citatine

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)

After going on holidays alone, I come back home and I find my dog. It makes me happy.

Myriam , 19 years old, Longjumeau (France)
Exposition citatine

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 seeing my love, who lives in Toulouse, very soon.

Soraya , 28 years old, Bobigny (France)

What makes me happy is to believe in life, to believe in me.

One evening placed on his lower back, I thought about his little round body and I realized how happy I was to be a Daddy.

François , 25 years old, Paris (France)

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

Mouna , 22 years old, Casablanca (Maroc)

What makes me happy is being a great-great grandfather.

Jean , 97 years old, Barcelone (Espagne)

What makes me happy is the beauty of the sky.

Camille , 10 years old, Rome (Italie)

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)
Exposition citatine

My success (academic with honors) makes me happy.

Mane , 18 years old, Khouribga (Maroc)

Financial independance gives me a peace of heart and a certain serenity and the fact of being loved comforts me. Loving a man and receiving love makes me forget my worries and brings me pleasure.

Exposition citatine

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? The sun, books, wine, when I have a good idea, a good conversation

What made me really happy? The first time my son smiled directly at me.

Nathalie , 30 years old, Saint-Hyacinthe (Canada)

What makes me happy is the enthusiasm I feel when I'm doing my work properly. I think that living for your vocation is the best way to be happy.

Aderrazak , 31 years old, Alger (Algérie)

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 to have been able to get a job on my own.

Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)

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 !

To see my rabbit smiles thanks to the web cam on the net (!).

Exposition citatine

What makes me happy are those lives I dream of and those dreams I live in.

Raked , 22 years old, Stockholm (Suède)

It's when a simple look is enough.

Julie , 24 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)
Exposition citatine

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)

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 being in an excellent mood and knowing how to share it with those around me.

Franck , 37 years old, Toulouse (France)

To be happy, I need calm and tranquillity, to be loved and love, sunshine and perfect happiness ( a little water, some fruit, my garden on my island) and peace in the world.

Marie-Émilie , 54 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)

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

Magalie , 23 years old, Marrakech (Maroc)

What makes me happy is to eat a chocolate filled pastry behind my archi (tecture) teacher's back!!!

What makes me happy is spending time with my friends, going out with them, sharing my deepest thoughts with them and feeling their trust.

Fabrice , 18 years old, Marseille (France)

The light and sparkles in children's eyes sometimes make me feel like crying with happiness.

Sabrina , 27 years old, Mitry-Mory (France)
Exposition citatine

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

Raynald , 50 years old, Roubaix (France)

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!!!

Exposition citatine

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

Sophie , 28 years old, Laval (Canada)

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)

Hugs!

Sophie , 22 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

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, it is in the morning when I wake up in my lover's arms and he kisses me lovingly

Olympia , 32 years old, Paris (France)

My referee diploma made me happy.

Bilal , 14 years old, Vaulx-en-Velin (France)

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 made me happy was my title of European champion of table tennins in all categories and my boyfriend.

Angéline , 22 years old, Evry (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is the shivers I get when I hear a song that moves me.

Cécile , 16 years old, Orleans (France)

The soccer team makes me happy.

Anna , 45 years old, Naples (Italie)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is to have a beautiful diploma.

Sona , 28 years old, Bastia (France)

A child's spinning top on the carpet. What a pleasure to approach it, having watched it from afar, the memories coming back of those exquisite moments where colours mingled and filled rainbow eyes. I lean over, touch the top and play with it and that simple pleasure warms my heart, it turns, turns, turns...

I'm happy when I travel !

Boudriss , 38 years old, Mantoue (Italie)

What makes me happy is that my annuual medical appointment with my cardiologist was OK, and that even if unfortunately, she leaves the region,, she has found a cardiologist specialized, like her, in congenital hearth disease (my disease), who works in the region where I am move in, whom she knows well, and promised me that he is friendly.

Maxime , 28 years old, Amiens (France)

Hearing someone whistle will always be for me, synonymous with happiness. Thans Papy.

Mélanie , 21 years old, Toulouse (France)

What makes me happy is eating calamari beignets in the university restaurant.

Lora , 18 years old, Versailles (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)

What makes me happy is doing a task that, I feel, fits with me and my personnality.

Anna , 45 years old, Naples (Italie)
Exposition citatine

The day I decided to take myself by the hand again (I was quite depressed) made it so that, during this time, life itself made me happy...

Marie , 23 years old, Thetford Mines (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)
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)

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

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.

Soizic , 24 years old, Montréal (Canada)