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?

I am happy when I travel around the world and get to know different possible ways of being happy.

Marcella , 37 years old, Cagliari (Italy)

What makes me happy is finding the right temperature of water in the shower right away… I hate cold showers…

Julien , 19 years old, Rennes (France)
Exposition citatine

What made me happy was when she showed me the stars and blew on my neck to warm me up.

Rémi , 19 years old, Ferte-Bernard (France)

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)

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

Jean , 97 years old, Barcelone (Espagne)

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.

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)

The simplest feeling of happiness is to know that someone somewhere loves you.

Edmée , 16 years old, Nabeul (Tunisie)

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 reading happython every morning in class. That puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Laure , 20 years old, Lyon (France)
Exposition citatine

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)

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)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is thinking through the best moments I've lived to determine which one is the best and thus reliving them.

Kevin , 19 years old, Chatenay-Malabry (France)

It's to seat down at Cais Do Sodré and look at my country.

Ana , 22 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

The happiest day of my live was when I left the hole I was hidden in for a month during the war in Rwanda. That day, the sun shone like it will no longer and the breeze was a caress that no man has ever given me. It was June 21, 1994 around 3 :00 p.m. I was 14.

Prisca , 26 years old, Brunoy (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)

I am happy when I do well in my studies.

Merieme , 20 years old, Agadir (Maroc)

It's to seat down at Cais Do Sodré and look at my country.

Ana , 22 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

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)

What makes me happy is seeing my love, who lives in Toulouse, very soon.

Soraya , 28 years old, Bobigny (France)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is a state of mind and spiritual conscience.

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)
Exposition citatine

My faith in God makes me feel happy.

Mohamed , 35 years old, Boumerdès (Algérie)

My marriage has made me happy.

Thérésa , 48 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)

What makes me happy is to be pretty.

Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)

What made me happy was to meet, totally by chance, the man who is now my husband. Thanks to fate, every day is a happy day.

Ghania , 27 years old, Alger (Algérie)

The fact that I've met my soul mate makes me happy.

Sadek , 26 years old, Béjaïa (Algérie)

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

Sofiane , 30 years old, Béjaïa (Algérie)

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)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is getting online at noon each day on one of the computers at med school with Celine and Arthur to leave messages on Happython !

Carole , 18 years old, Toulouse (France)

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)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is seeing a smile erase the wrinkles on my husband's face.

Agnès , 53 years old, Ayvelles (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)

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)

What makes me happy is to have been able to get a good education « educazione » !

Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)

Classic happy moment, but true : waking up beside your love… a moment of pure tenderness… you wake from one dream to plunge into another…

Rémi , 23 years old, Lille (France)

What makes me happy is the happiness of others surrounding me.

Andrade , 52 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

What makes me happy is seeing my bunny thanks to the webcam.

Jonathan , 31 years old, Bordeaux (France)

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)
Exposition citatine

For you I am not merely a thing, my happiness is you, Pilou.

Katie , 46 years old, Bruxelles (Belgique)

I'm happy every morning when my man snuggles up to me saying: “good morning, darling, I'm here next to you”. I shiver.

Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is to take out all my toys.

Maëva , 4 years old, Mons-en-Baroeul (France)

What makes me happy ? The successful moments, the nice memories from my childhood.

Samia , 24 years old, Nabeul (Tunisie)

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)

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 her in the morning, brushing her teeth in her robe, her gaze far away. I look at her, and our eyes meet.

Noël , 24 years old, Toulouse (France)

What makes me happy is that each and every day, I live…

Andrade , 52 years old, Lisbonne (Portugal)

What makes me happy is listening to Metallica while petting a kitten.

Pauline , 20 years old, Toulouse (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)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is a cloudless sky.

Abdenour , 33 years old, Alger (Algérie)

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

Marie , 31 years old, Paris (France)
Exposition citatine

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 the generosity of people who support Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun. Finally solidarity doesn't end.

Lulu , 21 years old, Aubenas (France)

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

Vanessa , 21 years old, Rome (Italie)

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)

What makes me happy is snakes and when my parents accepted to get one at home.

Valentin , 8 years old, Mons-en-Baroeul (France)

My children ‘s smiles make me happy.

Sandrine , 32 years old, Brabant Wallon (Belgique)

What makes me happy is to dream and imagine things about battles and love.

Younès , 5 years old, Saint-Malo (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)
Exposition citatine

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)

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)
Exposition citatine

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)

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 holding one of the metro's double doors, while exchanging a smile, and vice-versa.

Pierre , 68 years old, Paris (France)

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

Raynald , 50 years old, Roubaix (France)

What makes me happy is to share my newspaper with somebody next to me in the tube that reads over my shoulder!

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 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 have left my parents' house.

Daniela , 32 years old, Ancône (Italie)
Exposition citatine

What makes me happy is seeing the face of Kalé, my coworker, light up when I make him read the last Happython

Sidney , 21 years old, Paris (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.

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)

What has made me happy for 30 years is to live with an exceptional woman who is my wife, my friend, my confidante and my mistress all at the same time.

Rida , 55 years old, Sfax (Tunisie)

Tomorrow's day is already making me happy.

Julie , 23 years old, Marseille (France)