Happy Columbus Day, everyone! Most people are off today, but I'm scheduled to be in the office. Anthony is out of town for work most of this week, but we had a nice, albeit rainy, weekend before he left. And with this wonderful crisp weather, it finally feels like October.
Saturdays have become our day to explore Netflix streaming options. Last week, we watched the first season of Portlandia and this week, we watched the documentary, Happy. I've been into documentaries lately (thumbs up to Being Elmo and Kings of Pastry, which both made me cry), and after reading that Joanna from A Cup of Jo put Happy on her list of top docs, I was excited to watch.
This documentary is half science, half social science, and explores the feeling of being happy. Some of the poorest countries in the world rank higher on the "happiness" meter than America; what's bogging us down? Simply put, lots of things contribute to our happiness levels, but we can ultimately make ourselves happier. People who are driven by intrinsic goals (relationships, personal growth) are generally happier than others who are driven by extrinsic goals (money, image), and supportive friends and family make people happy.
The clips interspersed between the stats feature people who have had misfortune but still find a way to be happy. The communal living situations in Denmark were so interesting (20 families in one large house by choice!) along with the man who works at the Home for the Dying in India caring for terminally ill people. The film made me feel very human and as the credits rolled, I actually felt a bit happier. It's all about mindset and appreciating what you have, not what you need, and I'll be the first to admit it's easy to forget that sometimes.
What did you do this weekend? See any good movies? xo
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