Happiness
TAKE PART IN THE AMERICAN HAPPINESS PROJECT. FILL OUT THE ALL NEW ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE!
ABOUT
In the winter of 2013, we got sick of hearing the word happiness thrown out all over the place. We got to thinking. "What the heck is happiness anyway?"
We argued about it, and eventually figured out that, like Socrates trying to define virtue, we were only heading down a path of more questions.
HOW YOU CAN BE A PART
It's never been easier. While we started by collecting hardcopy letters, we have now developed an easy, online submission form.
1. Fill out a happiness questionnaire above. Everyone is invited!
2. Spread the word. Link to this page on Facebook, Twitter, and the vast interwebs.
The Old Hardcopy:
TOUR! & SAMPLES
To learn more about the American Happiness Tour, check out the "Folk" blog.
But it seemed important--this happiness thing. And because we both believe in the Great Conversation--the idea that meaning comes from multiple points of view--we came up with an idea.
We would develop a short questionnaire, asking several questions about happiness. We would leave envelops all over the country in random, public places, asking the finders to fill out the questionnaire and send it back to us. We would send it out online and encourage others to distribute it too. And when we got a bunch of responses, we would publish them in a book.
The idea of the American Happiness Project is that we can only really define happiness collectively. Even though all of us struggle to try to understand and experience happiness individually, we hope to offer a collective and social understanding. We believe that happiness is alive in that space between us, and we hope that this project illuminates it.
THE CREATORS
Sample
We received our first submission on Friday, March 15th, 2013! Thanks to Ty Blackwood for being the first to participate in The American Happiness Project.
Ty Blackwood's definition of happiness:
"Halfway between bliss and contentment, you will find happiness. It is the absolution of an itch without forgiveness of the scratch, that is, the food to our hunger of contentment--or rather, the dessert."
Thank you, Ty! As promised, here's Ty Blackwood's submission:
Nick Leither is a writer, teacher and rustic furniture builder. More about Nick here.
Rosa del Duca is a writer, journalist and musician. Her creative work has been published in Cutbank, Grain, River Teeth and CALYX. Rosa fronts the folkpop band We.Are.Hunters., which plays regularly in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.
We're looking forward to hearing from more of you.
Waiting anxiously,
Nick and Rosa