Today is International Day of Happiness. We all have our own personal view of what happiness means. I have a myriad of things, one of them is lying on a beach, preferably in a hammock, as the sand can take away from the pleasure, sipping something not necessarily alcoholic (although that does generally lend its self to the state), with the sun dappling between palms trees and an azure coloured sea, that my eyes can gently rest upon. I’ll admit that’s not everyone’s, my husband can contest to that and it certainly isn’t the image one conjures up when we think of Nordic countries, but three Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, and Iceland) continue to score highly on the UN happiest country in the world scale every year.
My daughter last week spent five days in Norway, all I could think of was cold and ice she came back reminiscing about beautiful clear blue skies, wonderful clean air and friendly people. We spend our lives seeking and trying to be happy it’s even written in the American declaration of independence “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What some of us never quite truly understand is that happiness means different things to different people and like any other emotion can be put on a spectrum from happy, to melancholy, from ‘just a little bit down’, to sad. These emotions and many others, make us who we are.
When delivering CREW drama workshops our aim is to impart information and knowledge in a fun, jovial and energetic way. We delight when we see children laughing as they dress up, interacting with artefacts and with their peers, and we hope that we always leave happy children behind. However, we know that we represent a small part of their school lives and that it is the teachers who are constantly having to be aware of the child who is not as happy as they appear. Being happy is a state of mind but it is up to all of us to ensure that every state of mind is treasured and accepted. Giving children the knowledge that they can sometimes be happy and sometimes sad and all the other emotions in between is an important part of a child’s education. Helping them grow into emotionally intelligent and sometimes happy adults.