Kolkata, India

 Robert Biswas-Diener is often referred to as the “Indiana Jones of happiness research” because he has combined a profound wanderlust to see the world with an acute interest in psychology and the study of happiness. Biswas-Diener has collected data in faraway places including the frozen settlements of Greenland, the jungles of Indonesia, the Rift Valley of East Africa and the red light districts of India’s largest cities. His father, happiness guru Ed Diener, and other leading scientists use the data to understand how cultural, health, age and material differences affect a person’s happiness.

Champaign, IL

One of the first interviews we conducted for this film was with world-renowned happiness researcher Ed Diener. Known as Dr. Happiness because of his 35-year study of the subject (longer than anyone else in America), Diener is the wise man on the mountain when it comes to happiness. His idea to study happiness came when he noticed that many of the farmers in his area seemed to be very happy despite their difficult working and living conditions. “Why is that?” he asked. And thus a career and an entire field of psychology were born. 

Knox College - Galesburg, IL

 Producers Eiji Han Shimizu, Frances Reid and I visited Knox College to interview professor Tim Kasser. Besides having a fascinating conversation with Mr. Kasser, we had some fun with the funny mirror in the hallway of the psych. department. There’s definitely room in the world for more funny mirrors.

Texas, USA

I often feel that making films is what I would be doing if I didn’t have to have a job. And this moment was one of those times. On the family ranch of Melissa Moody (who you will learn about in the film) I spent hours surrounded by beauty, beautiful light, and a wonderful family. 

Japan

I know it may be cheesy and we cut off the last ‘s’ in the picture, but when producer Eiji Han Shimizu and I saw this smooth stretch of beach in Japan we just had to do it.

Santa Rosa, California

Vivien Hillgrove, our fearless editor, is one of the most amazing and happiness-inducing people I’ve ever met. Her spirit soars in just about any circumstance, and her smile is a healing force. She is a shining light who, with her depth of experience, led us through over 390 hours of footage to create our film. 

 Kalahari Desert, Namibia

 The massive baobab tree in this picture is marked by the tusks of elephants who use it as a scratching post.

I went out with this group of hunters to see what they did to collect food. Their arrows were poison-tipped and did not have feathers. Occasionally with big game the poison worked slowly, requiring that the hunters follow the increasingly drowsy animal sometimes for 2 or 3 days before they could overcome it.

Though I appreciate the grocery store even more after this experience, these men are a stark reminder of what many of us have lost in terms of our connection to, and our understanding of, the natural world.

Kalahari Desert, Namibia

 The natural beauty of Namibia is astounding. But the idyllic landscape can also be misleading. Extreme heat, scorpions, poisonous snakes, and in this case leopards are all common threats to the people (and other animals) who live there. We came across this emu who had apparently been attacked within the hour.

Kalahari Desert, Namibia

San Bushmen, Healing Ceremony

The Bushmen feel responsible for each other’s health and well-being, so rather than pointing a sick person to the nearest doctor, everyone in the village participates in the healing process.

In considering happiness for many months, the question came up as to what made people happy before we started living in such manmade environments as the cities and towns of the modern world. What made people happy before we had electricity and television and cars and buildings? How could we find out the answer to that question?

I had heard that the Bushmen of southern Africa lived more closely to the way our ancient ancestors did than any group of people alive today. I wanted to go and see how they relate to happiness: what makes them happy? How do they seek and find happiness?

Through a friend I became acquainted with Rupert Isaacson (www.horseboymovie.com) who had done extensive work among the Bushmen. He told me about the deep bonds that unite each Bushman village (usually comprised of a group of extended families) and how those bonds affect the happiness of the group. With extremely little material wealth, the Bushmen tend to live low-stress, peaceful lives with all their basic needs met, and they find plenty of time for leisure and fun.

I arrived in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital, and connected with local guide and wildlife expert, Wayne Hutchison. We rented a burly off-road vehicle equipped with a spare wheel, shovels and extra fuel tanks, and we headed into the countryside.

We passed termite mounds 8 feet high (basically gigantic ant hills) herds of wildabeast, zebra and giraffe and made our way to northwest Namibia. There we arrived at a small village that was planning a traditional but rare healing ceremony for that evening. Our timing couldn’t have been better. 

Oogimison Village, Okinawa - Japan

96 year old great grandmother shows her traditional dance style.

We had heard from some of the leading happiness researchers that happy people tend to live longer than unhappy people. Then we learned that many of the Guinness Book of World Record’s oldest people have come from the island of Okinawa in Japan. We thought, if happy people live longer, maybe old people are happy? We went to Okinawa to find out. 

Oogimison Village has the nickname of “Longevity Village” because it has more citizens over the age of 100 per capita than anywhere else in the world. 

We stopped at the community center to find about 40 women, most in their 90s, sharing cooking recipes and techniques and doing origami. They had a boom box blasting traditional Okinawan music (which I loved!). When a few of the women started dancing, I asked them to show me the traditional dance step. Their response shocked me. “There is no traditional step, you do whatever you want.”  They have a traditional music style and traditional origami techniques, but the traditional dance is to be yourself! Amazing. 

No wonder that Okinawa is one of the happiest places I’ve ever been.