The Happiness Project is something I heard about from Marianne over at PracticeLiving. She talks about hearing the idea from an old friend of hers, and I’m not sure if her friend decided to start it independently or if she was inspired by someone else. However, a quick search reveals The Happiness Project, a developing documentary about the search for truth and happiness throughout the world. It’s an interesting concept, to do it on a global scale, since what makes us happy can vary so widely from culture to culture.

I mean, think about it. Even something so basic as the conditions under which we live can be the cause for happiness/unhappiness, and chances are you have a different ideal than the guy sitting next to you on the bus. Maybe he dreams of mountainside solitude while you envision your eventual purchase of a home in a trendy beachfront community. Those are two very, very different ideas of happiness associated with space, and can comfortably coexist within one culture. So just imagine how vast the differences can be when we transcend borders.

It’s a fascinating concept. I have to wonder, though, how well-executed the final product will be when it’s revealed. It has the chance of being eye-opening and astounding… and it has an equal chance of becoming a pedestrian travel video. So the jury’s still out on that one.

Anyway, all this has inspired me to do start a similar project, along the lines of Marianne’s friend’s idea: to take a photo each day of something, however small, that makes us happy. It’s an interesting way to really re-focus, at least once a day, on what brings you happiness and positivity in your everyday life. Sure, it’ll make me happy to be 60+ lbs lighter, but what makes me happy now? Plenty of things. But we get sidetracked in the negativity associated with weight and losing and dieting and exercise and frustration and sweat and forget about the immediate pleasures and ever-accessible joys of life.

Plus things like this appeal to the amateur photographer in me. Not that I have any decent photo equipment… I have a really nice Nikon SLR but it’s pre-digital and therefore not very appropriate for this task. My little Canon Elph will just have to do…

I will start a different blog, I think, for this project. I just wanted to write about it here because it’s something to think about. When I get started I’ll be sure to post the link somewhere. Hope everyone’s doing well.