Days of Happiness festival in Sofia
Sofia is the venue till July 1 of the initial Days of Happiness. The initiative belongs to the Credo Bonum Foundation and the start was given with the photographic exhibition of Jonathan Harris, named Balloons of Bhutan: a portrait of happiness in the last Himalayan kingdom. The program of the Days of Happiness initiative includes lections, exhibitions, movie screenings and a workshop, dedicated to all forms of happiness. “The Balloons of Bhutan exhibition arrived here with the exclusive representation of the photographs, where people’s identity, imagination, memory, hope and happiness are presented as metaphors, while the balloons are the color accent and positive symbol,” says Simeon Vassilev, organizer of the project. The photographs, included in the exposition document the culmination of Mr. Harris’ projectл We are talking about the participants’ dreams, written on 117 balloons with different colors, tied together as a common pray.
“The idea for these Days of Happiness appeared about a year ago,” Simeon Vassilev goes on to say. “A festival of this kind takes place for a first time in this part of Europe. The one-day workshop, titled Options for Happiness is the key point of the program. The event will take place in the lecture hall of the biggest and most prestigious university in this country – the one in Sofia. Scientists, researchers, writers and experts in positive psychology will be guests at the event and we will discuss with them the different aspects of happiness and the routes to it.”
What makes you happy? Which is your happiest memory? Which is your favorite joke? What is your level of happiness on the 1-10 scale? If you had a wish to make, what would it be? These are the questions that Jonathan Harris asks to the people of Bhutan – the only country in the world that measures its progress not via GDP, but via GDH – gross domestic happiness. What is the situation with this index in Bulgaria? The only coincidence is the name of a small Bulgarian village – Bhutan. According to a similar UN research however, Bulgaria is ranked among Top 10 of the unhappiest nations.
“We have said many times that we want the Days of Happiness to turn into a contagious movement for a positive social change. We believe that happiness should be exposed and not hidden. Thus it is passed on to many more people, while at the same time happy people are much more successful in their personal and professional life. So we want to pay a bit more attention to happiness as a part of our life, an emotion that every one of us chases in a way or another, realizing what makes us most happy. One more thing – our foundation’s credo talks about the good – we should be good to the others, be positive to the surrounding world, so that it replies with the same.”
Text and photo: bnr.bg
(18.06.2012)