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  • NARRATOR: This is Walter.

  • This is Walter's human, Jessica. 00:00:09.408 --> 00:00:10.610 line:0% Hello. 00:00:10.643 --> 00:00:13.079 line:0% NARRATOR: This is Jessica's fridge.

  • And this is a film about happiness.

  • The School of Life is sending some of YouTube's most popular creators

  • on a series of field trips to explore

  • some of philosophy's most intriguing ideas. 00:00:35.101 --> 00:00:37.170 line:0% This time, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard 00:00:37.203 --> 00:00:39.138 line:0% a content creator with more subscribers 00:00:39.171 --> 00:00:40.706 line:0% than the population of Iceland,

  • the second-happiest nation on Earth,

  • is finding out what most of us

  • are getting wrong about happiness.

  • [KISSES]

  • As long as humans have traveled the Earth,

  • people have been motivated by one thing above all.

  • -The desire to be happy. -[LAUGHTER]

  • But we humans seem to have an uncanny knack

  • of making ourselves miserable.

  • Why? What are most of us getting wrong about happiness?

  • And how could we all strive to be happier?

  • Oh, that is a tough question.

  • NARRATOR: Maybe to understand,

  • we need someone with a different outlook on life.

  • That's where Jessica comes in.

  • Jessica suffers from nerve disorder HNPP,

  • and rare auto-immune disorder MCTD.

  • Which means she sometimes has to use a mobility aid.

  • I'm mostly deaf and partially visually impaired.

  • NARRATOR: Jessica doesn't let it get her down.

  • I guess that's why you've asked me

  • to be your exhibit on happiness in this film.

  • It's important to remember

  • that I have the same needs and desires for happiness,

  • just like everyone else.

  • It's just that I faced a fair few obstacles along the way.

  • And, I guess that's given me a unique perspective

  • on what actually makes people happy.

  • NARRATOR: Couldn't have said it better myself.

  • So what do people think is the key to happiness?

  • We went on to the streets of Brighton,

  • where Jessica lives, to find out.

  • Hmm. That's a good question.

  • Financial stability, probably.

  • A hundred grand a year, I guess.

  • More money,

  • and a nicer car.

  • Probably like a Chanel bag or something, yeah.

  • Um, enough money to travel the world.

  • Shares in a business.

  • Just to be able to buy a house would be, uh,

  • would be nice.

  • A plane.

  • NARRATOR: But are money, cars, a bag and a plane

  • really what would make the good people of Brighton happy?

  • Or might the secret of true happiness

  • be a little more surprising?

  • A 60-second guide to happiness.

  • The belief that we have a right to happiness

  • is a very modern idea,

  • like Segways or selfies,

  • but no one can agree what makes us happy.

  • Many think that material wealth will do the trick,

  • but as societies become richer,

  • they tend to become more miserable.

  • The ancient Greeks had very different concepts of happiness

  • to our ideas based on what we own or how we feel.

  • Aristotle defined happiness as eudaimonia,

  • a state achieved by living a virtuous life and doing good things.

  • While the Stoics believed that true happiness

  • comes from not expecting very much.

  • Then, in the 20th century,

  • happiness became all about how we feel, not what we do,

  • and when chemists discovered

  • that the feeling of happiness can be stimulated by amphetamines,

  • a billion-dollar industry was born.

  • Now, happy pills like Adderall

  • and anti-depressants like Prozac

  • are taken by hundreds of millions of people every day.

  • But do they actually make us happy?

  • The Auschwitz survivor Viktor Frankl echoed the ancient Greeks,

  • saying that happiness is served by selfless acts.

  • The more you pursue happiness,

  • the less likely it is to come to you.

  • So, is happiness something we can all find

  • if we just stop looking for it so hard?

  • What does our happiness expert Jessica think? 00:03:36.448 --> 00:03:37.817 line:0% Because I have health problems, 00:03:37.850 --> 00:03:39.919 line:0% I've had to learn to find happiness 00:03:39.952 --> 00:03:42.622 line:0% when my body is trying to bring me down. 00:03:42.655 --> 00:03:45.591 line:0% As such, I developed a pretty unique perspective 00:03:45.624 --> 00:03:47.927 line:0% on what actually makes us happy. 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:49.528 line:0% And thus I present... 00:03:49.561 --> 00:03:51.631 line:0% [READING]

  • [JESSICA READING] 00:03:56.602 --> 00:04:00.039 align:start size:94% position:6% line:0% Human connection is the most vital path to happiness.

  • There's moments when we open up

  • and share our mushy, vulnerable insides

  • with someone else's mushy, vulnerable insides.

  • [JESSICA READING]

  • Living with a disability and chronic illness,

  • I've had many, many horrible days,

  • when things have gone badly wrong and I've ended up in hospital

  • in excruciating pain and the edge of dying.

  • But that's not today.

  • And that's really important to remember.

  • -And to celebrate... -[HORN TOOTING]

  • ...the amazing things about today,

  • both big and small.

  • Even if that's something as little as having your favorite drink.

  • [JESSICA READING]

  • I accept my limitations, because by setting a limit,

  • I also set myself free

  • within that framework that I've created.

  • [JESSICA READING]

  • Happiness might come all in a rush from a big development.

  • But it's sweeter when it builds from tiny drops within your day.

  • Whether that's a warm bath,

  • a beautiful dress, a good night's sleep. 00:05:02.868 --> 00:05:04.503 line:0% [BARKS] 00:05:04.536 --> 00:05:05.871 line:0% NARRATOR: Thanks, Tilly. 00:05:05.904 --> 00:05:08.507 line:0% [TILLY WHIMPERS]

  • Love doesn't have to be grand and obvious and involve a ring and marriage.

  • It can also be the simple kindness

  • from one human to another.

  • By showing other people love,

  • we show ourselves love too.

  • [JESSICA READING]

  • We can nourish our happiness with the love and care of personal growth.

  • Every time I develop my skills and abilities,

  • I feel the warmest inner glow of pride.

  • [JESSICA READING]

  • I find happiness in the smallest things.

  • My wife's smile, my puppies' excitement,

  • a walk on the beach at sunset,

  • what could be happier than that?

  • [LAUGHS] 00:05:46.078 --> 00:05:48.447 line:0% We all have pretty strange ideas about happiness,

  • really, don't we?

  • We often strive for things that just aren't possible,

  • and then get upset when they don't happen.

  • I believe that happiness should be like health.

  • Something that we prioritize and acknowledge takes work.

  • We've all been dealt different cards in life,

  • but only through acceptance

  • of our misfortunes and what we're missing

  • can we truly see the beautiful things that we do have in life,

  • and, goodness, isn't that lovely? 00:06:14.573 --> 00:06:19.078 line:0% So, that's my list of what makes me really, genuinely happy. 00:06:19.111 --> 00:06:20.146 line:0% But my challenge to you 00:06:20.179 --> 00:06:23.516 line:0% is to think about what that is in your own life. 00:06:23.549 --> 00:06:25.451 line:0% And then, to live it. 00:06:25.484 --> 00:06:27.153 line:0% If you'd like to see more in this series, 00:06:27.186 --> 00:06:29.155 line:0% subscribe to The School of Life channel. 00:06:29.188 --> 00:06:30.556 line:0% [THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: This is Walter.

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