How does it work?
“CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE, CHOOSE LIFE,
CHOOSE WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY”!
Have you ever wondered what is happiness? I
have so many times that I decided to make a documentary, alone, traveling the
world to know what people, different societies, with all its peculiarities,
think about happiness.
Who conceived?
I, Clara (Clarice). Who am I? Journalist, woman,
Brazilian, South of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, but resident in Brasilia,
Distrito Federal, graduated in Journalism and Letters (philology or philology),
graduate in history, society and citizenship and doctorate in sociology. Fluent
in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
What is the project? It is a documentary about
happiness, made by me in the greatest possible number of countries, translated
into as many languages. The entire documentary will be made from a single
question: What is happiness?
Why making this documentary? The question is:
why not do? There's nothing like being done in terms of documentary, similar to
that planned. In addition, the project was designed by me, you have a lot of me
it is a dream of life. So if someone ask me what will I do if it does not work
out, I can already answer that there is no such possibility because for me it
has worked. The simple fact that I put into practice, to go after my dream, to
have courage to start without support from anyone, without sponsorship, alone,
overcoming my fears, it's work. I'm not looking for fame, just want to do a job
that can contribute positively to the lives of people. Seek "co-authors of
the project", partners, volunteers.
How many people go through life wondering or
whining for not doing what they really wanted to do. How many people fail to
accomplish great things for fear, lack of incentives, accommodation, afraid to
leave the comfort zone, afraid to go wrong, fear of disappointing others or
yourself? But what is not work? For me, steal, kill, be dishonest, unethical,
corruption, selfishness, prejudice, etc. It is not going to work. The rest is
valid. At least I was tried.
Did you know that happiness is a human right
guaranteed in some Constitutions? Happiness is not a linear and continuous
concept. Varies from society to society, can be set individually or
collectively. For example, people from countries with higher HDI may be
considered happier. There are also studies showing that people from warmer
countries, with more sun, are considered happier, less rates of depression.
Some studies have even attributed to vitamin D, essential for humans and is
produced by sun exposure. Another way to search collective happiness is to
analyze a country that is facing an economic crisis or a war, a problem of
greater magnitude that affects whole society. Of course the happiness concepts
will vary when studied over the face of social problems and after. Brazil, for
example, my home country, goes through a series economic crisis. There is a
dismal and social insecurity, people fear unemployment, inflation etc. Of
course now people are not as happy as they were three years ago. The United States
began facing a major economic crisis in 2008, but has now recovered. Of course,
today people have a different concept of happiness than they had in 2008 in the
US.
This work, although it is a documentary, is at
the same time, a large research and never been done before, so broadly.
For a person to be aware of happiness she also
needs to know the opposite, the antithesis, unhappiness. Certainly much
interesting, expected and unexpected, will surface along the documentary
production.
Does a person of a hippie community is happier
than a person of a Amysh community? Does a person with health and never faced a
serious illness is happier than a person who is hospitalized? Did a free person
is happier than a person who is arrested? Does a young man is happier than a
senior citizen? Does a race is happier than another? Does gender, sexual
orientation, religion, work, money may be crucial to happiness? Are questions
like these that I can find and share with people around the world.
Who funds?
Anyone
and everyone. The idea is to use the concept of "crowdfunding"
(crowdfunding) where any one individual or corporation can be a sponsor,
donating money or material to the preparation of the documentary. Besides the
crowdfunding, use the concepts of solidarity economy. The idea, if possible, is
not spending nor the clothes that I will use throughout the courses because I
find very different climates in a short space of time and I can not be carrying
a lot of clothes and footwear. First, as I will be alone and I am small, I have
to be with lightweight luggage; second, it's a way to show that you can live
with little and always recycling donations and donations. For example, when you
are in a cold climate place and make clothes and cool shoes when I go to a warm
climate location, I can swap the cool clothes with someone who wants to donate
warm weather clothes, or at a thrift store and make the switch, something like
that, so "nothing is lost, everything is transformed".
What is crowdfunding? The collective financing
(crowdfunding) is to generate capital for the collective interest initiatives
by aggregating multiple sources of funding, in general individuals interested
in the initiative.
As will be done? During my travels, which will
depend on sponsorships and donations, I will interview people asking what is
happiness and I will disclose in the social media, the greatest number of
languages, Releases, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, website, YouTube, Google+ and
other means communication and especially of spontaneous disclosure of people in
their social media.
Every place I come, before you start to do
interviews, I will introduce myself in the means of local communication such as
radios, newspapers, TVs and Embassies, I'll release in the languages I have
been translated and whenever a site with a language I do not talk, I will ask
that any volunteers translate the release into the local language.
When the country has a great cultural diversity
and I need to stay longer, I will change work for stay, food and
transportation. I can cook, I can be nanny, housekeeping, waitress, clerk,
translator, receptionist, care for animals, a number of things I can exercise
for a period in exchange for a place to stay, eat, use the Internet. It can be
a house, a trailer, a tent, a boat, a ship.
How everything started? In 2009, less than two
years after returning from Europe, I began to think about making a documentary.
At first I had thought of making a documentary about gender, about how was
gender equality around the world. Then I started thinking about the project,
resources and who I call to help me. I called a good friend, also a journalist,
and at first she loved the idea and encouraged, but eventually gave up. I
started working and the idea was dying. In late 2012 I was diagnosed with
malignant cancer and in February 2014 made a major surgery. I spent the whole
year 2014 and early 2015 recovering from surgery, making the treatment and
working hard. In late 2014 the idea of the documentary started again but with
a different theme: happiness. The concept of happiness has changed a lot for me
after cancer and health has become one of the main reasons of happiness for me,
but people have very different concepts of happiness. Many people confuse
happiness with pleasure. Science define happiness in different ways. And
thinking in contemporary concepts of happiness is that I decided to make the
documentary and realize happiness by cultural, social, gender, race, age,
governments.
CONCEPT HAPPINESS FOR
THE PHILOSOPHER
Happiness is particular to each human being, is
a very individual matter. Even if the shared idea among most people is that
this concept is built with health, love, money, and other items.
The philosophy that investigates and is
dedicated to define and clarify the ideas of man is great to reflect on
happiness. And the initial thoughts of philosophy on ethics contained it
happiness in ancient Greece.
The earliest reference of philosophy on this
subject is the fragment of text Thales of Miletus, who lived between 7 BC and 6
BC Tales To be happy is to have strong body and are, good luck and formed soul.
Socrates had this idea for a new direction, he
postulated that there was no relationship of happiness with only satisfaction
of desires and bodily needs, but that man is not only body, but in principal,
soul. Happiness would be the good of the soul, through just and virtuous
conduct.
And since for Kant, happiness is within the
pleasure and desire, and there is nothing to do with ethics, then it would not
be subject to investigate philosophically. Kant's argument had effect, because
this issue disappeared from the works of succeeding schools of philosophy.
But what about the English language at the time
of Kant, happiness was highlighted in the political thought and the search for
it has become "human right", and this is enshrined in the Constitution
of the United States of America, 1787, drafted according to the Enlightenment.
In the 20th century, a new reflection on the
subject of English Bertrand Russell with the work The Conquest of Happiness,
with method of logical investigation; Bertrand, in short, be happy is to
eliminate the self-centeredness.
And in 1989, Julian Marias, Spanish philosopher
and dedicated his important book "The Human Happiness" with this
theme. The book is studied the history of this concept, from antiquity to the
present day; There highlighting the absence of philosophical reflection on the
concept of contemporary happiness, which could be a symptom of unhappiness in
the world.
The human being is happy when it is the first
to realize. The question of discussing happiness through philosophy and
reflection is important to make it more clear way of meeting the same, sought
by all, and independent of the time and society in which we live.
Methodology
Practically an idea and a camera in hand. I
have no staff, I'll be alone, therefore, for the sake of weight and even
security, will take the fewest possible equipment. A great phone, you shoot,
record and film with good quality, external hard drives and a lightweight and
powerful computer.
Always disclose the social media site to where
I'll be going, how I am going, it was a donation of passage, whether it was a
ride if invited me. Before arriving in the city, always study a little history
of the place and upon arriving, I present to local media and ask the locals
some references such as security, tourism, community curiosities etc. and then
start the interviews.
I will disclose with videos of myself or small
text on Twitter, Facebook, Blog, Instagram, Google+ etc.
The more footage needs to be saved in the cloud
and in hard drives to every six months or so, back to Brazil or any country
that offer to help, to join the material and organize to help the final
editing. The idea is to spend about no less than one year traveling the world.
Not much more than that to not get outdated.
People can also send videos spontaneously, no
longer than two minutes, answering "What is happiness?".
People interviewed or who submit videos must
say the name, age, city, state, country. Sexual orientation, religion, marital
status, race is not necessary to be declared.
How to help me making a donation? People from
outside Brazil can make a donation to the bank account through Western Union.
Bank: BRADESCO, Account: 0168346-2, Agency: 0606-8, Favoured: Clarice Silva dos
Santos, Brazil.
“Be the change you
want to see in the world”.
