Celebrating International Day of Happiness
March 20th, it’s the International Day of Happiness. Who knew?
The United Nations started this back in 2012, as a way to recognize and communicate the importance of happiness; to remind us that well-being is a central goal for people around the world. Good health and wellbeing is one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
To achieve this goal, happiness ought to be prioritized as a key public policy objective, something that is intentional and measured. If our model for human progress starts to appropriately value wellbeing, placing wellbeing at the center of policy design, sustainable development and productive growth becomes much more attainable. Solving large social, economic, and environmental problems gets easier with better goals and policy (we can learn from a country like Bhutan, which adopted the goal of Gross National Happiness).
The UN is doing what it can to push this goal forward and we are convinced: there’s good reason to celebrate. On this particular day, as everyday citizens of the globe, we can help share this message, reminding each other of our responsibility to happiness.
Luckily, celebrating is not only the right thing to do, but the fun thing to do. In this way, happiness is a funny thing…It’s deeply human and contagious. Our quest for happiness is universal and experiences of happiness unite us. It’s how we come closer together.
In Da Nang, Vietnam, we are coming closer together to celebrate the day. This initiative was pushed by MUD Bistro, a local business and partner restaurant that puts purpose at the center of its business model. Sometimes Tim, the owner, forgets profit altogether, and laughs about it, because people come first. So Tim and his team made a proposal to the city to put together an all-day event. It was approved. And Dork Dancing was a part of the program.
5:00PM at the beach, at our typical location. Inclusion in their itinerary makes a lot of sense, and we are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the community’s larger efforts.
Dorks like Kelsey March, Nick Czarny, Jonathan Heit, Jonathan Keily, and Ana Luiza all provided their happiness services at the event, facilitating workouts, trainings, and workshops that contribute to wellbeing.
We are inspired by this community in Da Nang and grateful to be included in the day’s events. We consider #dorkdancing for mental health as a kind of happiness advocacy. It’s part of our purpose, that’s why we dance every (damn) day. We are inspired by the vision of a healthy and happy world and believe the UN is onto something…happiness matters.
Dork Dancing is a grassroots mental health initiative, campaign, and community effort. We depend entirely on charitable giving to inspire impact. We hope you may consider supporting by donating.