Greetings!
Welcome to the
inaugural issue of HAPPINESS HEADLINES, the
monthly newsletter for the documentary, currently in
production, H-Factor...Where is Your
Heart? In coming issues. We'll keep you
posted on the film's progress, on what's happening in
the world of happiness experts, conferences, research,
art and more! We'll explore happiness in all its
forms, even its flip side, unhappiness! Help us
sow the seeds of happiness with your feedback and
participation!
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 Lisa conceived and launched this
documentary project, H-Factor...Where is Your
Heart?, as the thesis for her Master's degree
in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa
Monica. The 30-minute version she produced, along
with loads of other hard work, earned her her master's
degree in August, but the project had taken on a life of
its own. The little doc that could has
inspired Lisa and her many supporters to expand the idea
into a feature-length film for national broadcast, film
festival and international distribution, and use in
educational settings.
So, that's
where we are at present--scheduling and shooting
interviews and happiness happenings that we
orchestrate or stumble upon. What makes H-Factor a unique film
is how it integrates insights from everyday people with
the experts who've researched the science behind your
smile. In our next issue, we'll give you a taste of the
colorful characters and renown happiness experts who
appear in H-Factor.
We aim to wrap production by December and
hunker down for intense editing throughout the winter
months.
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 Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy D. Baca shares
his heartprint in H-Factor.
Sheriff
Baca, a strong believer in the positive impact of
mentoring, has provided leadership, management and
direction to thousands of deputy sheriffs and police
officers throughout his career.
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Sheriff Lee Baca made it possible for
H-Factor to enter L.A.
County prison to interview inmates about their
perspective on happiness, even behind bars. In June,
shortly after completing this interview, we received a
very special letter from one of them which we wish to
share with you, as is, no edits:
July, 13,
2007.
Hello Lisa.
Thank you for the
gift!Its
appreciated, I just started it, and I'm enjoying it.
So thank a lot to all H-Factor Staff Once
again...I'll keep my
happiness alive at all times it was more of a pleasure
to haved meet you guys, Special. Such a wonderful
carein' person like you! I would like to know of
the interview? How did it come out to be? I know
it wasn't the best, but with in time of life I'll get
better. Hopefuly everything has come out just great
"Your Project". Wish you the best and hope to hear
of you sometime again...Thank you - Thank you! You made
my day, it felt so wonderful to haved received a
gift.
God
Bless You.
Sincerly,Edgar G. |
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This month we showcase H-Art Prints
created by young students at the Children's Education
Center at Cal Tech in Pasadena. Lisa and her two
children, Kayla and Aryel, facilitated a unique
happiness happening at this after-school
enrichment center when they handed out paper and markers
to the students and asked them to draw their own idea of
happiness for the H-Factor documentary. We captured it all on
film and proudly showcase their endearing H-Art Prints
in this and upcoming issues.
If you'd like to
submit your artistic expression of happiness...
please email it as an attachment to heartprint@whatisyourhappiness.com,
including an explanation, if you like.
We'll
gladly feature your H-Art print in an upcoming
issue .
Ashley Rogers
7 years old
"My Family"
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We attended the 2007 Gallup
International Positive Psychology Summit in Washington,
D.C., Oct. 4-6 and will feature highlights from this
adventure in our next newsletter. Until then, keep
in mind this tip from Mark Twain:
"The best way to cheer yourself up
is to try to cheer somebody else up."
With heart,
Lisa & Kayla Kamen
& the staff of
H-Factor...Where is Your
Heart? | | |
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 Our uniquely talented
Director of Photography
offers her take
on happiness:
When my mom first roped me in to
work with her on this film project, I was really excited
because I got more time to be with her all by myself, I got to
work a brand new, fancy video camera all by myself, and some
days I even got to take off school to go on shoots in other
cities. We even went to film heartprints of people in Canada
and Mexico. Now after a year, I'm getting a little bored with
it, but I still really like spending time with my mom, just me
and her, and taking school days off to travel. Later this
month, we're going to San Francisco to film the
Grandmothers. My mom says they are wise elders from
native tribes all over the world, so I guess I'd like to meet
them. That won't be boring. If you want to know what makes me
happy, right now, since I just turned ten, it is definitely
shopping and chocolate! What makes you happy?
Kayla |
Click the image above
for a sneak
peek! |
Third International Conference on Gross
National Happiness
(GNH)
GNH
challenges development models dominated by GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) and offers creative platforms for exchange,
networking and policy development aimed at individual,
community, national and
international transformation.
November 22-28, 2007 in
Bangkok, Thailand
http://www.gnh-movement.org/
Happiness & Its Causes
2008
Keynote presentation and workshop by Positive
Psychology founder,
Professor Martin Seligman,
and Daniel Gilbert, author
of
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· Josh Ballinger, one
of H-Factor's
incredible camera people and editors, is currently at sea on
the ScholarShip, a university program aboard a
transformed passenger ship hosting students on semester-long
voyages around the world. In addition to his workshops for the
voyaging students on digital film editing, Josh will continue
capturing heartprints in the many
ports-o-call the ship is scheduled to visit. Josh writes about
happiness ups and downs on the high seas in his blog. His
latest entry details his experience hearing the Dalai Lama
speak in Lisbon, Portugal.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=428951
· Documentary producer Lissa Pellicer, a dear friend of
Lisa's, contributed to the
filming of H-Factor by recording heartprint interviews
during her January 2007 sojourn in India with her daughter,
Samara. Pellicer shares her adventures in happiness through
her India blog. http://hfactorindiablog.blogspot.com/ |
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