when I win the World Boxing Championship
the only problem is I’ve never actually
boxed in my life and um grandpa only has
six months to live but I have a plan i
am going to lift weights every morning
and i’m gonna box every day except for
one rest day and that that might be
today no i’m gonna do this my first
boxing lesson come on come on toughen up
kid punch me in the face um I I don’t
think that’s a really good idea come on
just do it what are you scared um I just
I don’t want to hurt you come on I don’t
I can’t do this I search for the nearest
exit and make a run for it I’m free I
take off my boxing gloves and I throw
them on the ground wait a second i just
spent like 120 dollars on those so i run
backwards and i retrieve the boxing left
and i keep running i’m free like a bird
like I’m flying except for not really
but it really feels like it you know and
I realized that maybe I’m not a boxer
but I just don’t want to let my grandpa
down the dreaded day has come it’s my
first boxing match and grandpa is
sitting right in the front row and I
don’t want to let him down but I have to
tell him the truth grandpa I’m really
sorry but I can’t box today what um it’s
just that I’m scared scared you don’t
know scared kid I woke up every morning
and had to fight just to get by toughen
up so that’s how I thought the
conversation was gonna go but it
actually went like this I’m really sorry
grandpa but I don’t think I can box
today oh my dear it’s okay I didn’t
think you were really into the boxing
thing anyway it’s just you’ve been so
down and I thought this would lift your
spirits but you know something you got a
letter I got a letter yeah it’s from the
winnipeg school of happiness the
winnipeg school
full of happiness yeah you’ve been
accepted I’ve been accepted that night I
had the most amazing dream about the
Winnipeg school of happiness and what it
might be like welcome to the Winnipeg
school of happiness my name is Harriet
and I will be your happiness trainer
first things first I’d like to ask you
to give a high five to the person
sitting next to you and ask them how are
excellent that is what happiness is all
about sharing laughing smiling and
sometimes dancing a little bit of
merengue so that’s what we do here at
the Winnipeg school of happiness we will
be singing happy birthday every day even
when it’s no one’s birthday we will sing
happy birthday to a little wooden frog
whose birthday it is every day so
students have happiness it’s time to
share what is it that makes you happy
Pizza puppies girl awesome thank you so
much for sharing what brings you
happiness the next morning I woke up and
I was so excited to go to the Winnipeg
school of happiness the only problem was
I didn’t know where to go but there was
a letter that accepted me and enclosed
was a map you are here and the Winnipeg
school is here so loop de loop de loop
buzz buzz buzz buzz up the mountain we
happiness like it wasn’t exactly the
most straightforward path um but I had
my grandpa to help me at least for a
little while thank you for joining me at
hi everyone my name is Bridget and that
was a scene from my play the school of
happiness that will be premiering at the
Winnipeg fringe festival this summer
today I’m going to be talking about
happiness how is it that we can find
happiness in the context of destructive
life events such as the loss of a loved
one the u.s. election and climate change
I’m from Winnipeg and this is my family
what is the current context that were in
so it’s 2017 for me that means that i
recently lost my grandfather and this
has been very challenging part of the
reason why i wrote this play was to
honor him and his joie de vivre which is
a French word for joy of living 2017
this also means that a certain president
whose name rhymes with Ronald jump was
recently elected and many of us are
feeling afraid for what this means for
human rights and for climate change with
this talk I also hope to offer some
thoughts on how we can respond when we
think about how we can deal with these
difficult life events we’re often told
that we have two choices one we can
disengage completely or the other choice
is to buy stuff like some cool new
sneakers or some magic product that will
make everything better but we really
have a third option which is the pursuit
of happiness the pursuit of happiness
can disrupt a destructive status quo
that says that happiness is all about
what we consume what is happiness we
it is the sound that you make when you
go tobogganing or when you go on a
sleigh ride in other words happiness
stands for wii and wii stands for the
following w means that we are in this
together we’re not alone one of the
single most important factors in terms
of happiness is the strength of our
personal relationships and connections
with friends and family we can be happy
when we do kind things for others it
brings us happiness and it brings that
person happiness as well and this can be
as simple as a smile and hello how are
you doing today to the people that you
cross paths with the e is for express
expressing our thoughts and feelings the
second e is for engage engage in
something that is absorbing and
meaningful the third E and perhaps the
most important is enjoy after my grandpa
passing I was feeling down and I really
wanted to be strong for my family but I
realized that it actually really helped
to come together with my family and to
express our sadness at this loss it was
really helpful to be able to express our
gratitude for the amazing gifts that he
brought to the world like the fact that
he was a gardener and it brought us so
much joy to be in the garden this is our
first selfie and my grandpa’s first
selfie it’s so amazing to be able to
enjoy the great memories that we shared
together I also think about when I was
younger and his kindness and my
grandmother’s kindness when they would
have me over for sleepovers and I think
about his passion for social justice
like when we went to and I don’t know
more demonstration together just a few
years ago which brings us to the next
question is how do we engage in the
context of disruptive
world events and the news in particular
so sometimes we want to disengage
completely I know that during the recent
election I in some ways wanted to just
ignore completely what was happening and
like move to Antarctica where you
couldn’t get internet connection or
something that just made me feel worse
and what really helped was actually
expressing this feeling of being
overwhelmed with my sisters and that
allowed me to move to a place of
engagement to be part of social
movements who are standing up to this
government and there are so many ways
that we can engage whether that be
signing a petition whether that be
contributing financially or whether that
would be organizing or attending a
public event or demonstration there are
so many ways that we can engage and it
can also be really joyful to be part of
this movement how about when we’re
talking about climate change how can we
confront climate change when we see that
fossil fuel projects are being approved
when we know we need to be moving in the
opposite direction towards a renewable
energy future it can be really
discouraging and disappointing when we
see fossil fuel projects being approved
so how do we react I love what my friend
Diane says she’s a friend from running
and when running long distances she says
don’t focus on your blisters on your
feet and the pain she says keep going
focus on where you want to go and what
you want to achieve and I think that we
can apply this to climate change what is
it that we want we want a healthy
environment for everybody for people in
the global South for those who are most
impacted by fossil fuel development for
future generations we want the respect
of indigenous rights and knowledge we
want to see a renewable energy future
and this is possible if we stand up to
those policies and projects that lead us
in the wrong direction and support and
create projects and policies that move
us in the right direction we can take
inspiration from projects like this from
a friend melina lab bukan massimo who
created a solar energy project to
energize a community health center with
the lubricant cree we can be inspired by
groups like iron and earth who have a
solar skills program to retrain former
employees in the oil industry to solar
skills we can engage in fun ways in our
own life like for example making our own
herb garden or buying from the local
farmers market or biking or walking
places at the same time if we’re only
focused on our life’s work we can burn
out it is so important to take the time
to enjoy one another to enjoy shared
meals together walking together dancing
together to take the time to exchange
even a simple act like a hello how’s it
going a smile a high five life is too
important not to do our best to make a
positive contribution to it and it is
too awesome not to enjoy it I wish you
all a beautiful balance of happiness and
purpose in your lives thank you
[Music]
[Applause] [Music]