Transforming the Invisible

Greetings dear Happiness Is fans! Andrew and I are excited to be launching into a second phase of the ever evolving saga of Andrew's second film, Happiness Is. We worked hard in social networking spaces like MySpace (we're also in Facebook now, if you'd like to become a fan in there, look us up!) to blog while we were in production. Since the summer, though, we've been taking a little break while we worked on the edit, submitted to festivals and did some marketing, along with the support of team members Jim (Executive Producer), Sjon (Editor), Troy and Christina (Associate Producers) and we've even added a few more key players to Happiness Is, like the folks at RADAR.

Now, in our next stage, we will be building out our website to make it into an interactive community. Hoping y'all will share your thoughts and stories with us. And you'll be hearing from different team players as we take a little time to let you know what we're thinking about. And, as it's always been with the MySpace blogs, y'all are the heart of the matter and when we hear from you, that's what brings all this to life. The Happiness Is community is nothing without each of you, our neighbors!

So tune in each week to lend your heart and mind to a new blog. Let us know what you think...what resonates with you or just what song is in your head that day. :)

First up this week -- Adrienne from our friends at RADAR starts us off.

Why is it that the most beautiful, the strongest, the most terrifying and the most trusted things are the things that we cannot see? Isn't it ironic that the invisible holds so many possibilities?

I've always been very interested and curious about cause and effect. From when you are a very little kid, most of your life is just this; you get rewarded or punished based on your actions. But the intricate chemistry and the endless amount of little invisible things that contribute to a change in decision or belief is what absolutely blows my mind. How is it that a 90 year old man who has been deeply racist all of his long, stubborn life can one day have an interaction that causes him to release this 90 year lifestyle and grudge? And throwing out the element of time, how can someone be so strongly against abortion, then find themselves at a clinic a few months later? What happens, and where does it happen? Your head? Your heart and soul? Both? I struggle with the explanation that a mixture of just the right amounts and types of chemicals intermingle to create emotions and therefore tie them to beliefs. Well, what exactly happens that completely undoes the done and sets the individual down a completely different path in life? And what about what Gladwell defines as "the tipping point;" what invisible orgy is taking place behind your flesh to be that last push?

Maybe its only invisible because we're not looking for the right thing? Maybe a lot of things we face in life are because we looking in the wrong direction, at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons. I bet if we start looking into each other, the cause and effect would be a little more rewarding each time, and the invisible would slowly turn into things that you will never forget seeing.

Whatever it was that snuck into my head, heart and soul when viewing this movie, was good. It came in quietly and swiftly, shook me around and woke me up to life. It defined what purpose was and reminded me that life was not a solitary or independent pursuit.