Happiness: A Genius Idea!
Doodle by (genius) Miranda Rose
Sidecar Summit Portugal 2024. 13 adventurous women leaders from the international school leadership ecosystem (school leaders, coaches, and consultants) came together for 3 days of conversation about the role of happiness in leadership, in schools, and in the broader community. The Summit took place in mid-November, amidst the swirl of the US election fall out, the ongoing destruction in Gaza and Lebanon, unprecedented weather events, and a myriad of other disturbing human and climactic disruptions on our globe. And yet … we chose “The Pursuit of Happiness” as our theme.
Cognitive dissonance? Willful obtuseness? Frivolous avoidance of the state of the world? Actually, anything but. Our main takeaway: Happiness is not only a worthy pursuit, it is fuel for releasing genius. And what we as individuals and leaders, in our schools and in our communities, could use at this point of unfolding history is … genius ideas!
The genius I refer to in this context is one’s unique way of encountering and processing the world, which is a product of our DNA, upbringing, lived experiences, encounters, and other elements that make us who we are. The good news: we can alter the ‘who’ of us both through regulating our nervous systems and rewiring our brains. So for those amongst us who could use a tune-up or a more radical overhaul so that we can meet this moment in history as the best version of ourselves (our ‘genius’), pursuing happiness is a) a timely endeavor, and b) well within our grasp.
Through brief introductions to somatic awareness, positive intelligence and polyvagal theory, summiteers grounded themselves in the idea that happiness is an inside job. External contexts, even challenging ones, can be met through internally-generated techniques designed to move from ‘fight or flight’ mode to ‘rest and digest’ (or ‘ventral vagal’ mode), the state in which our nervous systems feel safe, trusting, and connected. This state allows for positive social interactions, emotional regulation, and resilience to stress. We feel we have agency and choice. This in turn has knock-on effects for our leadership practice, for student motivation and achievement, and for thriving communities.
What does this have to do with happiness? This comes down to definition. We discussed two broad concepts of happiness: eudaimonic and hedonic. Eudaimonic happiness can be thought of as a sustained state of well-being, in which one’s basic needs are met and one is living a life of meaning and purpose. Hedonic happiness, as its name implies, is associated with moments of emotional pleasure, as one may encounter in savoring delicious chocolate or basking in a hot tub. In either case, happiness serves as an indicator that we are in a state where genius ideas can take root. 😊
While happiness is an inside job, external factors can certainly allow for its flourishing. Schools are well-primed for that, especially when ‘happy’ leaders are at the helm. (‘Happy’ leaders are emotionally regulated, aligned with their ‘genius,’ and fulfilling a meaningful vision.) Several schools and school groups are serving as models for putting happiness at the core of their mission and operations, with promising results. These include Wellington College in the UK, Geelong Grammar School in Australia, and UNESCO, whose Happy Schools Initiative has produced a series of guides for embedding happiness in schools, grounded in both science and philosophy. We were fortunate to have Dr. Patricia Gramaxo, Director of Happy Schools Portugal, share her extensive knowledge and experience in this area with us.
We concluded our Summit from a place of hope. Convinced that happiness is a worthy pursuit at the individual, leader, and school level, we recognized that it is also essential fuel for hope, which the world needs more than ever. And we are not talking passive hope. As David Orr, a leading environmental thinker, puts it: ‘Hope is a verb, with its sleeves rolled up.’ We committed ourselves to being happypreneurs, in whatever way our individual geniuses called for, for ourselves, in our leadership roles, and in our schools and broader communities.
Happypreneurs of Sidecar Summit Portugal 2024
So happiness is a worthy pursuit, not just because it feels good, but because it allows genius to take root and flourish. Perhaps pursuing happiness, then, could be considered activating hope. And that feels a lot better to me than hiding under my blankets while feeling the world collapse around me.
Yours in being a happypreneur,
Bridget
