Fun thing to do: The Happy Show in Vancouver

This Saturday afternoon, I found myself staring at a wall that showed what were the happiest nations across the globe.

This was all part of the Stefan Sagmeister: The Happy Show, created by Stefan Sagmeister, an Austrian graphic designer based in New York City.

It's on display at the Museum of Vancouver, a wonderful place with a lots to see.

On entering the exhibit what captured my attention was a massive wall of colourful Post-it notes that had Vancouverites disclosing their sources of happiness!

What was funny is that a lot of people cited food as a source. Entries included things like cake, French fries, chocolate, and there was one lone person who wrote "piano".

It made me think of happiness as a purely relative and simple feeling. It does not last and it really depends on you.

There were several detailed and fun exhibits of happiness that ranged from posters to a dining table scrawled with messages from people regarding their happiness. 

What interested me was sighting on a wall the equation of happiness. It said 50 percent of happiness has a genetic component, 40 percent is based on your choices (like meditation), and the remaining 10 percent is out of your control and based on things like your wealth and where you may live.

Noticed a big kid grabbing a gumball from a machine that was part of the exhibit. He seemed perfectly happy!

Another interesting point was on love. It showed that companion love provides far greater happiness among couples than passionate love.

From all the countries, the Scandinavians are by the far the happiest people in the world. (Why???) As Stefan himself noted, he was in Helsinki and noticed that nobody was happy.

On the other hand, Americans and Canadians ranked high with happiness.

All in all, it's a must-see and fantastic show, especially for cloudy days like today. It runs until September 7.