26/18
She’s searching for fulfillment on her remote mountain trek
Scenario
Amber, a happiness agent, travels the Bhutanese Himalayas, surveying people’s happiness. I’m not sure if she should be called a “satisfaction agent.” Instead?
Not content with barely enough, but as if she’s truly satisfied with her life
That’s what Amber is trying to find out as she travels to this tiny Himalayan kingdom every two years to find out how its citizens feel about things. She uses a combination of tools to chat with residents old and new, urban and rural, traditional and modern—all with the goal of finding out how the population is feeling and feeding that back to the government, which wants to listen to and learn from those attitudes.
to help keep people in good shape—mentally and physically
This documentary features a range of individuals whose aspirations vary considerably – sometimes depending on their age, ability, location, education/professional skills – but for the most part they maintain a sense of appreciation for their surroundings. Even though their livelihoods may be seen by the West as more basic, agrarian, and underdeveloped; their own sense of existence high in the mountains, with beautiful scenery, fresh air, and the blessings of their gods, seems to offer that elusive sense of less being more and fulfillment.
There are quite a few characters here, some more entertaining and some downright disgusting, and Amber sometimes struggles to get meaningful answers to her questions so she can extrapolate the data in a useful way
Not everyone is unhappy, obviously, but the "clatter" for change, as the reverence for the king and the status quo seems to permeate every demographic, screaming that it ain’t broke, so don’t fix it. In a society that hasn’t really advanced technologically yet, it seems to still be making internet access available to everyone and has a proud tradition of educating everyone to empower them to make decisions – and yet, they still pretty much feel that magic word.
Apparently having cows helps too!
Happy.
