~~~We asked our co-founder Liz Irwin about her recent trip to the Global Happiness Summit hosted at the University for Peace in Costa Rica ~
– Could you briefly describe the Global Happiness Summit from your POV to us?
The GGH Summit consisted of three days of seminars and presentations around the vast topic of happiness. The memorable presentations for me were: “Suppose Coke Were an NGO,” about how an NGO can use shared purpose and other intangible values to emotionally connect us and help to promote just causes and NGO startups; “How to invite more happiness into your Intimate Practice”, “Breath of Peace”, a sort of sacred pause idea, brought to the workplace; and the activity of “forest bathing: bringing us back to our sacred selves. Also, several courses that sought to define happiness through engaging our spirits and finding our purpose in life.
– What was the University for Peace like? Were you guys on the campus?
We felt lucky to be able to attend and present on the beautiful Campus outside San Jose, Costa Rica, in beautiful Ciudad Colon, set in the jungle and coffee plantations
– How did you get connected to this event?
I submitted a proposal for a presentation at the Gross Global Happiness Forum about happiness in travel to the University, and fortunately the University liked the proposal and I gave an ignite session on transformational travel.
– What was your presentation about? What about this topic is personally so important to you?
The topic of my presentation was Travel for Transformation. It’s a topic that’s really important to me as a travel advisor and as a yoga therapist. The question is always: what are the right set of circumstances and personal qualities that when brought together can provide a change in perceptions that can be life changing. Travel is a chance to stretch yourself, forget yourself and therefore reinvent yourself. If I can help guide people to making travel decisions based on their preferences and needs and provide meaningful activities and connections, something magical can happen in travel that will change your mind.
– What kind of people attended? Who was in the audience?
There were people from many different backgrounds, both personal and professional. I was most attracted to the presentations that provided a new way of looking at happiness and finding meaning in our lives. Whether we understand it consciously or not, we do not like to waste our own time; we prefer purpose and meaning in everything we do. Most of these presenters were former business leaders that had changed careers based on a realization that they were not living a fulfilling life, and had become coaches, yoga or spiritual teachers, others were psychologists with practical ideas for adding happiness to our lives through intentional living. The most surprising presenters were the advertising professionals, who have made a study of how to open minds to new ideas. That was a complete surprise for me.
– Were there any key take-aways or phrases that you personally heard from other presenters or students?
Hygge, the Danish idea of a coziness that engenders wellbeing as a way of life, was something that I had heard before, but never understood how to apply to life in both a way of being and in a practical way. As I think back on that particular presentation about Hygge, it becomes not only a matter of intentional living, but of choosing happiness, as a positive mental attitude as well as choosing the circumstances that will foster happiness that really matters. This is really the take-away from the conference itself: choosing to be happy–a process not a goal.
QUICKNOTE: Learn more about The University for Peace https://www.upeace.org/
About UPEACE
The University for Peace (UPEACE) is an institution of higher education dedicated to the study of peace.
Created by UN General Assembly Resolution 35/55, the University for Peace has been training leaders for peace for the past four decades. It is a unique global academic institution with over 2,000 Alumni hailing from more than 120 nations. Through its Master’s and Doctoral degree programmes, UPEACE trains future leaders to explore and formulate strategies and practices in various contexts to address the causes of multiple problems affecting human and global wellbeing, and thus contribute to the processes of peacekeeping and peacebuilding. The UPEACE Experience is experiential and unique, empowering, transformative and cultivates critical thinking in its students.
