Newsletter 2: Latest news from the Movement
17 Nov 2010 | Mark Williamson
Hello,
I'm writing to you as the new director of the Movement for
Happiness. It's fantastic that you've signed up to join the
thousands of us who want to help create a happier society.
In this email I'll share some of our latest
ideas and also give you a brief update on progress so far. But
before any of that…
We want your
views!
By far the most important part of the movement
is the people involved - and that means you. We have lots of
exciting plans, but we would really value your help to work out
which things to prioritise.
Later today you should receive a separate
email with a link to a short online survey. It would be wonderful
if you could take a few minutes to fill this in. It will give you
the opportunity to influence the movement right from the start and
we'd love to hear your ideas.
Our latest
thinking
To explain our latest thinking about the
movement, I'd like to share my answers to some questions we've been
asked recently, including:
- What is the movement all
about?
- What exactly do you mean by
happiness?
- Surely we can't be happy all the
time?
- Isn't chasing happiness a bit
selfish?
- What would a happier society actually look
like?
You can read my responses here: Our vision for a happier
society
Recent
highlights
It's still very early days for the movement,
but we're starting to make good progress. Here are a few
highlights:
- Our team: We now have a
small but growing group of wonderful volunteers and part-time staff
involved in various different ways. Please get in touch if you'd
like to help out too.
- Our website: Development of
our new interactive website is now underway in partnership
with Public Zone, a great digital agency which
specialises in helping to build social movements. We plan to launch
a beta version of the site in January.
- Our launch. Our full public
launch is now most likely to be in April when we hope to have a
range of community-led initiatives going on across the country as
part of an Action for Happiness Week. If you
like the sound of this and would like to organise something in your
area then please get in touch.
Happiness in the
news
There has been some fascinating recent media
coverage relating to happiness, particularly with this week's
announcement in the UK that the government hopes to introduce
official well-being measurements. Here are some interesting recent
articles:
And finally… a huge thank
you
I just wanted to say a big thank you to
everyone who has written to us with supportive comments and offers
of help. The first thing I did in my new role was to read all of
the ideas from those who've joined so far - now over 1,700 people
from 51 different countries. It's been so inspiring for me to see
all the heartfelt support and generous offers we've
received.
Mark
Williamson
Director, Movement for Happiness
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