How to become happy? Where can I learn this? From whom? About the film “PERFECT DAYS”
How to become happy? Where can I learn it? From whom? I decided to record a video about one of my favorite films, Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days.” It’s not just a film about happiness; in my opinion, it’s a teaching tool that can teach us how to be happy. To be happy no matter where we are, who we are, what we have, or what we’ve achieved.
Why did the filmmakers decide to show us a literally sanitized picture, where the main character has literally nothing? He lives in a room without a shower or kitchen, he has an old car, he listens to cassettes, he cleans toilets, he has no family or children. He is completely alone, and from the outside, his life appears monotonous and boring. Yet, despite all this, the main character manages to be truly happy! How does he do it?
How to become happy? Create a daily routine!
What runs through the entire film, what we call monotony and boredom, psychologists call routine. And routine brings predictability and stability to our lives. Stability reduces anxiety—and it’s on this foundation that happiness can be built.
The main character’s happiness consists of simple, understandable things:
- watering the flowers (every morning)
- coffee from a machine (every morning)
- choose your favorite music for a specific morning
- taking photos at lunchtime in the park
- dinner at a cafe
- reading a book (every evening)
- bathhouse (every weekend)
- laundry (every Saturday)
- sake at the bar (every Saturday night)
- look at the sky (many times every day)
- smile (many times every day)
- watch the tree branches sway
Nothing special. Very simple actions. No ambitions. Accessible to everyone. But not everyone finds these simple things happy, right?
How to become happy? Create a daily routine!
One of the most therapeutic moments in the film “Perfect Days” is about shadows. When a man terminally ill with cancer regrets that, having lived his life, he never learned whether a shadow gets darker when one shadow overlaps another. To which the protagonist replies, “Let’s find out right now!”
Most of us dream of something that could make us happy, but never do anything about it. However, often, one simple action is enough to find out and test it. Find out if your dream can truly make you happy? See if you’ll become happy if you do something specific. Many of us remain solely dreaming about happiness, without taking any action to actually become happy.
Anyway, watch my video and sign up for a consultation with me.
