In 1972 I was a sophomore in college, 20 years old when I read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. For the first time as a young adult I had an understanding and philosophy of life., Hesse wrote, “I learned that knowledge can be taught but wisdom cannot and therefore needs to be experienced” and In Chapter 9, the Ferryman, Siddhartha learning lessons from a river discovered the meaning of life.
“But out of all secrets of the river, he today only saw one, this one touched his soul. He saw: this water ran and ran, incessantly it ran, and was nevertheless always there, was always an at all times the same and yet new in every moment!”
I learned that a river is “unchanging and yet it is always changing within, deeper inside, beneath the surface. You do not just belong to a group, but instead to everything.”
I am pleased to have as our guest today Randy Taran, Founder of Project Happiness. Randy’s vision: “though we can’t always control what happens in life, it’s good to know we can control how we deal with it. We can find ways to create the best life possible.” .Randy believes that every person can learn ways to become happier by developing awareness about the choices we all make in the face of day to day challenges.
Come join us for a 2 part conversation to understand the global concern for our youth who are experiencing stress and depression at unprecedented rates.
• 3.22 million Kids, ages 7-17 were treated for depression in the past 5 years. This is more than double the number from the previous 5 years
• In American schools: 160,000 + children miss school every day, due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.
• In a survey of high school students, the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center found that almost 1 in 5 teens had thought about suicide, about 1 in 6 teens had made plans for suicide, and more than 1 in 12 teens had attempted suicide in the last year
Randy Taran is also co-author of the Project Happiness Handbook, and producer of the award winning film Project Happiness. The film features students from the US, Nigeria and India working together for one year to explore the question, “What brings lasting happiness?” Along the way, they interview George Lucas, Richard Gere, neuroscientist Richard Davidson, and ultimately meet in India for an audience with the Dalai Lama.
Randy speaks regularly on various happiness and youth-related issues, and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post. She serves on the Board of the Dalai Lama Foundation.
Randy is a close personal friend, a founding Board of Director of my Nongovernmental Organization To Love Children, and my great pleasure and honor to have her on The Global Child.
This is Part one of two interviews. Listen to the show to hear Randy discuss”
What is Project Happiness and what does it mean that your purpose is to provide proven techniques to cultivate one’s own authentic happiness and the importance of addressing that stress and depression are rising and this is now a global problem, as highlighted by the World Health Organization.