'Happiness Project' brings joy to Kiwis

A grassroots project to tackle depression - which began with one woman in Whangarei - is quickly catching on across the country.

After years of battling mental illness and depression, Denise Caltaux knew she needed a change.

She set out to find it somewhere she had often overlooked - the little signs of beauty in everyday life.

"There was themes that kept on coming out for me, like people, fishing," she says.

She began what she calls the 'Happiness Project' - to take a photo every day for 100 days of anything that made her feel good.

"Some days finding something happy is a struggle, but there's always something we can be grateful for," Ms Caltaux says.

More than 20 other people - some with high risk mental illness - joined Ms Caltaux on her happiness project.

They met once a week, to share their photos and discuss how their search was slowly changing their lives.

"All we started to do was instead of focusing in on our problems and the negative stuff in our lives, we shifted the focus to positive things and it changed our whole experience," she says.

For some, it was help when they needed it most.

Shelley Foster spent 12 years in the mental health system, in and out of psychiatric treatment.

"I think I was probably just getting desperate. I needed something that would work and change my life. I was getting really, really tired of wishing I was dead," she says.

Today, thanks to what she learned on the project, she's no longer getting treatment - and happier than ever.

"I get out a lot, I go to groups, I talk to people. I'm so busy. I mean, I've got a life," Ms Foster says.

Their journey is the subject of a new documentary, called 'Crazy Happy', which debuted last night in their hometown Whangarei.

"If we can get other people who watch the documentary to - just one person everyday - change their life, that would be an amazing feat," says documentary director Alison Davie.

Other groups in Whangarei, Dargaville and Kaitaia have all been inspired to embark on their own 'Happiness Project'.

They've learned happiness is often hiding in plain sight - and all of us can find it, if we know where to look.

The documentary 'Crazy Happy' can be viewed online at www.vimeo.com/ondemand/crazyhappy

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