“I enjoy making people happy. I like to let them know that life is sweet, that it’s good to be alive” – Johnny Barnes
If you’ve got a few minutes today. I highly recommend you watch the video below. It’s about ten minutes long and guaranteed to make you feel good.
In 2012, I went to visit a friend who was doing a six-month locum on the island of Bermuda. Now, doing a locum on a tropical island during a Canadian winter is probably it’s own recipe for happiness. But to my surprise, I discovered something else in Bermuda that has inspired me ever since.
While asking my friend for things to see, one of the first suggestions was to try and see Johnny Barnes.
“Who?” I asked.
“You’ll understand when you see him…trust me”, I was told.
He was described to me as an elderly man who wakes up every morning to stand at a roundabout to wave at the passing cars to tell them “I love you” and to “have a great day”. And he’d been doing it every day for years!
Now, my initial instinct as a physician was that this man clearly had some sort of mental health issue, as I couldn’t imagine someone doing this willingly. But of course, I drove by one day and was amazed to see this man, standing alone, waving, laughing and blowing kisses to all of the passing cars. And everyone was smiling and waving back.
It was this little, beautiful, joyful thing for all involved. I had to admit, it instantly elevated my mood and put a smile on my face. Years later, it’s still one of the most memorable things from my trip.
So I had to read a little bit more about Johnny. Apparently he spent six hours a day, for thirty years standing at this roundabout, for free, in order to brighten people’s day. And the act impacted him as well. He was known as “Mr. Happy Man”, and was considered one of the happiest people on the island.
The man was also beloved on the island of Bermuda. So much so, that a statue was erected in his honour.
Thinking about Johnny a little deeper. There’s a lot that Johnny was doing that each of us can implement to affect our own happiness. Without having to stand on a roundabout.
Wishing others well
Simply wishing for the well being of others is an important way to boost happiness.
You don’t need to stand at a street corner to do this. Just close your eyes for a moment and think about people you care for. Send them a wish for greater happiness, or greater health. You might notice that doing this regularly actually makes you feel better. It’s the basis of a style of meditation known as loving-kindness meditation. This has been shown to increase compassion.
Connecting with strangers
We are social beings. Connecting with others makes us feel better. There’s evidence that even the simplest connections make a difference.
For example, the researcher Nicolas Epley (2014) interviewed people who were getting onto public transportation in Chicago. Some were asked to try and connect with random strangers, some were asked to avoid connection, and there was a control.
Prior to the experiment, people predicted that the connection group would be less happy after the study – due to the fact that they would be disturbing others – and the alone group would be happiest. But of course, the results were reversed. The connection group felt much happier and the result was consistent in subsequent experiments.
In short, connecting with others, even random strangers, makes us feel better. Even though we think otherwise. Think about that the next time you find yourself in close proximity with strangers. We all want connection.
Being kind
Take a moment out of your day and do something nice for someone. The act of kindness has profound impact our mood and our feeling of connection. So send someone a smile, buy a coffee for a colleague, or help someone with a simple task. Doing these things regularly can do profound things for your own mood.
These sound like simple interventions. They are. But regularly sending thoughts of well-being for others, connecting with strangers, and acts of kindness take persistence and repeated effort. Over time, you may notice yourself doing these things regularly and feeling better in the process.
Johnny Barnes spent most of his life practicing this, just because it made him feel good. Yet his simple act affected him and the people around him in a profound way.
Now we don’t need to spend six hours a day standing on the side of the road. But, perhaps, directing a little extra kindness to others can take us a long way.
In the words of Johnny Barnes “I love you, have a great day!”
