International Day of Happiness – How Clowning Spreads Joy

The 20th of March marks the International Day of Happiness and here at RED NOSES, happiness is a part of our everyday mission.

Happiness is a cause close to our hearts and our teams work hard to bring happiness to people in need worldwide. How do we spread happiness? With one of the best medicines there is; laughter.

Everyone deserves to experience happiness, especially in dark times and studies show that laughter and humour have the power to improve emotional well-being. With this in mind, our team at RED NOSES International (RNI) developed the Emergency Smile program (ES) to bring healthcare clowning to people in crisis settings.

During our ES missions, the impact of clowning goes beyond happiness and laughter. Healthcare clowning is also beneficial when it comes to building self-esteem, self-acceptance and confidence among vulnerable people so that they are better equipped to deal with high levels of adversity, trauma, or other extremely stressful circumstances. You can read more about how we spread happiness through Emergency Smile right here.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Happiness is “Be Mindful. Be Grateful. Be Kind,” highlighting the idea that happiness is an essential aspect of human well-being.

Whether in a hospital context or crisis settings, our aim at RED NOSES is to spread joy and enhance the emotional well-being and resilience of children, youth and elderly people, as well as children with disabilities and humanitarian aid workers. It’s our mission to make sure that the joy effect reaches as many people as possible.

There are people facing challenges and hard times all around the world. While we can’t change that, we can spread the power of humour and laughter and bring hope to those that need it. The International Day of Happiness acts as a reminder to us all that we should embrace joy and happiness whenever and wherever we can.