A Small Good Thing (2015)

What makes up a happy life? For the longest time, we've been living as though the more we have-the more money, the more goods, the more territory-the happier we'll be. Surprisingly, over the last fifty years our standard of living has improved, but our happiness has not. "A Small Good Thing" follows three main stories - Jen and Pete, an idealistic, young couple who have just purchased land to farm, Tim, an Iraqi vet who uses yoga and cycling to keep addictions at bay, and Shirley, a community organizer who works with urban youth in a city overwhelmed by heroin addiction and blight. Over the course of a year, the film follows them through the inevitable ups and downs of life. To gain insight into the lives of Jen, Pete, Tim and Shirley, the film looks at the science behind our need to be in community and near nature - that it's crucial to human well-being, not some luxury to be reserved for vacations. The film also examines the economy of happiness to show how a connection to land and other people makes financial sense for the planet. Traveling to Greece, the film shows how the economic downturn has forced some people to live in a web of interrelatedness, as they struggle to make a living. In Rwanda, we see how the malnutrition of the developing world is the flip-side of obesity and heart disease in the U.S. The film will explore how a person can overcome obstacles to happiness - the isolation of suburban comfort as well as the despair of poverty - to create joy for themselves. The surprising discovery at the heart of "A Small Good Thing" is that hard -- but not impossible -- is a crucial part of happy.