There’s More Than Enough Happiness To Go Around with Julia Kim

In this podcast, Julia Kim, Programme Director of the Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan, describes her personal journey and the discovery of her true calling and spirit of service. After experiencing the dangers of burnout from over-activism she realised the unavoidable need for integration and balance: Understanding the difference between happiness seen as temporary achievement of what we want (hedonia) to its true nature as relational, relating to the needs of others, to our environment and our deeper self. With insight, humour and a spirit of enquiry Julia describes how central, indeed primary, meditation has become in her life and work. She illustrates how the present global crisis relates to more than the Covid-19 virus but the lessons the pandemic has to teach us are clear and urgent. The idea that happiness is a zero-sum equation (‘if you are happy then you’re taking away some of my happiness’) needs to be jettisoned if we are to be happy ourselves and communicate happiness to others.