How we got Happy - Book project!

HOW WE GOT HAPPY - Stories of health, hope and happiness from 20 young Kiwis who beat depression.

BACKGROUND ON US:

We are two friends who met through competitive rowing in 2012.

Eve is 26 years old, originally from North Canterbury. Jonathan is 28 years old from Kaipaki, Waikato.

Eve Macfarlane lives in Raglan with her partner where they built themselves an eco-friendly Tiny House; a project they began shortly after Eve returned from competition at the Rio Olympic Games. Eve enjoys surfing, paragliding, yoga, painting, and spending time with friends.

Jonathan (Jono) Nabbs lives in Hamilton and manages of one of New Zealand's largest high-welfare piggeries, located in the Kaimai Ranges. He graduated from Canterbury University with degrees in Science and Commerce and has backpacked around the world. He loves the outdoors, running, rowing, family/friends; and is actively engaged with his iwi; Ngati Ranginui, Ngati Kahangunu and Tainui.

We are both happy, healthy Kiwis and have both beaten depression in the past, and will be amongst the 20 profiles in the book.

HOW THE PROJECT CAME ABOUT:

The original idea was that we think our respective paths to recovery taught us some good, constructive lessons on staying well and staying healthy. In talking with others who’ve also beaten depression, we’ve learned that they have some great lessons as well and that no two ways are the same.

When we looked for help in books and websites, we found it was really well-documented about how depression made people feel and how bad our national statistics were; but there didn’t seem to be much information about what paths people took to recover.

We now want to share peoples stories of recovery in a constructive, positive style to provide relatable information for those currently going through their own struggles.

We want to explore the answers to this question: What are the things (habits, tools, beliefs, exercises etc) people have done that helped them move from the bottom of the bell-curve forward again, into happy, healthy lives once again?

It won’t be a ‘how-to’ guide, but rather, a collection of stories about the things that have worked to help a collection of young Kiwis get well.

THE OBJECTIVES:

1. To help young Kiwis, help themselves, recover from depression, back to healthy, happy lives.

2. To reduce stigma & increase the readiness with which our society talks about mental health.

We have 20 profiles of young NZ men and women who have been purposefully targeted to ensure we produce content that resonates with NZ's biggest problem-demographic when it comes to depression (sadly, it’s also the worst rate in the OECD). That is, those who are:

24yrs and younger,

New Zealanders

The idea is to come away with a coffee style, hardcover, reasonably large book with beautiful photography to capture the essence of the people.

WHY A COFFEE TABLE BOOK?

Good question! Coffee table books are usually big and enjoyable to skim through, with lots of beautiful photos and interesting information that makes you feel good.

We think 'wellness' should be spoken about in the same way! Our conversations with 20+ survivors of youth depression have taught us that by focusing on useful tools to stay well, mental health can be a constructive, engaging and interesting topic.

We want to see a coffee table book about wellness tools in every cafe, waiting room and library! Let's normalise talk about wellness and mental health.

This will not only make the reader feel more connected to the people's words, but it will also help to achieve the projects secondary objective.

We thought a coffee-table book with a constructive, positive theme (as opposed to a text-only soft cover book) would make it pleasing to pick up for the general public, and as a result, create talk and help break the stigma around depression.

THE NOW!

During the past year, we have been interviewing the 20 amazing people who are willing to share their learnings, stories, and tools from beating depression. It has been an emotional, inspiring journey and we feel incredibly honored to have these people willing to share their stories with us. The stories have been compiled in a constructive, positive way to ultimately help make a difference to the fellow young Kiwis who are in need.

We are a non-profit organisation and have been endorsed by the Mental Health Foundation of NZ with all proceeds from any book sales going to them.

We have amazing people giving their time and skills towards the project. We certainly couldn't be where we are now without these people:

Mark Hamilton - Photography

Bev Gatenby - Coaching and Editing

Eliot Jessep - BEMA website & online

Ezekiel Studio - Graphic Design

SEED Waikato

Mental Health Foundation NZ - Endorsers

Chris Williams of King St Advertising

Skywalker Charitable Trust

We invite you to follow this exciting journey, to share the project with your friends and family and help us with our goal to get this book printed and in the hands of those in need.

Thank you.

Happy days,

Jono & Eve

WEBSITE: www.howwegothappy.co.nz

FACEBOOK: howwegothappy

INSTAGRAM: @howwegothappy

EMAIL: info@howwegothappy.co.nz