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Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Arts InsIder OnLIne eXCLUsIVe By Gioia Patton

GOLDIE HAWN

GIOIA PATTON IS AN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITY PROFILER.

“I feel just a little sad,” i admit to actress Goldie Hawn at the very top of her recent 30 minute phone interview, before explaining that my mood was a reaction to having just read

an announcement about some of the Louisville-based BoRDERS Bookstores having filed for Chapter 11.

“although the invention of Kindles and iPads means (people) are still reading as much as ever,” i add, “thanks to computer technology advances running full speed ahead, BoRDERS’ announcement feels like a foreshadowing of yet another face-to-face social interaction opportunity that’s on its way out.”

“Right!” Hawn declares, agreeing with my sentiments. “(We) see this and it’s like (you) want to stop the train,” she says in a hushed tone. “But (we’re) not going to be able to stop the train. What you have to do is to look at it, know it, and work with it,” she continues. “it’s like the (Japanese martial art) aikido. you literally need to work with the energy, which means we’re not going to change this, but we have to create another way of looking at things to educate differently so we can become aware of the fact that we’re on the web tooo long. Why? Because we’re now becoming aware of our body language,” Hawn continues. “We’re becoming aware of the fact that we’re not breathing when we’re on our Blackberrys, as we’re all hunched over. We have to become aware of the fact that we’re not really connecting with these people, and that connection is what brings well-being!” she says passionately. “anybody on the internet who has 1,000 Facebook friends and beyond (sighs), they’re not receiving the ‘human’ connection that brings well-being, health, and welfare. (Pauses) it’s unfortunate, but i call it a distraction. and it really is a form of a distraction to our human qualities. Can it be used for good? absolutely! Can it enlighten people, educate them? no question. But the fact that we’re so focused on these technologies now…it’s really really draining of our humanity,” adds Hawn, who just last month gave a lecture in Louisville on the subject of happiness for the toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, inC. series toyota Presents an Evening with Goldie!

the academy award-winning actress and New York Times best-selling author (of her 2005 Putnam published memoir A Lotus Grows in the Mud) then reveals the catalyst behind her touring the country with happiness-themed lectures.

“i’ve been doing this off and on for about seven years,” she begins, “and it kind of evolved in a way. to me, the most substantive kind of talks is really about something that everyone can relate to,” she explains. “Because this has been a subject that i’ve looked at since i was quite young, and again, having a high set point of happiness and wanting to figure out: ‘what does it entail…what is it all about…how can (we) sustain our happiness….really? What is it neurologically?’ So i started looking at the brain (function) about 15 years ago,” she continues on the subject, “asking, ‘how do the spirit, the mind, and the body and learning and the brain and science interconnect?’ (Pauses) it just brings you back to center. and i think the simple application of this is really important, and simple and practical. But it really is giving people an understanding that they need to take time out for themselves throughout the day. take five minutes in the morning or afternoon. i was speaking to a lot of women CEos of big big companies about this at a breakdown session, and when one of them asked, ‘How do i sustain this (happiness) mood during the day?’ i replied, ‘turn off your phone, tell your assistant that you’re not taking any calls, put on whatever music you want to put on, and start breathing and focusing on your breath…letting your body relax. take five minutes, girls…it’s not that hard!’”

When i ask if, during her research on the subject of happiness, Hawn became aware of at what age the average child’s sense of joy begins to diminish, she answers: “they’re quite good until about age 11, and then they become more and more sort of deadened. and my sense is that a lot of it is their endocrine system is moving around. they’re also not enjoying their experience, and a lot of them don’t feel that they ‘belong’ anymore. there are a lot of issues that begin to show up after the latency period of development,” adds Hawn, the mother of three grown children. “also, the environment of the schools and the environment at home plays a big role in that.”

Hawn’s last remark leads to the Hawn Foundation, which she founded in 2003. Within the new york City-based foundation’s website (www.thehawnfoundation.org), it states that its mission “seeks to help transform children’s lives by providing them with opportunities to acquire vital social skills and emotional skills, to improve academic performance, enhance the quality of their lives, and help others in their community. the foundation supports research studies conducted by university-associated social scientists and neuroscientists and develops evidence-based educational programs for children. “one of the things i talk about in my lectures is about the different tools you can do in order to release your anger — to be able to neutralize your system to reduce stress,” she says. “in our classrooms we do ‘gratitude journals’ with the kids. and it really is incredible…it’s like the most amazing intervention!” she enthuses. “these journals have proven to pull (people) out of depressed thoughts, which is a huge thing.”

Hawn’s vivacious personality and positive attitude is such that i’m prompted to reveal that for as long as i can remember i’ve often had my own vivacious personality mistakenly interpreted by acquaintances and coworkers as my being either a silly person or a party animal. “Wellll,” Hawn says with a sigh, “exuding a happy attitude really does have a tendency to be considered too light-hearted, and (people) really don’t look at it…thinking that person is kind of a clown instead. But the reality is that those (happy) people are probably the smartest people in the room. (Pause) the first note of brilliance for a baby is a sense of humor,” she continues. “So if your child has the ability at the age of two (or even earlier) to put abstract thinking together — to laugh at stuff — that is a clear indication of the level of their intelligence.” as the interview comes to a close, i wonder aloud if Hawn has a daily mantra, after spontaneously mentioning that one of mine is a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote that’s positioned on my desk next to my laptop. “no, i haven’t created my own mantra,” she answers. “and i’m also not a Buddhist, although for years it’s been mistakenly put out there by the press that i am one. But i’ve had lessons in Buddhism as well as the study of the Kabala, and Hinduism, and of course, my own Judaism,” she explains. “and on my altar in my special area at home, i have very special things from all different factions — from thomas Merton to Mother theresa. i also have pictures of other blessed people whom i’ve met along the way and who have been my teachers. So it’s a conglomeration of all different disciplines, and i am a seeker of truth in all forms of faith.”Hawn concludes: “i think one of the most beautiful things that i’ve heard is that my religion is ‘kindness,’” she says, speaking in a tone that suggests being genuinely humbled to have had her philosophy described that way. “these are things i remember, but other things (like mantras), i don’t. and by the way (laughs), if i had one sitting by my computer like you do, i could read it to you right now!”