I am happy because I appreciate life

Roko Belic. I was born and raised in America and I currently live in Los Angeles, California.

I am an amazingly lucky person, a tiny group of particles in a possibly infinite universe, who revels in the experience of life.

- I am an independent filmmaker. I usually spend a few years directing and often editing one project that I am passionate about. That is how I earn a living…though sometimes I am barely earning a living. I hope to have a positive impact on the world and I hope to enjoy myself while doing it.

I am happy because I appreciate life (I do not really believe in reincarnation) and I feel extremely lucky to have had the experiences I’ve had. I have met many people who suffered much more than I have in my life and I am aware that there is very little in my life to complain about. I hope to spread my good fortune to others so that they, too, may feel what I feel: a deep awe at the mystery and the gift of being alive.

I am happy, though of course not always. In general, though, I have a lot to be happy about. I’m not sure when I realized I was happy…my guess would be it happened when I first saw someone who was consistently unhappy. This may not have happened until maybe junior high school.

My mother had the biggest influence on me and my current life. From my earliest memories she said it was her dream that her two sons would travel around the world and see different cultures. When I was 20 years old I saved up some money and did exactly that. I traveled around the world with a backpack for exactly 1 year. One of my most memorable experiences was in Russia and the Ukraine. It was 1992 and the economic situation in Russia was terrible. Hyper-inflation was occurring every few weeks, people’s life savings were suddenly worthless, and crime was increasing exponentially. As a foreigner with hard currency I could travel and live like a king…even though in the USA I was a poor college student.

What struck me most about the people I met is how warm and generous they were towards me and my friend Jeff Gettleman, who I was traveling with. I saw that with very little material wealth people found meaning in their lives through very strong relationships with each other. I don’t mean that everyone loved everyone, but in every circle of friends I encountered I felt very deep bonds of love between people that were less common in other places I visited. This is something I feel to this day, and I lament the fact that many communities around the world are moving more towards individualistic living and separation among people.

As a happy person I tend to see things and people in a positive light, and though most of the time I believe my perception is accurate, occasionally I learn that it is not. I sometimes feel overwhelmed at the immensity of the problems in the world. When many of the smartest, most talented and best educated people in the world are dedicating their lives to pursuing material profit at the expense of other people, other nations and the natural world there is something VERY wrong. And I sometimes feel this problem is getting worse. I believe the smartest and most capable people should dedicate themselves to helping others less fortunate (and I believe this will ultimately give themselves and others the greatest fulfillment and happiness) and yet modern culture seems to be teaching the opposite. We are being taught that the more you can get for yourself, the more you deserve to be honored and respected – and to change this misconception is a challenge we must face head on…for ourselves, for each other and for the world.

I am interested in many many things. Sometimes I feel like I am interested in everything, and I get frustrated that I only have one life and I must choose a limited number of things to explore. I spend a lot of time thinking about the movies I make. For the past 4 years that has been a film about happiness. My projects are not simply work for me, they are a driving force in my life. I also enjoy surfing a lot. Being in the ocean with dolphins and sea lions and sting rays and all kinds of fish…with pelicans gliding overhead, is a magical experience. I am interested in science, the pursuit of wisdom, kindness, animals, cultures, beauty, drama, music, emotion, absurdity, humor, twilight, flight, painting, jungles, aesthetics, chocolate chip cookies and about a million other things.

E-mail: Roko@wadirum.com
www.TheHappyMovie.com
www.WadiRum.com