One World Initiative consists of a year-long theme implemented into classes, extracurricular activities and campus events. Past years, the themes discussed have been water and migration. Each theme has inspired the creation and participation of close to 20 events held on campus per semester.

2015 was the third annual year for One World Initiative and the theme was happiness.

One World Initiative, which first came about as a collaborative effort between faculty and Academic Affairs, creates the opportunity to connect students on a campus-wide scale both in and out of a classroom setting.

David Anderson-Rogerson, chair of Sac State’s One World Initiative Task Force, provides insight on this movement.

“Sacramento State’s One World Initiative began three years ago to try to promote a campus wide interdisciplinary conversation around a single theme of global importance,” said Anderson-Rogerson. “We try to pick themes that will be of interest to many different disciplines and then encourage faculty and students to engage the theme in creative ways. We have seen lecture series, symposiums, films, dance recitals, art exhibits and talks engage the themes in different ways. Some professors have integrated the theme into their classes.”

The theme of happiness aimed to provoke self reflection of students for how they define, create and spread happiness. This year-long theme came to close with the End of the Year Celebration that took place April 20-22.

Wednesday, April 22 brought 2015’s theme of happiness to a close as speaker Eric Weiner reflected on his own discovery of happiness amidst some of the most unlikely places on Earth.

He set out into the world to find something that had eluded him while being a writer for National Public Radio. As a journalist who consistently wrote stories about misery and turmoil, he woke up one morning and decided to shift his focus to a topic that for ten years had remained unsought.

“Happiness lies just around the corner and the trick is finding the right corner,” said Weiner.

Weiner dedicated a year to exploring eight different countries, immersing himself in the culture and the conversations each embodied in effort of discovering what components truly cultivate happiness.

“I believe that travel a certain kind of open eyed, open minded travel can be transformative,” said Weiner.

On his journey through Iceland, Bhutan, Switzerland, Qatar, Thailand, London and Moldova, he gained a deeper understanding for happiness.

The secret to happiness, it seemed, was to embrace simplicity.

“As the french say it: ‘Too much choice kills the choice.’ It can paralyze you and make you quite unhappy,” said Weiner.

Happiness requires living life without being invested in the outcome or product but immovably invested in the process of whatever it is we are doing.

“You are 100 percent invested in whatever you do but you are 0 percent invested in the outcome,” Weiner said, quoting an individual he had met on his journey.

Happiness means accepting the pain and sadness we feel in its rawest form, and to know that sometimes it is melancholia that fuels creativity, provokes self reflection and inspires to move whether it be physically or psychologically.

“There is value to truth and grit and misery,” said Weiner.

In order to obtain true happiness, we must fail fearlessly when we do fail. We must understand that this is part of life and it is imperative to not just go through life but grow through it; for it is through failure that often times the greatest lessons are learned: As Americans, we are confronted with unhappiness often times because, as Weiner said, “We only embrace failure retrospectively.”

His travels inspired him to write two books on his experiences. Both “The Geography of Bliss” and “Man Seeks God” were displayed at the event for attendees to purchase and get signed by Weiner.

“I offer no simple bromides here: No chicken soup; You will find no easy answers in these pages,” described Weiner about what could be found in “The Geography of Bliss.” “You will, however, find much to chew on and, perhaps, some unexpected inspiration. We Americans, it turns out, have no monopoly on the pursuit of happiness. There is wisdom to be found in the least likely of places.”

After he spoke, there was a 40-minute time allotment for questions from the audience. One question was asked by geography professor Robin Datel: “What was the significance of the God book following the ‘Geography of Bliss’?”

Weiner explained through his travels, he tried on eight different religions and found that affiliation to some spirituality is essential to happiness. Humans want to feel attached to something bigger than them.

“Happiness alone is not enough. we want that spiritual fulfillment — we want meaning,” said Weiner.

One World Initiative has been a success in its first three years and looks forward to introducing the themes to come of power and inheritance.

“This program is exclusive to Sacramento State, but we hope that it can serve as a model for other universities in the state and country”, said Anderson-Rogerson.