The Happiness Jar

The Happiness Jar is an Australian story with quintessential characters, played out against the colourful and pressing heat of the remote Kimberley in the wet season, juxtaposed with the smoky heat and hum of a busy thriving city in India.

A family seemingly breaks apart with the weight of the burdens they have placed on themselves and on each other. The narrative’s conflict is driven by family secrets – the relief at the expected passing of a child with a long-term illness, the unspoken challenges of living with a Vietnam veteran father with PTSD, and two adult siblings and their tolerance of a mother’s neurotic approach to managing life with a husband who has chosen to be declared missing for 20 years.

The Happiness Jar is at its heart, a story of faith in oneself, in each other and of redemption. It the story of three journeys, intertwined and interdependent, in the wake of a loved one’s death, reminding us as it always does, of the shortness of our own lives. This is a love story, of self-love.