happiful september 2021

Their lives can
move from extreme
arcs of happiness
to sadness, and the
other way round,
but they do find a
way through it
Shana
“I’ve had five brain surgeries. I
chose to do life. For my children,
for me, for people around me, I
chose to do life. I have found that
by doing so, life is great,” she says.
“It seems it really isn’t about
age,” Jenny explains, when asked
what the process of creating
One Hundred Years taught her.
“Everyone is on a unique
journey, and at different stages
at different times. But I was
surprised, I suppose, at how
interested and interesting the
older subjects were – and at their
enjoyment of life – as much as the
youngsters surprised me at how
articulate they could be, and their
understanding of who they were
at such an early age. I felt you
could learn so much from anyone.
People are always so much more
than you might think.”
“I’m happiest when hanging
out with my best mate, Stanley,”
reads the quote next to 14-year-
old Arran, who is just one of
many examples of such insight.
“The more you’ve been through,
the harder it gets to carry alone,
and when you have someone
that knows you as well as me and
Stanley know each other, you can
share that weight.”
That gentle resilience in Arran’s
example is a theme Jenny quickly
began to spot throughout her
subjects. “Their lives can move
from extreme arcs of happiness
to sadness, and the other way
round, but they do find a way
through it,” she says. “Some of
the stories are of strength, or
difficult childhoods, but seeing
the joy that can be found later was
incredibly inspiring. The strength
of the project is the people in
it, but I didn’t know what they
were going to talk about till we
started talking, which made me
realise there’s always something
bubbling underneath the surface.”
Hyacinth
90 | September 2021 | happiful.com