Mental Health - positive things to do

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offmenut said:
I need to have a schedule, otherwise I could find myself just doing fuck all all day except look on social media and feel really depressed.
It won't work for everyone, but I get up and do a streamed fitness class before 9,
, watch the wife tidy up the house :lol:,
Do odd jobs (it's annoying that I have loads of jobs round the house I can no longer put off) , and monitor kids schooling.
Lunch, afternoon walk, and no TV for us before 5

It's easy to not have the energy to do owt, so the main hurdle is often just getting up and doing something.
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Yes. I make lists of tasks to do for the day. Ticking them off gives me a sense of achievement.
 


Cleared a patch of brambles yesterday. Tackling the jungle that is hidden at the back of the garden today. There is a real sense of achievement when you can see a difference. Concentrating on things outside while it’s sunny and dry but prepared for indoor projects when it rains. Housework in the morning. Hobbies in the afternoon. I usually watch countdown with a cup of tea - feel smug when I can beat the contestants which isn’t often - then off to my sewing machine or other craft projects. Luckily there’s a lot of stuff available online so I won’t run out of supplies. Need to finish my book group book forTuesday when we’re meeting online. I seem to be doing more and keeping more of a routine than I usually do even though I’m retired and at home on my own quite a lot anyway. Maybe I’ll finally manage to be organised for the first time in 70 years! Usually a keen news watcher but it doesn’t change much at the moment so watching less of it. Has anyone else noticed how incredibly quiet it is? It’s not that noisy generally where I live but now it really is very quiet, as if someone has switched off the soundtrack in the background.
 
I am listening to the radio which is keeping me sane while I do my work. Jogging in an isolated area or lifting some weights in the house. I watching Netflix, Disney + and Prime as much as I can also to keep my mind focused on something other than the virus.

I check the news twice at opposite ends of the day so I am up-to-date and so that my head doesn't get battered by what is happening.
 
Washed the bedding and got it out on the line, made some Corned Beef hash / stew for me and the bairn. I also made some Cheese scones, when I say scones they look more like rock buns (they're huge) and I'll find out later if they are cooked in the middle :confused: :lol:
 
Ive just bought this.

Haven’t built one in 45 years.


Other than that: pressure washed the whole property, replaced all of our outside lights with Phillips Hue, dusted off the hammock, got the pool ready for summer, . The kit is the thing that’s going to keep me sane for a while, though I have an art, photography and TV studio upstairs So i should be able to be a little bit creative.YouTube channel might get a facelift.
 
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AB22 Easy Tiger said:
Ive just bought this.

Haven’t built one in 45 years.


Other than that: pressure washed the whole property, replaced all of our outside lights with Phillips Hue, dusted off the hammock, got the pool ready for summer, . The kit is the thing that’s going to keep me sane for a while, though I have an art, photography and TV studio upstairs So i should be able to be a little bit creative.YouTube channel might get a facelift.
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My favourite was The Liberator. You could move the undercarriage up and down.

You seen the bloke on YouTube who makes model kits? Paints on rust and dirt to resemble the real thing. Tremendous attention to detail.
 
Bob Mortimer on Instagram
Athletico Mince podcasts
Avoiding too much news
Listening to music more
This Country, The Detectorists and Inside Number 9 - all brilliant tv shows
 
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Been keeping away from the news myself. Also got back in the free weights and learning some new stuff on the bass. Done a world of good.
 
Roger said:
Can you get the little Humbrol enamel paints for it in the US though?
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Due to having a ceiling full of hanging Airfix models I had plenty of that stuff as a kid. I used these leftovers to paint a few graffiti art pieces on my school haversack and breakdancing French Foreign Legion Cap. :cool:
 
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Roger said:
I know we have plenty people on the forums who already suffer from depression and stress, and I really feel for them.

Personally, I am normally pretty upbeat and have no issues, but like I am sure the vast majority of people are can't deny being a bit downbeat at the moment.

It's hard to switch off from things when everytime you turn on the radio/tv/internet, read an email, or even visit a forum like this you are bombarded with all of the negative news.

However, enough of the negatives, what I want this thread to be is a way to discuss all of the positive things people are doing to help take their mind of things, whatever it is. Stick to the positive and uplifting things please, no negatives.

What can we all do to feel happier?

Examples;
Reading more books, listening to music, watching films, playing games, exercise , walking by the sea etc etc.

There must be loads of activities which help.
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I dont think theres much can be done to feel happier. Happiness is fleeting and a by product of other factors, principally safety and security, which none of us really feel right now.

Feeling contentment and peace on the other hand is definitely attainable, and personally I tend to fight that in accepting and embracing stuff that is bigger than me or outside of myself. Anything that you can do which lets you feel at peace is worthwhile, whatever that is. But let me make a case for books.

Books are the best thing for times like this because they let your head go places when your body cant. And literature tends to focus on drama, life, death, the sort of stuff were confronted with just now, and builds a dialogue around it and helps you to work through what it actually means rather than just be crushed by it. Whate er you're feeling now, there will be a perfect expression of it in a book somewhere. Or books about nature or history remind you that the world keeps turning and always will, that you're a participant in its wonder, and what a privilege that is.

Every single person has at some point to confront their mortality and limited nature, but our culture has done a great job of pushing that to one side and telling us we can control everything, which is bollocks. Confronting your limitations as a human is liberating and empowering, it allows the big things to be even more vast and phenomenal, and it encourages you to focus on the immediate things which count. It's why Art exists.

The safest place to participate in humanity as an individual is in the pages of a book. Or in your ears, Audible is amazing and cheap, and you can get a book for free even if you dont want to sign up. Lots of people have forgotten how to read a book, myself included until recently, because our minds have been coded towards soundbites and instant consumption. But now is an amazing time to re-learn, because theres not much else to do. You can go anywhere, learn anything, be anything.

Reading is the most powerful tool humans have outside of community. In times of insecurity it makes sense to fall back on your strengths.
 
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Music is definitely a trigger for me. At least I don’t get ambushed in shops etc atm but still sometimes self-inflicted. Got a lovely bluetooth speaker anarl. Silence needs to be broken sometimes or it can start to weigh a ton. At those times I stick on some trance or something I don’t have any historical association with. It’s a bit hitty-missy.
 
sonson said:
I dont think theres much can be done to feel happier. Happiness is fleeting and a by product of other factors, principally safety and security, which none of us really feel right now.

Feeling contentment and peace on the other hand is definitely attainable, and personally I tend to fight that in accepting and embracing stuff that is bigger than me or outside of myself. Anything that you can do which lets you feel at peace is worthwhile, whatever that is. But let me make a case for books.

Books are the best thing for times like this because they let your head go places when your body cant. And literature tends to focus on drama, life, death, the sort of stuff were confronted with just now, and builds a dialogue around it and helps you to work through what it actually means rather than just be crushed by it. Whate er you're feeling now, there will be a perfect expression of it in a book somewhere. Or books about nature or history remind you that the world keeps turning and always will, that you're a participant in its wonder, and what a privilege that is.

Every single person has at some point to confront their mortality and limited nature, but our culture has done a great job of pushing that to one side and telling us we can control everything, which is bollocks. Confronting your limitations as a human is liberating and empowering, it allows the big things to be even more vast and phenomenal, and it encourages you to focus on the immediate things which count. It's why Art exists.

The safest place to participate in humanity as an individual is in the pages of a book. Or in your ears, Audible is amazing and cheap, and you can get a book for free even if you dont want to sign up. Lots of people have forgotten how to read a book, myself included until recently, because our minds have been coded towards soundbites and instant consumption. But now is an amazing time to re-learn, because theres not much else to do. You can go anywhere, learn anything, be anything.

Reading is the most powerful tool humans have outside of community. In times of insecurity it makes sense to fall back on your strengths.
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I've been wanting to read again for a while but in this situation the silence was not what I needed. If I put pop music on I get distracted, or podcasts too. Then I realised the solution was Radio 3.
A little quiet instrumental music in the background and I could read away contentedly. Already got through one fantastic Huxley novel with more to come.
 
cluffy said:
I've been wanting to read again for a while but in this situation the silence was not what I needed. If I put pop music on I get distracted, or podcasts too. Then I realised the solution was Radio 3.
A little quiet instrumental music in the background and I could read away contentedly. Already got through one fantastic Huxley novel with more to come.
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Aye or something like some mellow Miles Davis usually does the trick for me, or Buena Vista Social Club or something in a different language so you can differentiate between what you're hearing and reading
 
Any time you feel yourself overthinking things or having negative thoughts try channeling that nervous energy into something creative. Whatever works for you, being writing a story or a project.

If you have kids try making a short mini movie with them. Try something that will be 30 seconds to a minute 1st & see how it goes. Plenty of editting apps out there & windows movie maker is free on a laptop.

Plenty to think about re story, how you will film it & what it will look like. Plenty of scope to build a short story around the old disappearing trick - keep the camera steady resting on a book or tripod with the kid in shot, then move them out of shot, film again & it looks like they have vanished when you edit it.

Kids will love the end product, whatever you come up with but be realistic about it not appearing on netflix, just a good bit of family fun.
 
Today I started the last week of my Couch to 5k programme and ran for 30 whole minutes, a first. Lucky enough to live amongst fairly empty suburban streets where it's easy to dodge into the traffic-free road if someone is approaching.

The weekly veg box is now on a 'you get what you're given' basis, so there's fun to be had figuring out how to use it all by trying out new recipes. Tomorrow is courgette and spinach lasagne.

Keeping the house clean and tidy.

Watching gentle, gentle TV. Dad's Army. Joan Hickson as Miss Marple.

Sitting down of an evening in a clean, tidy house, feeling great after a run, eating a healthy meal, watching something not too challenging on TV - this seems to work OK for me.
Also tomorrow I am going to do one of those rainbows that the kids are doing and putting in their windows.
 
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