Just curious..

[Dandelion]

What are some ways/things that make you guys happy?

I've been down. Just need new ideas.

[Eddie C]

Hello there, Dandelion.

Sorry to hear you haven't been feeling so good lately, but I'm glad you are looking for ways to feet better.

For me, whenever I feel down, going for a walk with my camera (or sometimes just my phone) and taking pictures is something that can help me change my mood in a really good way. I think maybe it works for me because I start focusing in the subjects I am photographing instead of whatever is in my head. I live in a place where you can see water in every corner so that helps a lot too. But if I am not able to get to the water, just taking pictures of a street, or trees helps me to feel happy.

I hope you get a couple of good ideas from this thread, it is a very nice topic!

...and hang in there, Dandelion. We are rooting for you.

[Snorkmaiden]

For me, it always helps to interact with animals in some way. If I can't get close to real animals, watching videos also makes a difference.

Hope you'll feel better soon!

[Sunshine]

Things that make me feel happier:

- Walking or running outside while listening to music. It always takes a huge effort to get my ass out there, but once I did, I always end up feeling much better.

- Cleaning up, especially if a lot gets thrown in bags and taken to the dump. Another activity that needs a lot of kicking myself in the behind to get it going, but very good for the soul once it's under way.

- Exposure to anything beautiful. That can be nature, art, people or just a nice store. Or stuff in my room. I have a little table in my apartment that is only for flowers, seashells, framed photographs and such like and I change the items regularly to match the season. I buy myself bouquets and things like that, too. Sometimes, in a store, I have the people at the counter gift-wrap items I buy, even though they are for me.

- Warm beverages. There's something very comforting about holding a hot mug in my hands.

- Anything that will make me laugh. I have a large supply of funny kids movies and comic strip collections.

- Cooking and baking. It's the only form of creativity that I'm good at. I envy people who are more artistic.

Of course being with friends and family or my partner makes me happy too, that goes without saying. But the list above are the things I can do for myself when nobody else is available.

Sometimes, when I'm really down, cheerful things make me feel even sadder though or irritate me. When that happens, I let myself just revel in sadness for a while, read books or watch films that make me cry or yell along to really angry music. Sometimes, negative feelings just have to be expressed.

[Heather]

Getting outside, really, really outside. For me, this is huge and essential. I grew up very urban, but always grabbed opportunities to go camping or hiking far from the city where I could really immerse myself as wholly as possible into the outside world. One of the reasons I made a big leap a bunch of years ago and switched to living somewhere rural was so I could have all of that within easy reach: I would have done it sooner had I fully realized the impact not being able to be outside as much as I'd like had had on my well-being.

Moving around is another biggie (and, like Sunshine, ideally outside). When I can't do it outside, doing something inside will do, so long as it is NOT in a shiny gym environment where the focus isn't really on centering so much as it is on changing bodies and the like.

Both of those things not only just kind of shift your focus, they bring oxygen to your brain -- vital for all of who we are to function well, including emotionally -- and feel-good chemicals that literally change our moods.

[Dandelion]

Thank you guys very much.