Asklemmy
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy π
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- [email protected]: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~
Biking.
Moving under your own power has so many benefits:
- It's fun
- It's cheap (or can be, to be fair)
- It's good for your health
- It's good for the planet
It's fun
My knees disagree but each to their own ;)
I cringe watching someone struggling to turn the pedals when they are riding a multi geared bike.
Cycling is good for the knees, if you're not staining to turn the pedals. That's why gearing exists.
Use the gears to make the pedaling easier.
My Hemorrhoids also disagree
Wait a minute internet dude, did you make sure your seat was the right height? Having the seat at the right height I.e. fully extended legs, the down like an inch, really helped me out with the joint pain. I mention it because biking is generally considered a low impact activity. Knee surgery haver here, myself :')
I started cycling to commute about a year ago and it's been such a wonderful thing for my mental and physical health, not to mention my bank account. Beware that you may get sucked down the Not Just Bikes rabbit hole if you're not careful and end up becoming a walkable/bikable cities advocate as I have.
epic!
An instrument. It's soul food and extremely therapeutic. Even if you suck, just learn to let it go. I find it's really good for my mental health. I dunno, it's music ya know? Lol
I'm really grateful my parents pushed me to start playing the violin at 5, because it massively enriched my life. Even when I was bullied, abused, and miserable, playing my violin would help pick me up just a bit.
music is pretty epic and cool.
Thinking of learning sign language....
I tried sign language on a whim in college and ended up loving it! It's really unique and fun to use. It ended up being my secondary focus on my degree. Also, Deaf people are always super happy whenever there is someone to speak with, even if you stumble through it they are always patient and try to help
Everyone should try to regularly do something that lets them 'play' and be creative, like music, singing, writing, acting, etc. Our day to day is largely rule based so I think it's important to have some time operating outside of that.
Also people should try and do something with their hands (no not that). I've been getting into Lego and jigsaw puzzles as a way of reducing my screen time and it's doing me a lot of good. Picked up crochet recently and going to try and make a baby blanket for my incoming niece.
Super agree with the creativity. I believe most people are creative and have ideas they'd love to express, it's so cleansing for the soul and makes life so much less depressing and monotonous.
Sewing, at least to the level of basic mending. Helps one realize what well made clothes look and feel like.
Hiking.
Getting up amongst the fells and mountains, mostly in isolation from noise and other people. Sure there's touristy spots where alot head to but there's still plenty of other, maybe slightly more difficult to hike places if you wanted pure zen.
Navigation is important, don't just go up with Google maps expecting her to tell you when the next left is. Get some research done, and head out. Don't overcomplicate things with buying loads of gear that youtubers "recommend", don't send it up a 3000ft hike either. A slight ascent, around a lake - start small, find your feet and grow from there.
The best thing I could ever have started for my mental health.
Agreed! Just some quick safety tips for people who might be getting into it:
- Always tell someone what trail you'll be hiking and when you plan to get back. That way, if you get lost, they'll notice you're missing and can call for help on your behalf.
- Always bring water, a physical print-out of the trail map, and a waterproof jacket with you. Yes, even if it's the middle of summer: weather can change quickly in the mountains, especially if you end up going above the tree line. You don't want to get caught in freezing rain when you're just wearing a t shirt and shorts because it was 90 degrees and sunny when you parked at the trailhead!
- If you're in bear country and you're hiking alone, tie a bell or some other kind of noisemaker to your backpack. Bears almost never want a fight, they'd much rather avoid you, so make it easy for them by giving them plenty of warning you're coming.
- Wear shoes with good grip for navigating rocky areas. You don't need expensive hiking boots, work boots or grippy sneakers should be fine.
Baking - fresh warm bread is so good!
Sewing - it's nice to add pockets to things π
Crochet
Pros
- Documented mental health benefits
- Cheap to start, can learn from online tutorials
- Easier than knitting
- Make cool toys, clothes, home accessories, whatever you want
- Get to smush yarn into your face on a regular basis
Cons
- Fibre crafts gateway drug
At work, I have a reputation for being the guy who never shuts up about trying to get new people into scuba diving. If there are 2 or more divers at the lunch table I honestly feel a little bad for everybody else. The cost of getting trained and renting or buying all your gear can scare people away, but I would at least strongly recommend that anybody on an island vacation or cruise at least try a "discover Scuba" class. You'll learn everything you need to know to not die by watching a quick video, and working in a pool, then you get to go have an amazing dive in the ocean with an instructor.
Cooking! It can be so rewarding, a fun way to impress or care for others, and you need to eat every day anyway so ample time to practice.
Almost all cooking can be done with practically no hardware beyond a sharp knife, a good sized cutting board, and a good pot or pan.
There's so many patterns and combinations and different takes on the same ingredients that you can learn. The basics get you 80% of the way there
Learning a new language. You learn a bit about how languages work, understand other cultures a bit better, usually learn new vocabulary for your native language, understand the relationship between different languages, learn the roots of loan words and generally helps your brain stay healthy, even by only studying the basics.
what lauguage would you recommend for people who only know english?
Not OP, but I've asked myself this as well. I think it depends on where you live and what you want out of your language learning experience. If your goal is to learn something more useful in everyday life and you live in the southern US, Spanish is a great option. If you're from Canada, French is probably the most useful. German and Mandarin are useful in the business world, but the latter is significantly harder to learn. If you're not worried about maximizing the utility of what you learn, Norwegian is considered one of the easiest languages for English speakers, and let's be real, Norway is awesome.
It's more important that you stick with whatever you choose though. That's the part I've struggled with.
To be honest I'm not a native English speaker so your advice is probably more useful anyway. My husband is British and has studied plenty of languages, finding Swedish and Norwegian definitely the easiest to pick up. Romance languages have more complicated grammar but you'll find a lot more TV and movies to watch to casually pick up a bit more of the language, which I find useful because I only speak English as well as I do from watching a lot of TV (first with subs) when I was younger.
Public Speaking
You never know when you'll have to say something in front of a crowd.
Iβm so sorry, but I have to reply to this, I misread this as public spanking, and have been giggling to myself for about 15 minutes.
Apologies.
Cooking is a very nice, relaxing hobby and you also get to eat some good food!
Itβs also very useful and an easy way to impress people.
It's extremely difficult for me to cook regularly anymore, I just don't have the energy. When I do choose to, though, I make it a fun event and it's so satisfying. Put on some music, drink some beers and go to town.
I made Chinese noodles from scratch a while back and while they were SOOOOO GOOD, it was so labor intensive that I would only do it for fun and not to satiate myself lol. They were nice and bouncy noodles, cut a little smaller than chow fun.
Indoor gardening/hydroponics. Even in the smallest flat you can grow your own salad, peppers, radish, tomatoes, microgreens, etc.
Like a tiny stardew valley at home.
Sewing is useful and satisfying. I'd like to say it's also easy but I have never figured it out myself (which doesn't say much, anything that involves using my hands is... questionable)
Self-hosting. You learn how to use Linux, security, managing services, and after all that you have your own little ship on the internet. After all that you gain a massive understanding of how the internet and the technology you use daily work and run (to an extent).
Two things: chess and piano. I downloaded the chess.com app and play whenever I'm idling for more than a few minutes. Got to a very proficient respectable level in a few months, and it's a ton of fun, endless combinations, no upper limit to how good you can get.
I also bought a cheap keyboard for under $300 and got proficient at it within a few months. Half hour here, twenty minutes there, an hour there. I'm not Chopin or anything and I can barely even play him but again, respectable.
So now if you ever go somewhere and see a chess set or a piano you can be like hey I know what to do with that!
cheap keyboard for under $300
for a second I thought I was on /c/mechanicalkeyboards and thought "omg i wouldn't say that's cheap"
Some form of metal working, and specifically machining. I really enjoy machining, and I've been able to make some genuinely useful things. The tools are actually really quiet and stateful, unlike woodworking power tools which SCREAM at you like horrible demons. Seeing people look at their first top, or pen, or miniature cannon is great. Plus, things made in metal are at least slightly shiny.
For example, you could make dumbbell handles and plates like this: a photo of dumbbell handles and weight plates
Or a metal yarn winder like this: a photo of an all-metal yarn winder
The major downside is that it's not cheap (not as expensive as boats, possibly more expensive than photography), and it requires at least a bit of space that you wouldn't mind getting dirty. Luckily, I feel like makerspaces are starting to have more and more metalworking equipment.
Wood working. Can fix things and build things. Itβs very rewarding. Can find second hand tools and slowly build your collection and upgrade them as you develop and hone your skills until your wife surprises you at home with your closest friends and family and they proceed to tell you that you have a problem and have to decide between investing time and energy into a living family or your woodworking hobby.
3D printing. Suddenly you are able to fix small plastic shit in your house which would otherwise mean throwing out the whole goddamn thing. Best feeling ever to repair and save stuff.
Playing an instrument. The challenge of playing successfully a melody will give you more reward than listening to a good one.
Cross stitching is fun and pretty inexpensive to get into! All you need is cloth (Aida), needles, thread, and a pattern. There are plenty of free patterns available, and a skein of thread is under a dollar.
Running. Fairly cheap. Can set your own schedule. Improves physical and mental health, increases self confidence, can help with sleep and weight loss.
Juggling!
-
It can be done dirt cheap
-
It's really therapeutic
-
You can practice it almost anywhere but especially alone in your room
-
If you git gud at it, you have a cool skill to show off
Hiking, there are a wide range of hike trails depending on fitness or time levels, it gets you moving and seeing nature and it can help build stamina and endurance which can be helpful in so many other day to day things. Also to start out on smaller hikes there are very few start-up costs its also lots of fun and can be alone or meet new people also hiking i find a lot of kindness and friendliness in a lot of the hiking community.
@QuietStorm Fishing: it gets you outside, and helps you learn about the natural world as a participant, not just an observer. You don't need to spend a lot to get started and its often best if you go with a friend. I always practice catch-and-release and the experience is a morning or evening of peace.