this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2026
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What are things that bring you joy?

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[–] EpicMuch@sh.itjust.works 26 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Books. This year I’ve caught up with harry Dresden and Carl & doughnut. Piranesi was great. A solid recommend. Sanderson’s Tailored Realities was a nice collection of snapshots into different parts of his universe

[–] AliasVortex@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Dungeon Crawler Carl has to be one of my top two favorite reads in the last year (I'd give it the top spot, but Red Rising was also really good)! It's a struggle to convey just what makes it so good, but it's been a fantastic ride. I can't wait for the next book in May!

[–] michael@piefed.chrisco.me 4 points 2 weeks ago

Looking forward to the new book! DCC 😁

[–] lonefighter@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I started the first book February 3rd after a podcaster I listen to casually mentioned it and said it was a great read. I'm on the 7th book now 😂

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (5 children)

During the Covid Quarantine, I took up the guitar again, after having quit playing decades ago. I was terrible back then, but I've practiced every day, and become pretty good.

My primary objective was to be able to sit and play my guitar good enough to entertain myself, and I've accomplished it. I can fingerpick about 30 songs start to finish, most with my own arrangements, and about 5 originals that I think are pretty good. I've also become a credible lead guitarist as well. Lately I've been getting into recording.

Nothing is more satisfying than sitting on the front porch at sunset, looking out over the pond across from my house, and fingerpick through some favorite songs, and work on new ones. By playing the guitar instead of eating, I've lost 100 pounds, and I'm still going. It's also been remarkable for my mental health.

I feel this. I started playing the piano again early in the pandemic. I did not appreciate it when I was a kid and my mom made us each practice for an hour a day but I appreciate it now.

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[–] 11111one11111@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Speedball lines of opiates and cocaine.

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Every morning my two youngest kids (under 5) get up around 7:00 AM. The first thing they want to do is sit on my lap in the recliner while I either read to them or turn on one of their TV shows and we just chill for an hour. We do this every day and it's my favorite part of the day.

[–] StickyDango@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

Books, good food, a good laugh, and my best friend. These are things that come to mind straight away, but there are certainly many others!

Helping others, having friendly interactions with people (online and offline), birds landing on your outstretched hand, when a happy dog looks up at you with their happy smiles, when a cat comes to see you after the owner says "She's nervous around strangers",.. A solid sleep and feeling refreshed in the morning.

A good coffee, a cold drink on a hot day, when a seed has sprouted in my garden, a hefty burrito, a heavy thunderstorm, sunshine after days of rain, the cooling 5PM breeze on a stinking hot day, ibuprofen working on a headache, when you go shopping and one of the first things you try on fits really well so you don't have to shop for hours, the first run down the hill (snow), when you come across a steal of a deal on something you've been wanting,... Too many to name.

What doesn't bring me joy is when I need cold water from the tap and hot water comes out, or if the empty toilet roll hasn't been replaced. 💀

[–] NENathaniel@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 weeks ago
[–] BoosBeau@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

I'm a simple man... I see a cat and I pet it. This makes the brain produce the happy juice.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Toddlers. Seeing toddlers stumbling about and discovering their world is fascinating to me.

[–] EponymousBosh@awful.systems 5 points 2 weeks ago

Similar but different, we have a kitten and it's funny to see him trying to figure things out. The other day he just stared at our Keurig when I was making coffee. We don't use it that often and I guess he hadn't seen it in action before.

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[–] meow@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Mostly alcohol, and @urheber@discuss.tchncs.de

Edit: My cat too

[–] urheber@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] meow@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 2 weeks ago

You'd never guess, but i love you too

[–] Kacarott@aussie.zone 10 points 2 weeks ago

Camping, hiking, a crackling fire, being outdoors. Sunshine, snow, rain, winter. Beaches, mountains, forests. Skipping stones on a lake. Pottery, programming, puzzles. Good coffee, good tea, and hot drinks in general (esp. Feuerzangenbowle!). And probably more?

[–] felixwhynot@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

I had a nice little walk today

[–] bazzett@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Books, cats, coffee and drawing/painting. I could also say "working", as my job is reading, learning and being amazed (I'm a biologist).

[–] cattywampas@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Cooking and eating.

[–] Minnels@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Taking the bus. Just sitting and being able to have my thoughts for myself. Also walking.

Computer games but I really need to play less digital games and more analog games instead. Both have an enormous backlog but at least I have stopped buying more... Digital games.

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[–] daggermoon@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
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[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Oh, hey, OP! I, too, enjoy touching paintings w/ a bone-dry brush and then holding still in the moment. 😶

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

maybe OP heard of dry brushing and got a little confused

[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Building LEGO's. Mostly plants and animals but I've got some space and pop culture stuff as well.

Playing boardgames. Euros, puzzlers, co-op's, card, and classics.

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[–] Okokimup@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Seeing animals, especially in the wild, especially birds. I like to think of every sighting as good luck.

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Mostly simple stuff

An entertaining or educational book, a good philosophical argument, enjoying moments of good health, leisure, and company, the double barrel shotgun in doom, learning a new song or technique on the guitar and using it to create my own stuff, warm socks and cold coffee, figuring out a bug or defect in a program.

[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Not having to go to work, quit work at 40, am now 60.

[–] dangercake@feddit.uk 3 points 2 weeks ago

How did you do it?

[–] presoak@lazysoci.al 5 points 2 weeks ago

My wife

My morning meditation

My garden

My cats and dog

My electric bill- no, wait.

[–] deacon@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

The feeling that I’ve helped someone or something feel safe and loved. Usually that is cats but in any case it feels nice to know you’ve put more of those foundational good feelings into the world somehow.

There is a cat in the crook of my arm right now, and I know she feels safe and loved and in return she’s basically radiating mental health at me.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago

Man I agree with this so much, almost to a fault. When my dogs were alive, I knew that every minute I wasn’t there with them was disappointing for them. It created insane feelings of guilt in me whenever I left.

It’s healthier with my cat, since cats decide when they want something on their terms. When my cat wants love, he comes to me and I give it to him. But the idea that I’m improving the life of an innocent life form is so rewarding.

[–] AstroLightz@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

That moment when you're stuck on a part of your code and you figure it out, write it, test it and it just works.

It's rare, but when it happens, it feels very good.

[–] EponymousBosh@awful.systems 5 points 2 weeks ago

My wife and my cats. We got a kitten a few months after my older cat passed and it turned out to be a really good decision (even though he does drive us crazy sometimes, because kittens are basically toddlers with pointy teeth and claws and a 1-meter vertical leap). Not saying kittens are a cure for depression, but it helps.

[–] nett_hier@feddit.org 4 points 2 weeks ago

Music, walking and cats :3

[–] BitsAndBites@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Well organized workspaces and scrap pieces that fit absolutely perfectly.

[–] biggerbogboy@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

Ultra mega hyperfixating on one very specific piece of technology for days on end, then burning out lmao

[–] Bazell@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 weeks ago

Crashing fresh ice. Especially the one that has air underneath. It crackles really nice. It is very satisfying experience.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Cantaloupe@lemmy.fedioasis.cc 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The things that bring me joy are tech, computers, and games. Computers are amazing, and phones are even more so, and it hurts to watch tech get twisted and used against people.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Yea they used to bring me joy as well.

But I've seem to have lost the ability to enjoy anything, so even though I play a bit, I don't really enjoy it.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

My friend you need to see a professional and get that fixed. I’d be miserable without my Lexapro

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I have seen them. All of them. Previously yesterday a meeting with a doctor and a nurse and an hour-long meeting with my therapist.

Genuinely it's that Finns are selfish miserable unemotional treacherous cunts, at least in this part of Finland or towards me.

It's just a cascade of bullshit that's rained down on me in the past decade or two.

And the doctors keep changing constantly without even trying to find help for the physical things I've complained about since the early nineties. But they also won't accept they're in the wrong. So because they haven't found anything I got sent to psychiatry, which wasn't needed back then, but is now. Just the fact that my life is running by without any help from anyone no matter how desperately I plead or where I beg help from. Family, friends, social workers, doctors. Hell, I was even tossed out of an ER for telling the on-call psychiatrist I'm afraid I might hurt myself or others.

I've tried literally all the drugs. Legal and illegal. I think what would help me the most is moving out of Finland. But can't afford it.

So weeks roll by like days, months like weeks and years like months. I haven't done practically anything in several years, except try to figure out what's wrong with myself and pleading for help.

"Help is always available" is complete bullshit.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

I’m just one dude on the internet with little to no context, but it seems to me that you’re in a huge rut and don’t know how to get out of it. Is there anything you could do which would put you out of your “comfort zone”? I’ve discovered that the best things typically happen when I say “yes” to things even if my instinct is to say “no”. I don’t mean dangerous shit, but opportunities which can seem daunting or uncomfortable.

From what I understand, Finland has a pretty good social safety net. Would you be able to pick up and go elsewhere for a bit, even if it’s only a town over? That could be a totally different experience for you. Sounds like it can’t get worse, so why not?

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[–] twotonebax@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Painting tabletop miniatures

[–] trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Scuba diving. Even if it's just in a local freshwater lake in winter. For a while you get to be a guest in an alien environment where you're almost weightless.

[–] MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

To crush ny enemies, see them driven before me, and to hear the lamentations of their women!

[–] karpintero@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Waking up late on weekends, making a good cup of coffee, throwing on a record, and just relaxing before the day gets going.

Playing an instrument and jamming with others.

Finishing projects. Making stuff by hand.

Taking long walks with my dog.

Reading outside.

Music and dancing.

Being amongst nature.

[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

Baked goods and little cats.

The little cat let me pick her up and take her under the blankets for a snuggle! It was so nice!!

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Seeing the crooked man walking his crooked mile when I go into work.

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