DRUGS

Cooking.

Learning how to prepare foods. Nothing fancy, but I find it a stress relieving activity. Then I get to eat at the end. I learned from watching Good Eats, where the host broke down the science behind how the food is cooking and why you do certain things. Like cutting a steak with the grain vs against the grain.

I think J. Kenji Lopez-Alt with Food Labs is a more modern version of Alton Brown. And a little less pretentious, but I'm sure there are others. Cooking is an art. Learn the basics and you can throw together all sorts of food and make it taste good.

Contirbuting to open-source, open data and so on!

For example, why not contribute to OpenStreetMaps? You will help others and also will be going around your city more, possible discovering more interesting stuff :)

Or why not contribute to OpenFoodFacts? Adding prices, updating data, fixing wrong data - so much fun! And useful.

Or did you know that there is open review system, including places on openstreetmaps, companies, books? https://mangrove.reviews/ It is notably used in CoMaps. You can check plaes that you had been in and inform people about good/bad aspects of said place!

And more! Making world a slightly better place together.

“Kid” arts and crafts. Pick whatever you have lying around and make something cool out of it.

I hoard delivery boxes because the possibilities are endless. I love making temporary furniture out of them. A chair for a couple of evenings, a play house for my kid, an absolutely massive advent calendar for my partner. I did bookshelves, display cabinets, I am planning a kid couch.

I also hoard old fabrics, t-shirts and linen mostly, to turn into whatevers. A book sleeve, a mask, a cake transport bag…

I love the creative process of fixing a problem first with ingenuity then with my hands

Meshcore

Junk journaling. The amount of free paper in life is still kinda astounding. Get some crappy book about how to become an overnight billionaire and wreck it with art. Make a collage in it with paste and scrap paper, sales papers, business cards, packaging, etc. Badaboom.

Harvesting components and metals from broken electronics, if you can't fix them.

Acting! Sign up for an evening acting class at a local community college. Don't have ambitions of stardom, just join in. I did this in my late 20s. Besides being extremely fun, it really raised my confidence level and almost instantly gave me a thriving social life. And you can use the skills you learn in acting training to cope with difficult life situations.

For example, I learned to eliminate stress in job interviews by reframing the situation - it's not even an interview, I already work there and it's my first day back after being away for a while. I love the work and the people in the group, our manager is awesome, it's going to be so great to see everybody again! So when I walk into the room I genuinely feel like I belong there, which projects 100% culture fit right away. Another example, one time when I went out with a couple friends to an Irish bar on St. Patrick's Day, the place was jam-packed, and I've never liked crowds. So I quickly got into the character of somebody who LOVES crowds, who revels in swimming through that sea of people. I had a great evening, and even met a woman I ended up dating.

Anyway, take an acting class - you won't regret it.

Birding! Super chill and costs nothing to get started. Even beginners can contribute to citizen science projects. Being out in nature has been shown to improve mental health.

Choir singing. Yes, you can.

Burlesque! It's largely a fun body positive space. Plus you get to make things that sparkle.

Voting. Reading real news sources.

Tatting!

Making electronic music. It can be done for basically $free if you have a laptop, and it's super fun!

Unicycling. A good bit of fun once you get the hang of it a bit, and good exercise too. It can be a bit hard at first, but it's worth the time if you have it.

Listening to podcasts! It's the best of all worlds in terms of media consumption

Shutting the fuck up when they have no idea what they're talking about and instead, sitting back, listening and trying to understand - and if they don't understand, ask questions to those trying to teach them. If the person trying to teach them can't provide evidence for the things they're saying, treat their teachings with scepticism.