Spending time with my horse is my favorite activity. It's so relaxing and I forget all of my troubles when I'm at the barn

I hike on trails near my house, but I make sure to look around and take in the small things. Even if I’ve been on the trail a thousand times, there’s always something new to see.

the 10 minutes or so I have of free time between laying down and falling to sleep, in which I basically hope that tonight is the night and I don't wake up in the morning.

really helps me get to sleep, of course then i wake up and its all miserable again

The time waiting around when nothing happens is soothing. Then excitement when it gets close. Then I'm not sure how to describe the emotion, the glee a predator feels catching it's prey? Then a bit of sadness because you ended a life.

I go out to a pile of log rounds that were collected from downed trees around the yard that have dried all summer and have a go at them with my splitting axe.

It is the second warming from the wood. First warming was sweating while stacking the rounds, third warming will be hauling them from the piles to the front door during winter, final warming is the wood warming the house in the stove.

I recently started teaching myself piano. There are great adult method books that make the process pretty straightforward. Modern digital pianos are fantastic and be can used with headphones too, which lets me practice without annoying the rest of the house.

Studying, walking/hiking (depending on weather), farming (weather again), single-player video games, gaming with wife (video and/or table games), listening around with an SDR (amateur radio), and probably more. Several depend on how my mental state is at the time

Good on you and..... good boy!

Any suggestions?
I've owned a piano for years, even took a lesson or two, but no dice.

I can play a couple snippets of songs, but that's it. No real skill or ability. And I can't read sheet music.

I bake. I like to try out new recipes, usually cookies, since they travel well and can easily be given to multiple people and enjoyed wherever. I'll be making cinnamon rolls today, though, since there's a breakfast thing at work tomorrow.

Reading. I end my evening reading in bed with a tumbler of wine.

Playing music! I always feel better after sitting down at my drum kit for half an hour or so. I think it works with any instrument though.

Taking some magnesium supplement will fix not dreaming right up!

I adore watching movies. I own so many physically and don't mind using streaming services (especially free ones like Kanopy). Just being taken to another world for a while or even learning a bit more about our own in documentaries is nice. Even if the movie sucks or is mid I'd still rather watch than keep 100% focus on life.

Listening to music and reading.

How do the neighbors feel about this?

I've been working on a chainmail tabard for a year or so now, it's pretty cathartic

I like downloading a couple hundred tiktoks and scrolling them offline for a couple hours at a time

The ones I've talked to are fine with it. I've dampened the sound as much as I could, and I only play between 11 and 8, though rarely that late. One neighbor mentioned they enjoy it, I suspect the rest merely tolerate.

My mind is writing books or short stories that will never be set on a paper, inventing new things that I have no idea how they'd work, but most importantly, my mind is busy arguing with others, and winning every argument :)

Gardening, dancing, sex, reading, exercise, cooking, riding the electric bike, going to see live music (people are always filming on their phones but I don't, prefer to just experience it).

I am like you, running is good exercise but too boring and I can't stop thinking. Aerobic dance like Jazzercise is perfectly calibrated so that I can just follow/do and not think but the class near me ended, they are only out in the suburbs now. Yoga is good if it's the challenging vinyasa flow with music, I can sometimes get into that perfect mindset. But fucking Jazzercise was oddly perfect and is gone.

Cooking. I truly enjoy it.

Don't get to do it that often though. My family hates my cooking.

I build things, electronics mostly. Then the next day I get to admire what yesterday-me built.

Noodling on one of my guitars

Nature photography. I'm not particularly good but I have my camera always charged and when I feel down I just go to the jungle and shoot up some birds. Makes me feel better every time - there's something in our old lizard brains that get relaxed by exposure to visuals of outdoor beings be it birds, trees or just grass fields.

Seek is great app for this which is basically Pokémon Go for nature photography. People are often surprised by how much diversity they have in their own neighborhoods and a bit of gamifications is all some need to finally get out!

Turning on music and cooking something. Watch me scramble my eggs while belting out some System of a Down. "DISORDER! DISORDER!"

Oh you know. Not talking, walking on all fours, playing fetch, getting scratches. That kind of thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pup_play

Woof!

Ice hockey! Love going to games, love watching it on telly, just love it

Hell yeah!

My main one is building with my Lego. I know, I know they are expensive NOW but back in the day they were cheap ways to play. Now, I've got ALL my Lego from when I was a kid and I'm building everything. Well, not EVERYTHING but a bunch! :-)

Walking, biking, hiking, going to concerts, reading, even going to the gym. Science fiction conventions, comic-cons, going to the beach.

Cheap drum machine (korg volca drum), cheap synthesizer, plugged into mixer + no talent + no formal music theory knowledge == unlimited hours of enjoyment. Someday, I might even make something I like.

Start a group!

Walking in park, calisthenics, theatre, concerts.

Adult band program at a School of Rock franchise.

Weekly 90 minute rehearsal, and we put on a show every 3-4 months. Our big show is today, I'm playing keys on seven songs this time around.

Also, separately from that, I play bass in a cover band that I met through the School of Rock program.

Music's some good shit.

which cheap synth?

band program! some music schools do it. I'm in an adult band program at a School of Rock near me.

I'm a bassist at heart but I've always enjoyed keys too, so when I signed up for thr band program I decided to lean in hard on keys. It's been just the right amount of motivation and challenge and I've definitely skilled up a lot

also I can't read sheet music either hahaha. kinda starting to grasp what notes are on what lines but I'm way more used to playing by ear, or using tabs for bass guitar

This is how you get the best animal sightings

Writing is an underrated activity. Just taking a piece of paper or some note taking programme on your lapotop (offline) and jot away about whatever there is in your head. No rules, no daily routines, just thoughts and reflections taking some kind of material form whenever there is time and need for it.

Same for walks around the neighbourhood you live in. Taking a longer way to go to the bakery, seeing the trees and thinking about stuff.

I think there is no better way to face stress than truly being in the present.

Baking and cooking.

Backyard campfire. Paired with my choice of

• Music
• Other people
• Edibles / etc.
• Online chess

I just kinda go out there and vibe for an hour or so a couple times a week.

Gardening
Listening to birds

Playing on my mpc one plus. Also, love.

• Shitposting on Lemmy

• Looking at porn

Oh... Wait that says offline activities...

• Thinking of shitposts to post on Lemmy

• Jerking off

consuming cannabis

Cooking is awesome if I'm in a homey mood

BIking otherwise

Rock for us all!

Cooking, hiking, interacting with pets.