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Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

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Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#31

Post by candiddevmike »

Remote Jackbox party games were pretty therapeutic during the pandemic.

Spending the vacation budget (and quite a bit of savings) on improving the household amenities, entertainment options, and everyone's hobbies.

We just got back from our first post COVID vacation and it was truly hellish--I'd gladly take being stuck in a multi bedroom house vs hours in a vehicle. Additionally, all the perks of being on vacation were either still absent because of COVID or paled in comparison to what we had back at home.

I think COVID will have a long lasting impact on what I value in this world. I'd rather just spend time with people I care about, doesn't really matter where.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#32

Post by rubyist5eva »

Getting a fully remote job. Gave me the flexibility to leave the city and buy a home near my friends and family more in the "rural" areas of the country. Did not enjoy living in the city with a new baby, not one bit. The more close-knight community life, slower-pace and more flexible work-life balance is much more my style.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#36

Post by murrayb »

huuman12 wrote: post #30
murrayb wrote: post #11

Did a marriage course with my wife. Very helpful wish we had done it a decade earlier!

What was the course?

From memory it was called The Marriage Course. It was offered by The Uniting Church. We are not affiliated with the church and did not find the course overly religious. The session on sex was the most moralistic but no surprises there and the content was still useful /helpful.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#37

Post by cko »

brainless wrote: post #29

Staying away from the startup hustle and city life. I have been constantly disturbed by the chase in the startup system. Building up something out of own passion is one thing, but trying to act like the investor-led founders has been driving me crazy for years. I live a village life now, do much less software work. Have dialed down my ambitions and I am actually very happy. I do feel that my skills, acquired over 15…

How do you sustain this dialed down ambition? Community? Physical labor? Every time I read HN or watch youtube my ambition goes up. And I tried to retire last year but my mind is still restless.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#39

Post by rektide »

candiddevmike wrote: post #31

Remote Jackbox party games were pretty therapeutic during the pandemic. Spending the vacation budget (and quite a bit of savings) on improving the household amenities, entertainment options, and everyone's hobbies. We just got back from our first post COVID vacation and it was truly hellish--I'd gladly take being stuck in a multi bedroom house vs hours in a vehicle. Additionally, all the perks of being on vacation we…

People like Jackbox, and I'm glad they do, but I want to provide some dissent. I really do not like these games, at all. I love playful competition, but this is droll, meaningless, soulless direct competition to me. It doesn't feel fun at all. I don't feel like I'm participating in a game with other people, I feel like I'm being measured. I do not like Jackbox. Again, I'm glad other people have a good experience. But I'd also like to share the perspective that it doesn't work for everyone, that some folks (myself at least) find it really offputting & un-enjoyable.

Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?

#40

Post by rococode »

Video walks on Youtube. If you haven't heard of them before, they're simple first-person videos where the filmer walks around some area with a stabilized video camera - no talking, just walking. I've really missed traveling and watching video walks while exercising has been a great way to satisfy that travel craving a bit and also trick my brain into experiencing some semblance of normalcy (not sure I could remember what a crowded street feels like otherwise haha).

I'm partial to Japan so my favorite channel has been Rambalac [1], and I recently also started watching another channel with the very creative name JAPAN 4K [2]. There are tons of other channels and places too, for example I recently watched a few in Lisbon [3] and Seoul [4] and Copenhagen [5]. They're very relaxing and fun to watch and going from place to place with no cuts captures the usual tourist experience quite well. If you like traveling you can probably find some that are interesting to you!

[1] https://www.youtube.com/c/Rambalac/videos

[2] https://www.youtube.com/user/keikaikeikaikeikai/videos

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXlFDpaQ1ec

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqj7l0Xk0Ho

[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl69sN5PtgM

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