I would say 3 things:
- I got a bike
- I left my previous job and started working on my own projects
- Adopting a cat
Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
91–100 of 545 posts
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#92My son's daycare closed permanently almost a year ago, and my wife and I had to adjust to have a 3 going on 4 year old at home with us 24/7. While it hasn't been easy, it's been a joy watching him grow over this past year, having time to bond with him (generally he favours his mom), and to have greater insight into who he is becoming as a person. It has been a difficult time for everyone, but I honestly believe that…
I think this is one of the curses of modern life, more so in the rat race, that one misses on just living with kids (who, most likely, will be living with parents for probably two or three decades of their lives and then move out). The current times generally have more fathers being participative in parenting compared to the past. It seems such a waste of time, if it’s feasible without breaking the bank, to not enjoy…
No, if you spend time with your kids, you are being exploited an oppressed. The government needs to offer childcare for everybody.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#93Gigabit internet, cheap hard drives, and cheap 36-bay SATA 4U servers.
It turns out I like having a private library and playing home librarian. It brings me a lot of joy.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also got back to fiction reading lately and I’m immensely enjoying it. But..do you really read two books A DAY?
Yes, average fiction or biographies etc I do. If it is harder (hard literature, much thicker, books that are not in Dutch, English or German ( I try to reread books I read in English in Spanish ) or science books which are theoretical like physics or CS with formulas etc, then it obviously will be (much) slower. I noticed myself watching more and more fiction TV shows and found them too slow while being not dense eno…
The biggest problem for me would be to find enough good books to read.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#95Probably two things:
Intrastate travel. Main line of work (web) stalled but I picked up a solid amount of drone photography/videography work that allowed me to get paid travelling more than usual around the state. Australia has been in a good position with regard to COVID-19 which obviously helped, but I did get a few travel jobs during only-travel-for-work lockdowns.
In the last 12 months, I've visited every sub-region of the state, been paid to go on a 10 night cruise, worked on a TV commercial, made decent money camping with my kids a handful of times, etc. One of the best years of my life and I feel especially fortunate knowing how rough others around the globe have had it in comparison.
Perhaps bigger than that though: a solid relationship. It's so valuable that no matter what else is going on (heavy workload, dealing with the kids, etc) that your partner has your back and vice versa. Very reassuring coming home knowing that you are a team against everything you face.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#96It's been running as well for me.
I'm 35 now and have never been much of a sports person. At the third lockdown, I felt I couldn't endure being in my home 24/7 anymore. (Was working from home then.) So I started to run, just to experience the outside. I saw physical fitness as a side effect.
My mood is so much better after running. It really does release endorphines.
Also, I go to the office at least for 2 days a week, in spite of a commute time of 1h one-way. Worth it. I need the physical seperation of work place to home.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#97Video 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…
I had been watching Rambalac's videos since I got back from Japan in 2019. It's so comforting, it's difficult to explain exactly why, but I feel very content while watching them and they seem to occupy a part of my brain that usually wanders when I'm working.
Worthy of a mention is "Smarter Every Day" has a channel called The Sound Traveller, where Dustin explores places with a binaural audio setup.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#982.5 day work week. Peak performance on those days at a decent daily rate, then I get to fuck around on whatever for the rest of the week. Wednesdays are my fridays.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#99Walking and mountain biking. Now back to powerlifting since gyms are open.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#100Surprisingly - my burnout.
It came one day, out of the blue and broke me in two pieces. Thanks to the great human empathy in my company (and their support) I went through it without too much problems.
It taught me that I am not invincible and that I should listen to my body more. I am not 20 anymore.
I voluntarily scale down my professional scope and my title, to concentrate on the things I have an actual influence on. I am documented all the points that fell in the gray area (= I was "responsible" for, without any possibility to change things) and I will stubbornly go that way.
It will ultimately be a win for the company as well, forcing it to sort out loose ends (at least in my area).
I live in France so it was made easier by the socialist regulations (socialist as in "enhanced social protections"), as well as the real, human empathy of my management - beyond what is expected from a company.