Hands down, seeing people face to face. I have really discovered how much it means to me. I have been ambivalent about it because of social anxiety and low self esteem, but I have realized that in reality nothing else comes close in terms of raising my mood and giving me good feelings.
Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
171–180 of 545 posts
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#172The people in a country that has outsized influence in the country I live in came to their senses and voted out their leader. Other than politics my 11-year old son understanding the Roblox API, and 8-year old daughter topping her class in reading and spelling.
Congratulations on your kids' accomplishments. That sounds really great!
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#173My wife and kids. I'm 50 and re-evaluating friendships outside the home. I have realised that most of my friendships are not mutual. I stopped contacting most of my friends over 9 months ago and have not heard back from most for 6 months to never. My own family experience wasn't great. I now realise to have a wife who actively cares for you, looks out for you, is probably the most meaningful thing that can happen to…
I did something similar a few years ago.
Not because I wanted to test my friendships, I was just too depressed to interact with other human beings.
I now have a grand total of 2 close friends outside of my family, even though I enjoy social remote events with people I kind of know.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#174Tao Te Ching and Alan Watts
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#175[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#176My wife and kids. I'm 50 and re-evaluating friendships outside the home. I have realised that most of my friendships are not mutual. I stopped contacting most of my friends over 9 months ago and have not heard back from most for 6 months to never. My own family experience wasn't great. I now realise to have a wife who actively cares for you, looks out for you, is probably the most meaningful thing that can happen to…
made me cry a lil bit
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#177Video 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…
Oh my gosh, I've never heard of these and you're right, they do look like a wonderful way to "travel" if you can't otherwise. Thank you so much for sharing.
Edit: Punctuation
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#178Bought an incredibly beautiful farm. I literally get happy just setting foot on it.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#179Working from home. I realised being in an office - especially an open-plan office - was setting off my social anxiety all the time. Working in a place where I could choose to engage with people instead of having it forced upon me made it so much easier to work. I became a lot more productive and started enjoying what I did, even picking up more side projects and learning actively. It's a shame it's coming to an end,…
Where are you looking ? There are tons of remote-first positions (https://weworkremotely.com/ is just an example).
It could depend on your field too - in mine (IT) it feels like there’s a shift to remote and many organizations will keep allowing it even when they are able to go back to the office.
Re: Ask HN: What was the biggest contributor to your happiness in the past year?
#180Tao Te Ching and Alan Watts
and Naval too. I love his teachings.