How do you find your happy place?

No innuendo intended. You're having a lousy day and you're feeling glum and sad. What do you do to cheer yourself up? Noel Fielding once said "it's impossible to be unhappy in a poncho" perhaps true? Is there a certain bit of music or a film you like to watch? Somewhere you like to go? Someone you can call or speak to who always makes life easier to live by?

Morbs to thread.

What do you think all the posting of shit like this is about?

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/67612258/Aphex+Twin.jpg

Twinge of serotonin and libido associated with longterm crushing is always good for a slight rise.

Googling pictures of things I really like (whether that's oscilloscopes or sea arches), looking at places I like on Streetmaps, reading old ILX threads about Lyonesse or linguistics. All the random crap I love that no one else cares about, that's the stuff that gets me to my happy place.

I very rarely feel glum or sad, luckily. I suspect if I did, I would probably go out on my bicycle. I also suspect that the fact that I go out on it so often already is a big part of the reason I very rarely feel sad or glum. Although, saying that, I'm pretty ebullient and impervious by nature, I think.

Making fun of those less fortunate than me.

exercise, meditation, kindness

Also, big fucking wank.

rmde @ effing proletarian graduates lowering the tone

Sitting on the back deck and watching the hummingbirds.

lol last two answers otm except I don't really meditate although I could probably benefit from doing so

Also I think my dog and I have the same happy place. When I sleep/nap he lays on top of my pillow next to me and rests his chin (or whatever the dog equivalent of a chin is) on the top of my head and falls asleep. It's awesome.

Finally - being in the water. Swimming in the ocean, a pool or just taking a bath all make me really happy.

oh that was supposed to go aver SM's post

Also, big fucking wank.

otm

I have recently discovered that it's very difficult for me to be unhappy when listening to Calypso music.

imagining people i dislke dying alone and in pain

Also, this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_6-IwMPjM

Looking at the sea (or, failing that, a lake or a river, but any large body of water, really) is a fairly guaranteed happy maker. Or at least makes the unhappy more bearable.

Yes to both of those.

Also I know this is a post very much in character but watching youtube videos of cute and/or interesting animals rarely fails to make me happy.

beluga mariachi video otm
i think i don't so much 'find a happy place' as find a way to lay-low & not be further aggravated, but the internet's good for a lot of that. like i just found this blog & could probably while away a couple hours on it without my salad spinner of a brain getting to rear its dumb head. i think i am learning to like making stuff also, as a combination of 'this is engrossing' & 'this is rewarding' - best exemplified by labour-intensive sandwich-making (eg anything where you have to like slice grapes), but i just made a website with the most basic of html and it was really satisfying having started to do a thing and then finding that i'd done a thing.

also films are the ultimate, for this, i think, in mood neutralising. you go in in one mood and come out in another. it's two hours of putting your brain in a different place, mode and speed.

Running long, painful distances.

Doing something like gardening tends to make me feel better, because I'll get so engrossed in weeding/pruning/etc. that I forget about whatever was making me angry or depressed. Plus, pruning in particular is great because you can pretend you're decapitating the cause of your angst.

Very specifically: I go to a garden, plant conservatory, zoo, or aquarium (usually free) and take pictures while listening to Popol Vuh. (Not always, but like 75% of the time PV, they're like magic)

Generally: talk to someone, cook, listen to music, smell some flowers, whatever

I would love to have a garden. Just the smell of dirt puts me in a better mood.

aw, that beluga mariachi vid is so sweet it makes me feel happy and sad at the same time. what strange and beautiful creatures whales are!

happy places: going for a good long walk. reading (and films - schlump otm about how they can change yr mood completely). remembering to appreciate the magic hour (both dawn and dusk).

Listening to TMS; Long walks; Tea; Painting...

But, I guess I view "Happy Place" as flow, and existing in the here and now.

You're having a lousy day and you're feeling glum and sad. What do you do to cheer yourself up?

Nothing :(

Gardening is good too...but kinda disappointing when you garotte your sunflowers :(

Of course, sometimes if I'm feeling glum, the best thing to do is get it out of my system. Sometimes you just have to accelerate the sad-cycle with certain bits of music. Lately the King Creosote/Jon Hopkins album strikes that perfect empathetic note.

A film that always cheers me up when I'm feeling low is Kiki's Delivery Service. There are better Ghibli films, but there are a lot of good lessons to be learnt from that film.

YES. Just the (proper) opening credits with the Japanese song is enough to lift my spirits considerably.

Of course, sometimes if I'm feeling glum, the best thing to do is get it out of my system.

ha & i totally neglected 'destroy cheap electrical equipment that i will subsequently have to replace', above.

go for a run, pet the cat, look at sky, read wodehouse or whitman

Katamari Damacy original soundtrack

^^^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afcqHKJY0AE

Supercute, gleefully silly, set in Carrefour. What more could you want?

Very specifically: I go to a garden, plant conservatory, zoo, or aquarium (usually free) and take pictures while listening to Popol Vuh. (Not always, but like 75% of the time PV, they're like magic)

Sitting on the back deck and watching the hummingbirds.

^^^ People who have figured out how to live.

Running does it for me, personally.

I find this kinda thing relaxing, though i don't really get much ASMR.

http://www.youtube.com/user/SOUNDsculptures#p/u/14/OTczc6OV1XM