What brings you joy and happiness or, what are you passionate about?

Philosophizing. Programming and finally accomplish that very difficult task. Reading an unexpected revelation or an incredible quote in a book.

Philosophizing is such a fun but kind of odd word 🙂
What’s your language of choice for programming?
Appreciate the response!!
- Currently, I am mostly using C++. That is because C++ is the standard language for scientific computing, which is the area I love working on.

Community with people, whether they're friends or just acquaintances from hobby groups. Making art. Reading good fiction. A better physical state from exercise, etc.

Awesome! Glad to hear you have others to talk to and share with.
Any recommendations for reading? I don’t generally read for pleasure but, I am sure others are curious!!
Thank you so much!
- It's cool that you're making this thread as a way to help people. I feel like any community would be lucky to have you.
  Some recent books:
  The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson Butter by Asako Yuzuki The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

I'll preface this by saying I understand it might be hard to get into this mindset, I'm not trying to be patronizing or reductive of your feelings.

I try to appreciate tiny little things in my day. Pleasant smells, seeing the beauty of everyday items, the warmth of tea, how pretty the sky looks when I happen to notice it.

Along the years I've collected little things that bring me joy to use, like nice dishes and mugs, a pretty pen with a color I love to write my notes in, clothes I feel cozy in. I don't acknowledge them every time I use them, but they bring me little moments of appreciating what I have and the beauty of everyday items.

This is one of those chicken and egg things, I don't know which causes which, I can tell you I consider myself quite happy with my life, I'm very grateful for where I am in life, even though my family and I have been heavy a rough year in terms of circumstances.

As for passions, I love learning and crafting, lately I've been focusing more on sewing, but I haven't had much time to dedicate to it. I like spending time with my husband, just doing boring grown up stuff like buying groceries is better with company :)

I hope you get better soon!

how pretty the sky looks when I happen to notice it.
I second this one with every fibre of my being. Look at the sky every chance you get. Clouds are beautiful.
Photography also helped me learn to keep my eyes open for all the pretty sights around. There's a lot more of those waiting to be witnessed out there than one might think.
I really appreciate your perspective and what you’ve brought to the conversation. True, not everything has to be a “thing” to have joy, happiness, etc. It’s cool, you are able to see that value in your world 🙂
As an aside, I have no sense of smell… which does have its perks!!
It’s great you’re in a place where simple things are what you focus on!!
Nothing was interrupted as patronizing or reductive. We all have different perspectives and views. Different feelings on a subject, etc. it’s all good.
I really hope the family matters resolve themselves!!
Again, thank you so much for the post!!

My weekend mornings are doing it for me this summer. I just sit in the garden watching the birds, and my cat running after them, while I drink coffee for at least an hour.

This was a great mental picture. But, does your cat actually catch any of the birds? 🤔
Thank you for sharing!!
- Maybe once a month, I've never actually witnessed it, I just sometimes find traces of what looks like a feathery murder scene. And she sometimes brings me a (dead) bat..

Every Saturday and Sunday morning, I do my gardening.

I spend a few hours pruning my tomato plants, adding clips to hold up cucumber vines, check my eggplant and zucchinis, spray everything down because it all has powdery mildew, and I water all of my potted herbs and flowers. I start early, like 6:30-7am because no one is awake and all I can hear are birds chirping*. Eventually, the neighbors wake up and I can smell bacon cooking before I go inside and make my own breakfast.

*the birds chirping are usually from the hummingbird wars that take place on the hill behind my house. They zoom fast overhead and attack each other behind the hibiscus fence.

This sounds like such a great way to relax! Yeah, the world before people are awake generally seems so much better.
Hummingbirds are pretty cool.
I tried growing stuff but do not have a green thumb at all. I’m glad someone else does though!!
Thank you so much!
- Oh the hummingbird wars are highly entertaining. I’ve found it much easier to grow plants in the ground vs in pots, although I can grow flowers in pots.
  You’re very welcome and I hope you have a wonderful week!

The last time I felt genuine happiness was when I heard my characters voices for the first time. The joy someone gets from hearing something they made become real is a happiness and excitement I can't explain

That’s pretty awesome! Is this for a video game, anime, some other project? I’m sure we’d all like to know!!
Thanks for this!!
- It's for an audio book I did for a novel I wrote. It's still in the process of being published so still not available yet but I still get shivers listening to it

i have a very hard time feeling joy, but watching Star Trek or even watching other people talk about star trek brings a calming wave of contentment over me

I guess in a sense calm and contentment could be a form of happiness or joy. Not sure everything has to be a huge emotional experience.
The cool thing for you is that there are so many other folks who enjoy it. Plenty of people to share with.
Appreciate you posting!!

Finally doing my first ardupilot builds after years of watching rctestflight youtube videos...

The tricopter build always seemed so cool to me.
I know nothing about this subject. However, I’ll go check out some resources.
Thanks for bringing up a topic that may not be well known. Others may enjoy this as well!

cooking meals 😁

It’s interesting to me the number of people I have met that find cooking brings them joy or happiness. It’s cool and all, but, for me a little odd. Probably because I eat to survive and not to enjoy.
I bet friends and family are appreciative of your joy of cooking!!
Thank you so much!!
- when you learn to cook food that tastes really good and that other people enjoy, it becomes much more than a survival activity and more like a hobby, though once you start you can't stop, I do all the cooking and baking at home 😅 To be honest, cooking gives my life most of its meaning, I am a cook more than anything else.
  It does get harder to go back to poorly prepared meals, and you start to become dependent along with everyone in your family, as nobody wants to go back to box meals or restaurant food. You realize at some point you can't buy the kind of foods you can make at home. And it can be a lot of pressure to perform and deliver every day, but that provides its own rewards. In the end, I like working and producing something others value, and cooking is a rewarding kind of work.

Making something and it works. Bonus points if other people think it's cool as well.

Do you make stuff just for pleasure or do you sell stuff as well? Anything you have posted online for people to see??
It’s pretty cool you have the skill to make things.
This is appreciated!!
- https://beaks.live/ is probably the one I'm most proud of. All home built. When I retire in a few years time I'm going to see if I can make and sell a few bird boxes like that.

I'm so effing depressed, so the best I can offer are distractions lol I keep going, but I miss the joy most of the time.

My special interests right now are plants, fishes and ants. In the northern hemisphere is a good time to find some queen ants, making diy homes for them is rewarding, cheap and it won't take a lot of space (at least for some time, until the colonies grow). Plants are great because a lot of people have them, so you can ask for cuttings and tips, and there are also studies about the benefits of having plants in your environment. Almost the same with the fishies.

If you find something interesting, even a little, try it. There's always time to leave it if finally that's not your thing.

I was completely unaware you could make homes for ants! I appreciate this post purely for the educational value!!
I salvaged some Spider Wort and that stuff is growing like crazy. I don’t even do anything to it.
Appreciate the kind words. Again, thank you for posting!!
- If you're interested in the diy for ants, even if just out of curiosity or if you like simply watching the process of making them, I'd recommend you channels like D colony or TexAnts. There's also AntsCanada, less on the diy and more on the craziness an ant keeper can reach lol
  Spider wort is in the Tradescantia genus, right? I'm learning you have to keep them alone for them to thrive (I almost killed my T. zebrina and have an overgrown T. pallida). Seriously, you can even forget a cutting in the sun without water or anything and after days it will be like nothing happened.
  Sometimes I wish I had friends nearby to give plants to.
  I send you a /hug and good luck searching for joy!

Playing my dobro or basses. Really, making music of just about any sort.

If you have anything online we can hear, please, please share it!! Musical ability is such a great thing.
Appreciate you sharing!!

Anime! There's something about their way of storytelling that tugs my emotions no other medium can do.

I’m a fan of anime. I haven’t watched in a while. I agree it can be a pretty emotional roller coaster depending on the anime.
Any favorites or anime you would recommend?
Appreciate this!!
- Here's an interest stack to (re)start with: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34889
Dance away your heartbreak
Dance away
You might make all your dreams turn into reality
Project A Ko, song 'Dance Away'
- Awesome, will give this a look in between my next set of meetings. Thank you for sharing!!
  Update: just gave this a look! Everyone following this thread should give it a click and watch!!
  Great song!!

I've been really enjoying getting myself back onto Gentoo and relearning python. I'm a really techie person and love little gadgets.

Cool! I used to be into the tech thing… now, I’ve given up 😂
I remember getting Gentoo set up once but, couldn’t daily drive it. Just wasn’t for me.
I hope the move to Gentoo is seamless!!
Thank you!!

I used to have a lot of things that brought joy/happiness, but the only one I have now is nature. Birds, trees, soil, bugs, lizards, rocks, clouds... Endlessly fascinating.

Whether a hundred or one, it’s great you have something that brings you joy. True, nature is pretty fascinating overall.
Thanks for sharing!!

Brings me joy: a perfect french fry, a cool fall morning, the end of Big Fish.

Sounds like the simple things are your vibe! That’s awesome! I can’t remember the last time a ate a French fry 🤔
Soooo, looking up Bug Fish gave a ton of responses. Care to let us know which Big Fish you are referring to?
Really appreciate you posting!!
- Big Fish is a Tim Burton movie from 2004, the ending is powerful.

The natural world,alas it's estimated that.5% of the planet is unspoiled

This is true, for many happiness can be found in nature. Let’s hope we continue to have a planet in the next few years!!
Thanks for posting!!

I have never experienced such things, at least from what others have said what those things are, people try to explain it to me and it doesn't make much sense. I can understand passion but joy and happiness is such a odd concept to me. Like what gives me dopamine? Or things that you feel "good inside". It's all so confusing.

That’s fair enough. Not everyone may “feel” those things. That’s completely fine. I don’t think it has to be confusing. It’s just not something that registers with you and that’s ok.
Appreciate the response!!

Competitive team video games as a way of having fun while getting to know yourself and others better.

Nice! I tried video games and usual suck at them haha. I can barely get past intro bosses most of the time. I think they are cool though.
What game(s) are you currently playing?
Thanks for this!

I don't really do passion anymore, but dogs are an eternal joy.

That is a very fair and valid statement! Animals in general always seem to be a bright spot for people. Unless of course said animal is trying to eat them… then maybe not so much 🙂
Thank you for sharing!!