this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023
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What is something like a hobby or skill that you belive almost anybody should give a try, and what makes your suggestion so good compared to other things?

i feel like this is a descent question i guess.

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[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Biking.

Moving under your own power has so many benefits:

  • It's fun
  • It's cheap (or can be, to be fair)
  • It's good for your health
  • It's good for the planet
[–] njinx@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's fun

My knees disagree but each to their own ;)

[–] withersailor@aussie.zone 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I cringe watching someone struggling to turn the pedals when they are riding a multi geared bike.

Cycling is good for the knees, if you're not staining to turn the pedals. That's why gearing exists.

Use the gears to make the pedaling easier.

[–] runner_g@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

Also to add, the seat height should be adjusted such that your leg is just under full extension when on the pedal at its lowest point. Otherwise you are wasting a ton of power with every stroke, and will feel it in your knees much quicker.

[–] Barzaria@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

Wait a minute internet dude, did you make sure your seat was the right height? Having the seat at the right height I.e. fully extended legs, the down like an inch, really helped me out with the joint pain. I mention it because biking is generally considered a low impact activity. Knee surgery haver here, myself :')

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[–] anaximander 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cooking. So many people don't even have the bare minimum ability to throw something together from raw ingredients that's vaguely nutritious, palatable, and won't give anyone food poisoning, so of course start there - it's so much cheaper than ready meals and there are plenty of recipes that are fast if time constraints are why you use ready meals. In fact, a trick I've always used is to cook something that serves 4-6 people, divide the extra into tubs, and freeze it. That's a few nights where making dinner is as quick and simple as defrosting something, maybe boiling some rice or pasta to go with. Do this with a half-dozen meals and you can alternate and not have to cook for weeks.

Beyond that though, learning a little more about flavour and technique, how to season a dish like a pro, some more unusual flavour combinations etc. can add real interest to your diet for very little extra effort, time, or cost. A few cheap herbs and spices can cost less than a single portion of what you're cooking and give you enough to enhance months worth of meals.

Cooking yourself a treat is great therapy. Cooking something a bit fancy for someone makes for a cheap yet heartfelt date night. Cooking a meal your family enjoys is really satisfying. Everyone should learn to cook, just a little.

[–] DocSophie@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And if you have plenty of time (relatively speaking), but don't want to put in a lot of effort?

Get a cheap slow cooker! There are so many amazing recipes that are just "toss five ingredients into a cooker and put on low for 8 hours".

[–] anaximander 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Absolutely! Another great thing about slow cookers is that they allow for time travel. When you get home from work, you're tired and can't be bothered to cook. Slow cookers let you borrow a few minutes of your morning, when you're awake and fresh, to do your evening cooking! Prepare it in the morning, set it off, and when you get back tired from a long day at work, all you have to do is dish up. Magic.

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[–] slacktoid@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

Self-hosting. You learn how to use Linux, security, managing services, and after all that you have your own little ship on the internet. After all that you gain a massive understanding of how the internet and the technology you use daily work and run (to an extent).

[–] padjakkels@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Thinking of learning sign language....

[–] QuietStorm@lemmy.fmhy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

that would be useful.

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[–] thegiddystitcher@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Crochet

Pros

  • Documented mental health benefits
  • Cheap to start, can learn from online tutorials
  • Easier than knitting
  • Make cool toys, clothes, home accessories, whatever you want
  • Get to smush yarn into your face on a regular basis

Cons

  • Fibre crafts gateway drug
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[–] kani@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Learning a new language. You learn a bit about how languages work, understand other cultures a bit better, usually learn new vocabulary for your native language, understand the relationship between different languages, learn the roots of loan words and generally helps your brain stay healthy, even by only studying the basics.

[–] QuietStorm@lemmy.fmhy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

what lauguage would you recommend for people who only know english?

[–] The_Empty_Tuple@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not OP, but I've asked myself this as well. I think it depends on where you live and what you want out of your language learning experience. If your goal is to learn something more useful in everyday life and you live in the southern US, Spanish is a great option. If you're from Canada, French is probably the most useful. German and Mandarin are useful in the business world, but the latter is significantly harder to learn. If you're not worried about maximizing the utility of what you learn, Norwegian is considered one of the easiest languages for English speakers, and let's be real, Norway is awesome.

It's more important that you stick with whatever you choose though. That's the part I've struggled with.

[–] kani@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To be honest I'm not a native English speaker so your advice is probably more useful anyway. My husband is British and has studied plenty of languages, finding Swedish and Norwegian definitely the easiest to pick up. Romance languages have more complicated grammar but you'll find a lot more TV and movies to watch to casually pick up a bit more of the language, which I find useful because I only speak English as well as I do from watching a lot of TV (first with subs) when I was younger.

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[–] Hovenko@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

3D printing. Suddenly you are able to fix small plastic shit in your house which would otherwise mean throwing out the whole goddamn thing. Best feeling ever to repair and save stuff.

[–] QuietStorm@lemmy.fmhy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

i wish i could 3d print board games and such but printers are so pricey.

[–] BilboSwaggins@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

You might want to check out laser cutting. Same prize range and so much faster for board games. (basically works like a 2D lasercutter, most commonly used with wood or plexi glass).

[–] Badabinski@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I've heard good things about Ender 3 printers and their clones if you're willing to tinker. AFAIK, the experience right out of the box isn't great, but they can be modded and upgraded over time and can be fairly capable.

That being said, those might still be too expensive depending on your geo. I seem to recall reading about reprap projects designed to be built as cheaply as possible using harvested components from things like old scanners and shit.

[–] freebrick@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Running. Fairly cheap. Can set your own schedule. Improves physical and mental health, increases self confidence, can help with sleep and weight loss.

[–] alex@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Sewing is useful and satisfying. I'd like to say it's also easy but I have never figured it out myself (which doesn't say much, anything that involves using my hands is... questionable)

Playing an instrument. The challenge of playing successfully a melody will give you more reward than listening to a good one.

[–] Badabinski@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Some form of metal working, and specifically machining. I really enjoy machining, and I've been able to make some genuinely useful things. The tools are actually really quiet and stateful, unlike woodworking power tools which SCREAM at you like horrible demons. Seeing people look at their first top, or pen, or miniature cannon is great. Plus, things made in metal are at least slightly shiny.

For example, you could make dumbbell handles and plates like this: a photo of dumbbell handles and weight plates

Or a metal yarn winder like this: a photo of an all-metal yarn winder

The major downside is that it's not cheap (not as expensive as boats, possibly more expensive than photography), and it requires at least a bit of space that you wouldn't mind getting dirty. Luckily, I feel like makerspaces are starting to have more and more metalworking equipment.

[–] QuietStorm@lemmy.fmhy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

you make some really good points!

[–] sisyphean@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cooking is a very nice, relaxing hobby and you also get to eat some good food!

It’s also very useful and an easy way to impress people.

[–] ratboy@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

It's extremely difficult for me to cook regularly anymore, I just don't have the energy. When I do choose to, though, I make it a fun event and it's so satisfying. Put on some music, drink some beers and go to town.

I made Chinese noodles from scratch a while back and while they were SOOOOO GOOD, it was so labor intensive that I would only do it for fun and not to satiate myself lol. They were nice and bouncy noodles, cut a little smaller than chow fun.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Public Speaking

You never know when you'll have to say something in front of a crowd.

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[–] MiddleWeigh@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

An instrument. It's soul food and extremely therapeutic. Even if you suck, just learn to let it go. I find it's really good for my mental health. I dunno, it's music ya know? Lol

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[–] CynAq@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Juggling!

  • It can be done dirt cheap

  • It's really therapeutic

  • You can practice it almost anywhere but especially alone in your room

  • If you git gud at it, you have a cool skill to show off

[–] jrubal1462@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

At work, I have a reputation for being the guy who never shuts up about trying to get new people into scuba diving. If there are 2 or more divers at the lunch table I honestly feel a little bad for everybody else. The cost of getting trained and renting or buying all your gear can scare people away, but I would at least strongly recommend that anybody on an island vacation or cruise at least try a "discover Scuba" class. You'll learn everything you need to know to not die by watching a quick video, and working in a pool, then you get to go have an amazing dive in the ocean with an instructor.

[–] sjh@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Baking - fresh warm bread is so good!

Sewing - it's nice to add pockets to things 😁

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[–] voluntaryexilecat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Indoor gardening/hydroponics. Even in the smallest flat you can grow your own salad, peppers, radish, tomatoes, microgreens, etc.

Like a tiny stardew valley at home.

Hiking, there are a wide range of hike trails depending on fitness or time levels, it gets you moving and seeing nature and it can help build stamina and endurance which can be helpful in so many other day to day things. Also to start out on smaller hikes there are very few start-up costs its also lots of fun and can be alone or meet new people also hiking i find a lot of kindness and friendliness in a lot of the hiking community.

[–] lunarshot@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Mindfulness and Breathwork! Mindfulness is an incredibly valuable practice that can be a game changer for mental health and anxiety. Breathwork goes a long way as a fundamental technique.

There are a variety of free tier apps like InsightTimer that have beginner courses in meditation. Working to create space in your life between things like work and family give you breathing room. Starting to live in the moment allows you to step out of the anxiety of the past and worry of the future.

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[–] Beardedsausag3@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hiking.

Getting up amongst the fells and mountains, mostly in isolation from noise and other people. Sure there's touristy spots where alot head to but there's still plenty of other, maybe slightly more difficult to hike places if you wanted pure zen.

Navigation is important, don't just go up with Google maps expecting her to tell you when the next left is. Get some research done, and head out. Don't overcomplicate things with buying loads of gear that youtubers "recommend", don't send it up a 3000ft hike either. A slight ascent, around a lake - start small, find your feet and grow from there.

The best thing I could ever have started for my mental health.

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[–] riskable@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Juggling is fun and makes you really great at throwing things (but only mildly better at catching them hehe) πŸ‘

[–] cerpa@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Wood working. Can fix things and build things. It’s very rewarding. Can find second hand tools and slowly build your collection and upgrade them as you develop and hone your skills until your wife surprises you at home with your closest friends and family and they proceed to tell you that you have a problem and have to decide between investing time and energy into a living family or your woodworking hobby.

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