Anyone fancy a Do something new every day thread?

[woodcutbirds]

Been discussing how much it helped kick me out of depression to do something - anything - every day that I'd not done before or not since childhood, or something I was scared to do. It made more difference than anything else.
Does anyone fancy having a go at doing something new every day for a week?

Hi Hasthis. Welcome . sorry to hear you've had a rough time of it. I know exactly what you mean about the comfort zone thing and talking yourself out of things before you've even started. - I've gone from having quite an active social life a few years ago to separation, divorce and then one of my dcs getting an autism diagnosis and it's really taken its toll on my confidence to 'get out there and do stuff'.

Even a couple of days of joining in with this thread has given me so much hope tho. . BBQ sounds great - weather's gorgeous here today.

Maybe if you even just made it a flying visit, KateandMe? Even if it takes longer to get there and back than you actually spend there, sometimes it's still worth it just to smell that sea air. Are there any riding schools near you that might offer lessons?

That's so good that you met up with a new mum friend Coffee. When I was at the baby stage (not for about 4 years now - not sure where the time's gone!) I was always amazed at how it could life my mood just to be with someone in the same boat.

Found a fab online Irish singing course just now and did the first tutorial (3 times! It was only 11 minutes long). Went from croaking along in a very self conscious way hoping the neighbours couldn't hear me to getting the knack of breathing into my diaphragm and actually sounding quite good (at least by my own standards lol). I just love that style of singing but i'm a long way from from being able to do any of the 'ornamentation' or anything clever

I'm working (I'm a writer) in my garden instead of just gazing at it from my desk. I've never done this before! It's delightful!

@RuffleCrow -- thanks for the lovely welcome! And yay on the Irish singing. Fab to see an improvement so quickly. And i'm sure I read somewhere that singing improves your brain's mood (somehow... Dopamine? Serotonin? I can't remember) so that's doubly fab!

OK, I really must start work properly now... Thanks for this lovely thread, everyone... It's so positive and has honestly given me a real boost.

Hi Fencing, Sodding and *Kate. Welcome. It is a very friendly thread that gently nudges us out of our ruts and comfort zones.

Coffee so glad the meet up with the new mum friend went well.
New fish! That's lovely too. Good ones. I hope they both brought you some happiness.

Yesterday I dragged DH out for an evening walk. We always slump in front of the TV. But he agreed so we went up the hill and saw a hare in the field. never seen one round here before. Then we came back and I found the lovely outdoor lamps I'd bought him for Christmas and lit them, and we sat on our garden swing watching the sun set by lamplight and swinging and chatting and drinking tea. That was good.

Arranged today to meet up with a friend of mine and go for an early morning hike and then breakfast. There's a lovely walk through the woods to a cafe that does good breakfast so that's a new thing planned for next week.

Also tonight got a meeting at the pub for a new community project that DH has been accidentally put in charge of and roped me in. We are real hermits and don't mix much in our village so it will be good to get out and meet some new people. I don't know any of them.

Lonely I love the idea of packing the car boot so you can be spontaneous after school. That's a brilliant idea. I used to do similar when DC were tiny. pack a bag for the whole day with picnic and spare clothes and nappies, so we could head out and stay out. I was much more energetic in those days. Would love to recapture some of that energy and improvisation. Hope you have some great mini adventures at the beach!

Ruffle I love the idea of you Irish singing. One of my 'firsts' when I started was to sing in the shower. I'm so self conscious I'd not even done that in decades. It felt so liberating to belt out 'Sunny Side of the street' while having a good soap! Hope you keep up with the singing.

we went up the hill and saw a hare in the field. never seen one round here before. Then we came back and I found the lovely outdoor lamps I'd bought him for Christmas and lit them, and we sat on our garden swing watching the sun set by lamplight and swinging and chatting and drinking tea. That was good.

Absolutely everything about this sounds blissful.

It was Sodding and normally we're both complaining about leg cramp on the sofa while watching sub-standard scandi-noir!

It really is nice to have a positive thread where we can all just share what we're doing and celebrate the little things. Your walk and sitting in the garden sound idyllic woodcut.

Sometimes I do wish I could drive just to be able to easily take little trips out places. I need to get more into the habit of hopping on a bus for a day trip. Maybe I'll make a list of some nice places I can easily bus to.

Today I have planted some mint and some oregano. Both herbs I know I'll use a lot of. Gardening is a big new thing for me this year. I decided I would make the most of having to have the summer off and have a go at growing some veg and herbs. I'm very much working it out as I go along but it is very satisfying and a good way of getting me out into the garden.

Wow woodcut, what a lovely way to spend an evening! I always think hares are other worldly, somehow. I've only seen one once that I can be certain about - in a field as I went past on a train.

Mint and oregano are so useful Badger - I'm now getting a craving for some Turkish/ Greek food - some grilled Halloumi or Zouflaki (sp) with a mint dressing.

I think I will try and keep up the singing - it's chilled me out so much I've even been able to deal with a rampaging 13 year old dd going bananas because her violin hasn't arrived!

Ruffle have you been cooped up all day in this sunshine waiting for that violin?

You need a good evening New Thing.

Marking my place in this thread.
I think it’s an excellent idea and I actually need that atm.

No idea what I will start with but you have so many lovely ideas that I might take inspiration from them :)

Hi Egg and welcome.

what a lovely thread, can I join? I have terrible anxiety at the moment and had to give up my job because of it in Feb.
Been really struggling lately but was so proud of myself today for attending an interview to sign up for some voluntary work at my local library.
Also going to try some of the ideas on here

Not as much as I'd intended, woodcut. Got drafted in to a thing at DS's school first thing which was actually really lovely in the sunshine. Had a feeling I could risk it as the darn thing probably wouldn't turn up!

Waitrose gave me a free bottle of white at the weekend so i shall have a newish Thing of sorts

Hi egg & mumble

hi Mumble and welcome.

Start with something nice and easy - a new scent of bubble bath or a new flavour of biscuits or coffee. Or having your morning cup of tea outside in the garden (or by an open window.) As you feel livelier you can try bigger things.

Badgers did you plant the herbs together in the same pot? I still haven;t planted the herbs I was given by the community gardener because I can't work out whether I can bung sage, mint, thyme and rosemary all in one big pot or whether they need different soils.

I should probably look it up!

My book on herbs and vegetables says to plant in different pots. I think mint in particular tends to take over everything so should go in its own pot. I've got the mint in a pot and then the oregano and anything else I get around to buying will go in a raised bed.

The midweek BBQ was a crazy success! DH came in from work and just stared at me wielding my tongs in wonder 😆

I'm going to borrow a waffle iron and do outdoor waffles at the weekend, over the BBQ coals. I think that'll make my kids feel I'm just the coolest mum in the world.

You need a good evening New Thing.

When I was a single mum I used to do loads in the evenings. It's all stopped and turned into watching TV since I remarried. 🤔

Evening things I used to do:

• beauty bath (a bath and loads of beauty treatments)

• making air-drying clay models and painting them

• exercise on YouTube or my phone

• baking, lots of baking. The neighbours actually told me off for using my stand mixer at midnight

• Reading, watching trashy tv

• decluttering or decorating

• moving furniture around

• long gossipy phonecalls (NEVER do this now, I don't know why)

• painting pictures

Need to do more of these. Why have I lost myself?!?

I am super impressed by the sound of a waffle iron on the bbq. That is some next level stuff right there!

I have a friend I prearrange long gossipy phonecalls with. Each time we book the next one in our calenders. It sounds a bit weird booking them in advance but it means we talk to each other regularly and it's really nice. Otherwise we just never got around to it.

I need to get back into the habit of doing evening things. I'm just so tired from meds at the moment that I end up going to bed almost as soon as dd is in bed.

Sodding I love that you have amazed your DH already.

Air-drying clay models! I want to have a go at that. It sounds such fun.

And moving furniture around is a good one. It's important I think, to shake up our living spaces - literally gives you a different perspective. I've not done that in a long while. Time to yank some sofas around, I think.

I think there are many contributing factors to depression and anxiety, but shutting out or scaling down the things we love and replacing them with ludicrous 'shoulds' that don't enhance our lives (I 'should' snuggle on the sofa every night with DH watching crap TV for instance) plays a bigger part than we realise.

Badgers thanks for the herb tips. Sorry the meds are knocking you out. I hated that about them. Currently off them but was on them for years and years, all of which I spent half asleep.

I think even if you do stuff for 10 minutes an evening before you feel zonked, it will make a difference. 10 minute meditation of a 5-8 minute HIIT workout or 10 mins decluttering etc. Or 10 minute mini facial, pedi or manicure. And keep a track of what you do. Make a list and see it build. Some stuff I tried for the first time and then kept doing as I loved them so much.

I agree waffle irons on the bbq is Advanced Grade New Stuff.

So true. Over the past few years, the list of things I have unknowingly begun to class as 'not for the likes of me' has become so long I've lost track. When I had counselling last year, that was basically the first thing I said - that my life had become so incredibly small and narrow. I think it started as a self-protective mechanism because of everything I was dealing with but went too far.