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Things You Find Relaxing But Others Find Weird

MildredHubble

MildredHubble

Well-Known Member
V.I.P Member
I guess not necessarily an ND thing, but I was wondering how many of you guys have things that you find relaxing that others probably can't understand.

One thing I find relaxing almost without exception is watching the first two ALIEN movies. Yes, nothing like a SciFi Space Opera Horror to calm me down lol!

It started when I was about 11 and I had just started what we call Secondary School here in the UK and despite only being there a short while it had been rather brutal for me. Everything that possibly could go wrong went wrong and my quirkiness only made that worse.

Each weekend my mother would insist we visit her relatives in another town. She'd promise that we would return in the evening giving me the opportunity to finish my homework that I usually would be very stressed about. But it always ended up we had to stay the night. I would have nothing to do and I'd be bored to the point I was climbing the walls. On one such weekend, my mother decided we wouldn't just stay the Saturday, we'd stay the Sunday too and head back home at 5am.

I got really upset and my response to this was to be very distressed. Not only was I likely to be late for school, I wouldn't have done my homework. My mother's response was her usual aggressive, dismissive nastiness and she instructed me to "disappear" before she lost her temper.

So I hid in the living room while she drank wine in the kitchen and gossiped. I just tried to watch TV, but there wasn't anything on, we only had 4 channels in those days. But at around 9pm the TV announcer said that they were about to show their evening movie "ALIENS". I'd heard about it, but never watched it and thought it might be "too grown up" for me but I decided to watch it anyway, there was no one to stop me lol!

There was something about it that I found so relaxing as odd as it sounds. It was quite a quiet movie and quite sparse. It felt quite lazy and I liked the bleeps and bloops from the computers and the gentle rumble of the spaceship I guess. Even the scary parts were quite quiet and muted. I like the cinematography. It wasn't frantic like similarly themed movies. It just captivated me. I went from feeling very upset and worried about school to feeling calm and relaxed and I just enjoyed the story unfolding in the film (and thought Ripley was super cool!).

Over the years I noticed that each time I watched it (and the sequel) I felt in that same relaxed state. I often watch it when I can't sleep or I'm feeling anxious. My girlfriend knows this about me and finds it so weird that I watch a movie like that to calm down and relax. It almost always works. The sequel works too, but I don't enjoy the sounds of the pulse rifles, those are the only things that annoy me though!

So what counter intuitive things help you relax or calm down? Anyone else find ALIENS relaxing? :)
 
Misty Avich said:
I can happily fall asleep to the sound of a lawnmower outside.
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I used to like hearing my dad printing stuff on a dot matrix printer at night. I don't know if you've ever heard one as they were mostly used until the 90s. I've been considering buying one as I found the sound soothing. I guess they make a similar but much more high pitched noise to a lawn mower :)
 
Clocks ticking and striking doesn't upset me when I'm trying to sleep. I enjoy it to the point of having 3 old eight-day clocks in running order that can tick as much as they need to.
 
Gerontius said:
Clocks ticking and striking doesn't upset me when I'm trying to sleep. I enjoy it to the point of having 3 old eight-day clocks in running order that can tick as much as they need to.
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I used to like the sound of the mechanical clock my grandma had. I would have found it too distracting to go to sleep to. It had quite a rapid and sturdy sounding "Ticktickticktick..." She had it in her dining room where we spent most of our time. People of her generation used to only use the living room for special occasions. I liked hearing it while reading sitting at the table. It was a nice sound :)
 
Being alone by myself is very relaxing. But many people think l am weird because l enjoy being alone.
 
Being in the dark barn with the dogs and horses during a warm spring shower.
A primitive sort of relaxation, perhaps our ancestors enjoyed it ten thousand years ago, hanging out in the cave with others on a lazy rainy day, dozing?
An enjoyable pink noise.
 
Having the same single song on repeat for days, incl. while sleeping, would probably drive most nt's insane, to me it's relaxing.
 
Being alone, traveling alone, going to the cinema alone, just being by myself. Most people I know find it weird and boring to be alone so much.
Also, reading the same books over and over. Listening to the same songs over and over.
 
I especially like, and find relaxing; storms, heavy rain (but preferable while I'm inside and dry, but, sometimes, getting caught in them is fun), being out in the deep, deep, forest, going to psy trance festivals and dancing (a lot), camping, alone time (a lot) making fires (camp fires or indoor fires), singing and chanting very loudly (or softly), performing live (and especially improvised) to a lot of people. I like it when you power goes out and we have to have candles. These are all my kind of weird and relaxing. Oh and I love loud bush sounds, especially frogs, but also cicadas, crickets, birds, and wind in the trees.
I also loved giving birth, also in the bush and preferably with very few people and only family members. I had 7 babies, but wanted more.
 
I like to put on hour+ long YouTube videos on geopolitics. Puts me to sleep every time.

Windy and rainy nights, too. I like to sleep outside on the patio for those.

Wandering through the woods naked is very relaxing as long as the weather cooperates..
 
Au Naturel said:
I like to put on hour+ long YouTube videos on geopolitics. Puts me to sleep every time.

Windy and rainy nights, too. I like to sleep outside on the patio for those.

Wandering through the woods naked is very relaxing as long as the weather cooperates..
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Sounds nice. How are you sheltered from the elements?
 
kriss72 said:
Having the same single song on repeat for days, incl. while sleeping, would probably drive most nt's insane, to me it's relaxing.
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Oh I do that too! Certain songs might enhance my mood a bit or I just like to listen to the way they are put together harmonically etc. I was listening constantly to Desperados Under the Eaves by Warren Zevon a while back. There's this bit at the end where it pivots into a humming vocal harmony and the strings come in and it builds and builds! It's incredible! I listened for days on end and it never grew old. Fortunately, I listened on Spotify and not my Vinyl LP or I would have worn straight through to the other side lol! :)
 
Au Naturel said:
I like to put on hour+ long YouTube videos on geopolitics. Puts me to sleep every time.
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I do something similar, but I've discovered the geopolitics videos aren't helpful these days as they seem to spike my anxiety. But I watch videos by a channel called VWestlife. He reviews and just enjoys playing around with vintage hifi, computers and all kinds of random stuff. It's the sort of thing that I'm super interested in but I can enjoy the process of exploring the vintage electronics vicariously.

I like to put his videos on as background noise when I'm busy or when I'm needing to sleep I just put them on the TV at a low volume. They kinda keep my attention enough to be relaxing but not so interruptive that I can't fall asleep.

I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in vintage hifi/electronics check out his channel! I really think it's the sort of rabbit hole an interested ND person would love to fall down :)
 
thejuice said:
Sounds nice. How are you sheltered from the elements?
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On the patio, I have a cot and a sleeping bag. The patio has a roof but no sides. If it rains and there's wind, I wrap a tarp around the bag.

If I wander the wild, I wear a hat, boots, and sunscreen. Maybe sunglasses. :cool:
 
I enjoy working on building and modifying electronic propjects.
MildredHubble said:
I used to like hearing my dad printing stuff on a dot matrix printer at night. I don't know if you've ever heard one as they were mostly used until the 90s. I've been considering buying one as I found the sound soothing. I guess they make a similar but much more high pitched noise to a lawn mower :)
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You might like this then.
 
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