Mindful Mondays: New activity every Monday

[Kyle1]

Looking up atm... 😕 I think. I hope. I'm not sure... @Shaz51  LOL 

[MDT]

hey ma @Shaz52
used to paly DnD for a while with some friends. Been a long time though.
Also, I like to play strategy ones.
These days puzzles are as close as i get haha.
PC or xbox too

I am gamed out lately maybe haha

[Former-Member]

Hi @Shaz51. Mindfulness Monday. Sounds great. Sorry I missed it.

Hope it went well.

I play Wordle word game online, Ney York Times and medite.

Hope you are well 🌹🌻🌹.

[Owlunar]

Hi @Historylover 

I used to play Scrabble and Crib with my mother - it was in the days before things between us fell apart completely - they are good memories.

My ex-husband and I used to play canasta and we taught ourselves bezique - this is a complicated game for two people and two decks of cards - and the game uses only cards from 7 up. I forget how now - and we have been divorced for over 30 years - we used to play trivial pursuit too - and I still have a complete set - I could play it by myself I suppose.

Monopoly!!! - I hate that game - someone always totally wins and someone always totally loses and to me it's no fun at all. 

We were young my ex and I played cards for chips with friends - mostly Blackjack. One night on holidays I played with the guys (5 cents a bet) and I cleaned them out. I still feel so good about that. It's the only time I played cards for money.

Great question @Shaz51 

Owlunar

[Historylover]

Happy Easter, @Owlunar. A nice rainy day today and I had intended to stay warm and cosy indoors, but I've just discovered that my coffee pot filter is missing and, although I've searched high and low, it's nowhere to be found. So now I'll have to go out for a new coffee pot. Darn! It's just new and I really love it. Some days!! 😟 No coffee as per my usual morning routine this morning.

I hate Monopoly too. Just the thought of it depresses me. There's just no fun in losing. 

We used to play a game with 2 packs of cards too, but bezique wasn't what it was called. This game had a move where you could make a call of 'merzerk' —although I have no idea how to spell it. I think it meant that you felt you could beat the opponents without your partner. I guess they were fond memories of days gone. I've never played Trivial Pursuit. Perhaps there is an online version?

I occasionally played cards with my family when I was young, for little amounts. Sometimes I could accumulate a pile and be thoroughly delighted, only to end up in tears when I lost it again. My brother would give it back to me. Perhaps he wanted me to learn not to gamble. I wish he still related to me as protectively.

I subscribed to ChatGPT to understand this new platform. I must say, I am rather impressed. I have used it to investigate how it works, set it tasks and ask questions. Where is this all taking us?

How's the telescope going? Can you see Venus up close? I wish I could get my head around some of the things in astronomy. Super massive black holes do my head in.

EDIT: I've just found my coffee pot filter. It was in my coffee pot!! Now for a nice cup. 😕 (It wasn't there before!!)

[Owlunar]

Hi @Historylover 

First - I am so glad you found your coffee filter - starting the day without coffee is not good at all - and it was inside your coffee jug - of course it was - that's why you couldn't find it anywhere else. Aw - wow!!

Yeah - I really hate Monopoly - I haven't played it since the day I was losing - I was a teenager - and asked if I could just leave and my mother was winning and said I had to play on - and I threw the whole thing across the room - not one of my finer moments - still - I was never asked to play again - so that was good.

I think canasta is played with two packs of cards - pretty sure it is - 2 to 8 players - and I seem to recall you can call something and win - I'm not sure though - it's been a long time in which a divorce took place and cards were not part of the deal at the time.

I must look and see if there is an on-line version of Trivial Pursuit. Hang on - I'm looking. YES - there is - fantastic - I will have to have a look at that. Maybe friends are required or maybe they are waiting for me - that is next on my list after lunch.

My Gran lived with us so my family was glad when I was old enough to be a fourth for their games of 500. My father was a serious player and soon expected me to know who had what after the 4th trick - I had a large stack of old playing cards and quietly taught myself to count them. Dad - you were a policeman - did you have any idea your first born was learning something illegal? I had an interesting childhood.

I had to google ChatGPT - I have not heard of it before - so tell me - is it an algorithm to play against? I am interested - it could be tricky - but then - tricky can be challenging. It does sound like it.

The telescope is a challenge. I need to get a folding table to put it on so I can have the eyepiece at a sensible level - the lens has to be tilted up so the eyepiece can be very low and I have arthritis. It will take time - I do know where the planets are most of the time and yes - it does take practice to follow them. Venus and Uranus were in conjunction one clear night about a week ago - that means they were apparently close together - in reality no - that's impossible. I couldn't see them with the telescope - and alas - my binoculars - I tried - they were low in the west and were setting fast before I got a good view - I couldn't see Uranus. Never mind - all this is something else to think about.

I'm so glad you found your coffee pot filter - I love brewed coffee - when I was in Hobart last year I had breakfast delivered to my room with a pot of brewed coffee every day - two cups - aw - I could go back there just for the coffee - yes.

All the best to you.

Owlunar

[Historylover]

It was rather an eventful way to start the day, @Owlunar. Threw me in several opposing directions and then brought me back to my normal routine again. Whew! Reminded me of Beethoven's tune about rage over a missing penny. I'm just pleased I didn't have to go out. I'm not addicted to my morning coffee, just habituated to it. There's nothing like the taste of a good cup of coffee, but I've never managed the same taste as a bought one. I don't know what they do differently, and I've tried many different beans. Mine vary each brew.

Oh, yes, 500, we used to play that too, along with Canasta, but I wouldn't have a clue how to play it now. We used to play with friends— our group of pre-maritally expectant parent idiots who thought we were clever. i wonder where they all are now. Probably in different states of ruin, many still thinking themselves clever. 

I don't have the language to be able to properly describe ChatGPT. It's a new AI platform that is causing a storm in education as it can write credible, academic essays etc. It is a way to cheat if you are so inclined (I don't see an advantage in cheating), but it has been so very interesting to experiment with. It can do almost anything you ask, although restricted to words, I imagine. I have asked it questions relating to my assignment on a particular journal article and it gave me an immediate reply. I have been rather amazed. And there is so much more on the horizon. Rather frightening, really. 

I don't know how you can have a telescope and not have got around to setting it up, @Owlunar. I'd have worn it out by now! As I said, I'd love to understand more about astronomy. It's so annoying to think that our life span is too short to know as much as we would like about everything that interests us. I'd hate to have been Einstein and not be around to see how it all eventuated!

I don't know if I'm slow, but getting my head around the notion of black holes is really doing my head in. We see depictions of black domes in the centre of a platform of 'food' debris being swallowed by it, but I've just realized that it is actually a black hole globe. Everything is 'eaten' and just disappears into this globe, yet it is never full. I guess that is where the notion of wormholes and other universes comes in to play. It defies understanding, even to scientists, so perhaps I'm not slow at all. 

P.S. I also learnt to play chess online and played against the computer. Chess is a very good game and I'd love to get proficient at it. High hopes. 😉

[ShiningStar]

Hi @Shaz51 

It’s so lovely to hear from you - thank you so much for tagging me 💜

That’s such a great way to practice mindfulness! Some of my favourite board games are scrabble, snakes and ladders and sour grapes 💜

I also use to really enjoy playing goggle (I think that it’s also called boggle 😊) but I haven’t played this for ages 😊

Take care,

ShiningStar 💜

[Shaz51]

Good Morning 

this week`s mindful Monday activity is "Cloud Watching "

Have you ever sat outside or looking out the windows and see how many different clouds there are 

cloud watching can be a useful activity for mindfulness and relaxation. It is a simple way to connect with nature and practice mindfulness.

According to Mentally Healthy Schools, cloud watching can be a fun activity for younger children and can provide a moment for mindfulness in the school day.

It is also a simple way to get children out and about in nature, which has significant links to good mental health and wellbeing.

The provides a simple exercise for cloud watching mindfulness.

The exercise involves going outside into the garden or finding a window so that you can see the sky.

Get yourself comfortable and simply look up at the sky.

Really think about what you can see. Just watch, breathing slowly and gently. Feel your body relax as you take time to be still. Now, look carefully at the clouds.

I hope this helps!

and if you have any photos please share here 

going to find mine and share too

@Historylover , @Former-Member , @hanami , @tyme , @Blackbird11 , @Emelia8 , @Zoe7 , @Jacques , @pinklollipop15 , @Snowie , @TAB , @MDT , @Meowmy , @SmilingGecko , @Appleblossom , @NatureLover , @Dimity , @StuF , @Historylover , @Birdofparadise8 , @creative_writer , @Captain24 , @Former-Member , @fluffylight 

[Blackbird11]

Hello @Shaz51 

I felt inspired to find time to cloud watch today. I went to a local lookout. It was calming and grounding 😌