More suggestions. Thanks!
Right now, I could take care of the basic need of a small (house trained) dog. I wouldn't be able to walk it every day, but it can have a bit of fun in the small yard behind the house. But... if I relapse, can't scoop the poop etc, then things may get nasty.... that is a risk...
I'm mostly bedridden but hardly ever get bored as I really have a lot of things I like to do from bed and most days don't even get to do all my bed things. So my main problem is lonilness.
For my pets though I struggle to care properly for them at times, have been my saviour, I think I'd have depression if I did not have them. I have wallabies outside which I can lay in bed and watch and an indoor cat
If you cant trust you can scoop poop with a dog, you'd be better off getting a cat who can then just bury his number 2s himself outside.
Like another said here.. for years of my ME/CFS I kept myself when in bed entertained by researching ME/CFS and keeping up with all the latest studies etc etc (that bores me nowdays so I no longer do that).
I've had hobbies eg kept some frogs (indoors and outdoors, I'd kept as tabpoles and often release them when frogs) and got a pond done in my backyard. I loved watching the frogs outside in my pond and how they would eat if I took them out some crickets. (being a frog pond it means I dont clean the pond out as tabpoles like algae).
I like photography and would like to get into it more as it's something one can do anywhere even if stuck at home. I want to do one a photography course which is on DVD sometime. I have new camera but unfortunately, have not figured out how to work it yet.
I got a bird watching book and was bird watching from my bedroom window for quite a while and took records of all the different birds I see.
I got into documenting and photographing all the different plants in my garden and joined the Daves Garden website so I could get things I did not know identified. Right now I'm collecting succulents and cactuses (things which dont need much looking after or none if outside).
https://davesgarden.com/#b
Ive played around with trying to make mini terreriums (that did not work well).
I collected crystals and learnt about those.
Some years back, I used to hang out at a mystery diagnoses website where people would post in a forum when they had something which medical doctors were not figuring out. I'd play Dr House and try to figure out what their medical condition being missed by drs was. Though I started out there trying to help those who obviously had ME/CFS, I actually managed to help many other people there too who then were able to get a proper diagnoses after seeing my post to them.
For a while , I was making up my own recipes (I got into that after my diet restrictions caused my diet to become rather complex).
I play a couple of online games in which I do not need to think much.. and if it's a team game it helps me a little to be less lonely. There are so many different kinds of games.
there is also duolingo (free language learning website)
https://www.duolingo.com/ . I've been using that for the past year and have now passed A1 German. It took me 14 months to get to the point someone usually can do in only a couple of months but I am very slowly getting there. I dont do that every day but only when my brain is up to it. I'm amazed how much I've learnt with that as my brain does not have much capacity in holding onto new info and I do have terrible memory issues.
I really like doing the language learning as it makes me feel like I'm doing something worth while with my life and learning something. I think everyone needs to have something in their life to do which gives that feeling.
I did a course which was on DVD which I hope one day may help me if I ever write a book (another thing I'm interested in one day doing). (I like to do courses from
https://www.thegreatcourses.com./ as the lecturers are awesome teachers. If you are interested in doing any course from there, I recommend to wait till it's on sale)
I got into astral projection and at one point could OBE at will. I also got into lucid dreaming at one point and was doing that (both those things currently take me too much energy to do).
I've tried to get myself good online penfriends (still trying to do that as I'm looking for a German one to try to practice my German language).
I listen to music currently (that is something I have not always been able to do with ME/CFS).
I use youtube a lot .. and just usually tend to watch the shorter things. I dont watch many movies as I can find it hard focusing too long. There are a couple of youtube families who I like to follow their lives and there are shows I like to watch there (lately Ive been watching "Paternity Court"
).
I basically keep a journal here on my thread.
I used to have the Jehoba's Witnesses come weekly at one point. I'm sure they thought they could convert me but that was never going to happen lol, I'm completely firm and comfortable in my own beliefs, I would never believe anything based on just a book or bible but have curiousity on what others believe and why they believe it. I enjoyed the company and having a couple of people to my home to chat too. (I had to put an end to that when they forgot about my MCS issues and came wearing perfume).
I about once every two weeks, sometimes once every few months. I will go to a website and give advice on something I used to be able to do well but no longer can but that does not stop me from being able to help others in a field I was very good and experienced in
There are a lot of things I cant do due to the ME/CFS eg I stopped playing my piano for years now as it was just frustrating as my fingers would just fumble at the keys and it was just too hard when it took all my attention to focus so I'd end up hitting wrong keys (I hope to soon though give that another go), I rarely read a novel as I forget things as I'm trying to read it and reading too much is tiring, I stopped knitting as it hurts my hands.... but anyway I've picked up so many new things to do. Life does not have to be boring even from bed.
One book I did manage to get through some time ago now was "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating" . It's about a bed bound person who kills their days by watching a snail they have in an aquarium and really enjoying this snail. It's a very good book
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As far as meditating goes, there may be a very good reason why you can no longer do it. I was an experienced meditator before I got sick and used to even run meditation classes. When I got ME/CFS though, I found that it was then very difficult and actually a strain on me to meditate. I'd just end up bored and just would not relax with it though I know all the techniques. I could not understand at the time why I could no longer meditate.
This mystery was solved to me when I had an EEG done and the results were that my brain does not go into the normal brainwave states when I relax and close my eyes (I assume it does not either when I sleep). I have the common ME brain abnormality that are found on EEGs.
I hope you are better as well.
