Building furniture, renovating houses, plus gardening. I just roto-tilled up a large patch and felt so much pleasure in the new earth smell and watching the robins follow me around for worms. We have a very large garden and probably use just 2 gallons of gas over the entire year keeping it going. Gardening links me to my relatives of times past who were farmers in Minnesota. It helps me remember my dad. I always try to plant potatoes on his birthday which is what he did as long as I remember. It is something enduring for me, and something I share with my wife that brings us together.

Also, I have a friend who taught me to make fine wine from good grapes. I think it is healthy to drink at least 500 ml in the evening with supper and hockey playoffs. After all, wine is a food, is it not? If it gets too expensive to bring in grapes I guess we will have to switch back to fruit wines and maybe build a still.

My favorite healthy addition is my wood burning stove. I love spending 8 hours on a beautiful saturday chainsawing, splitting and stacking wood. I love even more just laying in front of the fireplace on cold winter days, playing games with my kids, watching movies, etc.

Of course you realize a good many that read this post are TOD addicts ?- ) The shopping addiction is a complicated one as market day has been a big a event for quite some time, pretty convoluted what we've done to it.

Nice occasional snow we are getting here this cinco de mayo. Looks like planting will need to hold off a little, but I will get to play a little more with my driveway ditches and water flow--a long held addiction. Keeping most of that work to hand labor keeps me from causing too much harm ?- )

Healthy for whom? Should we prefer addictions that require relatively few resources or addictions that lead to reproductive fitness and a long life? Who should tell us what to prefer?

Backyard organic gardening - I have been richly rewarded! My veggies are in, and I have baby peaches, oranges, limes, blackberries, raspberries, grapes (tons of grapes), and strawberries in abundance.

Now, I want a greenhouse...

Other addictions: Biking, swimming, and running! Biking gives me glee, swimming gives me peace, and running is my challenge.

Last of all....Wine.

One of my hobbies from 1966 until recently was walking, swimming or running on the Southern California beaches. I often kept a pair of dedicated tennis shoes and/or a solvent for this purpose because of the troublesome oil seeps. The oil seeps were present long before the Santa Barbara incident. It is said that the Chumash Indians found them useful

http://www.conservation.ca.gov/dog/kids_teachers/seeps/Pages/index.aspx

I am enjoying my sex addiction. Low carbon footprint. (Avoidance of communicable diseases is easy, never had one in a long life of playing around)

FREE TIGER WOODS!

Seriously, swingers clubs are heaps of fun, and free entry for women, yay!

I have several. For one, I've found that physical exercise is absolutely necessary for mood regulation, so I do karate compulsively (I'm a second degree blackbelt now). I really, really enjoy the tactile sensation of doing a well trained motion gracefully, and the calm state of mind that comes when I'm working out really hard while still remaining intellectually engaged with what I'm doing. I love the challenge of beating someone in a sparring match, and I love the pride that comes from seeing my students do well. I used to row in undergrad, and at some point I realized that a lot of my anxiety and stress was the direct result of not working out enough, so now I try to learn and work on physical activities for at least 12 hours a week.

Beyond that, I love tinkering with electronics because I feel like I'm learning so much constantly, and the results are often very beautiful (http://web.mit.edu/neltnerb/www/artwork). I once sat down and read an entire book on low-noise electronics in a single weekend (Ott - Noise Reduction Techniques in Electronic Systems) because it was so fascinating from a theoretical and practical point of view.

I also love simpler things, like origami, cooking, playing piano, and meditating/walking/breathing. I also find spending time with my friends "addictive" as well as chasing cute boys... I imagine it's the thrill of the chase! This will actually be fairly hard for me as I move to Boulder, CO for a new job; I will definitely miss my friends at home a great deal while I'm gone.

Alas, I'm not much of a gardener, but I will definitely see if I can get myself addicted to growing raspberries along my back fence! So far the best I've tried since I was a kid have been growing sprouts, but I do remember growing a lot of herbs and vegetables as a child.

My healthy addictions are Plants, Pool, Writing, Cooking, and doing a bit of stage acting.

I've been growing plants just a few years less than I have been cooking. A few years ago my dad and I found an old recipe of mine, it was in crayon in his Big Black Book of recipes. We'd both forgotten about it. Come to find out the recipe is wrong, but we don't know if I copied it wrong, or if the original recipe was wrong, but the list of ingredients won't work, as given.

I have actively grown gardens for the last 34 years, some have been a few square feet to as large as several 1,000 sqft.

When living here at the family home as a teen and early 20's we had so much produce we had to can and put up a lot of the extra, mostly this was a family affair, but the most of the work was me or my dad. My dad was a trained Executive Chef before I was born, I am 46 now. He only was one for a year or so, going on to other things, but he has used the skills all his life. He is still creating new recipes, especially as I add new foods into our current diet. I love food in all it's vast different kinds.

In Landscape Architecture you find out there are 100s of 1,000s of plants, and I know there are over 20,000 species of edible plants if not more. My goal in my BioWebScape designs is to fit as many edible plants to as many different mirco-climates as possible, first working with local folks and branching out to internet folks. The work will never be finished because the whole world is changing all the time. That would be true even if humans were not around, and because we are things change faster than some of us can keep up.

I was introduced to pool by my father as well, but never played it much till I went off to college. In 2008 I was playing pool almost everyday for months on end. And with all the vectors available on a pool table and all the styles and kinds of games you can play, it is a never ending source of enjoyment. I try to teach myself harder and harder shots, trick shots, things that might seem impossible but aren't because there seems to always be a way to pull off the impossible when playing pool. Last friday I was playing a guy that has won several state pool championships, we both knew he was better than me, but some of my trick shots had him surprised often enough to feed the pleasure center of my brain.

Another good addiction is helping people, altruism has it's own rewards, at times it seems that there is not enough of it going around.

Charles,
BioWebScape designs for a better fed and housed future.

jason i quibble with the addictions term; having read the morgue reports & knowing a no. of addicts.

in conjunction with your post i think of the adage; 'careful what you get your joy from'.

but to your point. as we have moved to a lower energy lifestyle i am always behind with my to do lists.

besides the wood only for heat- i broke down & got a gas splitter as prep $ was available & hope to sell/trade it as others need one & i have more 'hands/backs' available-, the seedlings[yes they are a joy - but require constant attention- watering some days 2x], dishes by hand, scratch cooking, not to mention the fact that we have 10 dogs, and chickens as well. my wife works; & i get to here.

a peasant lifestyle is lots & lots of work; not that i by any stretch fill those shoes.

in return i get to be outside in nature, & with our dogs during the day. i get exercise, enough i can eat all i desire w/o weight problems. i have a sense of purpose.

this recent contrast was stark: i fired up the tractor/frontend loader to get several 'lifting' jobs done. i figure i got about 30 hard labor hours done in less than an hour- work that i could not do continuously, even at a slow pace. humbling, & a little scary re what we'll have to deal with.

I like sitting on the deck listening to the wind blow thru the trees when my ears are not ringing. I have a little dog(Abby) that I play ball with. My wife named the dog. I wanted to call it cracker because it's fur is the color of crackers but my wife said I couldn't stand in the yard and yell cracker. I love to walk in my woods in the winter when the bugs are asleep. Stand beside the little stream that runs thru my property and just listen. My ears rings so bad now I have to be next to the stream to hear it. I don't see my grandchildren often enough. I try to remember to take my pills everyday so I can stay alive. It goes so fast.
hotrod

What we are talking about is mood regulation. I think it is probably not very accurate to call engaging activities addictions, but they do help regulate our moods. The ingestion of opiates is quite different from running even though endorphins are involved with both. For purposes of our discussion, I won't quibble about this too much. Mikhail Czikszentmihalyi, a University of Chicago psychologist, wrote a book in the 1990's called Flow in which he described the mental processes associated with very engaging activities which require sustained attention and skill development. Carpentry, sports of all kinds, gardening, painting and myriad other activities which capture our interest can be vehicles through which we transport ourselves through time and space in altered fashion. That is, our perception of time changes to either speed up or slow down while we are engage in our pursuits. These activities are organizing and encourage brain development. The experience of them is quite pleasurable. Engaging in addictive behaviors with drugs, for example, may impair brain development and create behavioral disorganization through ritual patterns which interfere with executive functioning, memory, et al. Cocaine, while quite exciting to the pleasure centers, tends to burn them out so that ordinary activities are not pleasurable. Engaging activities, which Nate describes as habituating slowly, grow in pleasure over a long period of time without any harm to brain structures or processes.

Hi there Jason, excellent post. I'm so glad that someone has finally formalised my old saying that "Well you've got to be addicted to something, you may as well make it something healthy"

That was the justification for being obsessed with sport in general, and skating in particular, although the link was never made to interactions with the broader world system. Thanks for making that link explicit. Now it seems a good time to start using that saying again, but need to get re-addicted to something healthy. That reminds me to fix my BMX - anyone know where I can get a 14mm hub axle and chunky cones (to fit the drive side of a rear wheel from a Wethepeople Element 2007 model)?

As others have said, I don't know if addictions is the right term, but what low impact activities calm me?

The Grateful Dead - most of their shows are available free on the internet, and this always calms me. My office is very loud, so I stream their shows and put on my headphones at work. I also listen at night before I go to sleep (or don't sleep, like tonight).

My dog - I know that pets do have an ecological footprint, but I often stay home to hang out with the dog rather than going out to do other higher impact activities. In any case, she calms me and helps mitigate the fear caused by my next addiction...

TOD - not calming, but definitely an addiction.

What motivates people?

Research Into Procrastination Shows Surprising Findings

Steel has also come up with the E=mc2 of procrastination, a formula he's dubbed Temporal Motivational Theory, which takes into account factors such as the expectancy a person has of succeeding with a given task (E), the value of completing the task (V), the desirability of the task (Utility), its immediacy or availability (Γ) and the person's sensitivity to delay (D).

It looks like this and uses the Greek letter Γ (capital gamma): Utility = E x V / ΓD

This theory was developed to explain why people procrastinate, but it also explains why people choose a "quick fix" over less immediate or less rewarding tasks. These ideas have already been explored here in different forms, in particular the subjective nature of "Value". To achieve healthy addictions, it is a question of redefining value away from animal instinct, and decreasing D, ie being more patient.

It essentially restates the obvious, but makes sense. Utility increases by expecting success and a high value reward, and reduces with the longer it takes to achieve (multiplied by a patience factor).

I am pretty bad at finishing things, so I remind myself of the satisfaction I will get by completing a long project, rather than choose something else which gives immediate satisfaction.

I understand what Jason is trying to say, and I'm not trying to ruin the party, but as a recovering addict myself, I do feel the need to point out that there is no such thing as a healthy addiction. Addictions are by definition self destructive. If a behavior isn't causing any harm, or is constructive, than it's not an addiction; it may be compulsive, but it's not an addiction.

"Are you depleted mentally or physically by the activity, or are you stronger or more skilled as a result?"

Enjoyed reading this post, thanks.

There are different states of mental and physical exhaustion, I've experienced both. Negative exhaustions is often the result of sleep deprivation, over indulgence of drugs/alcohol, and strenuous personal relationships. Positive exhaustion often coincides with rigorous physical activity and mental exertion. Mental and physical fatigue if a result from healthy activities can be very positive. This leads to better sleep, contentment, and mental clarity. The mind and body repair itself and return with renewed strength. I engage in at least an hour of high aerobic activity almost every day. Personally, I think we would see vast societal benefits if people would increase their caloric burn and activity level. People, esp children, have become much too sedentary and obesity is becoming a problem of epic proportions. In addition to Big Pharma this is the main driver behind sky rocketing health care costs.
Get out and walk, run, ride a bike, swim, etc. There are so many activities that almost everybody can find something pleasurable that will raise their heart rates for an extended period of time. Eat well, be physically and mentally active, and sleep well.
John

Great post, Jason. Now re-posted at EB with a mention of this discussion: http://energybulletin.net/node/52719

I've been thinking about this a lot over the years, having seen the bad effects of unhealthy additions.

Before my father died, I was working too hard, eating too much, drinking too much coffee and soda. I'm ashamed to say that some nights I'd veg out and watch hours of stupid television. What a downer!

Afterwards I took up just about every outdoor activity I could find: hiking, kayaking, bicycling, skiing. Bicycling is especially good because you it can replace driving. Sometimes it's faster (e.g. around town), sometimes it's slower, but you have replaced a stupid boring chore with exhilarating exercise.

In the past few years I was spending too much time behind the computer. Energy Bulletin was worthwhile, but it was not healthy to spend so much time on it and to feel so pressured.

For replacement activities, I took up learning foreign languages (French, German, Latin, etc.). That was good because it kept my mind working without triggering "peak oil" thoughts. The last few weeks I've been thinking about returning to music again, and really doing it right this time.

As a solitary guy, I've found it very good to take part in local group activities (garden circle, play-reading circle, transition town, hikes with friends, visiting family). I've also got to say that the peak oil and transition communities are full of fascinating, alive people, and it's wonderful to be around them.

Bart / Energy Bulletin

I believe we are just bags of chemicals. You have to find the right combination for happiness. Fortunately, I love to learn. Give me a book on just about anything and I will dive into it with glee. I sit in a chair consuming little energy and roam the world in my thoughts through books. Of course I make it a point to get out and exercise too. Would I say I am addicted to reading? Well, I would sure miss it if I couldn't do it but I'd survive without physical withdrawal. But any activity that requires just your body can work as a healthy occupation of time.

Oh, and I should also mention that if you are depressed, check out drugs for it. I spent half of my 60 years being depressed and thinking I could work my way out of it. I found a drug, Effexor, that changed my life, put me on an even keel where everyday is a welcome thing. I never, never could have escaped the depression without it. I tried stopping the drug, determined that I would lick the depression with mental effort. As I gradually lowered the dosage, the depression gradually came back. So I'm back on the stuff for the rest of my life and seriously wonder if my mother, who was terribly depressed, might have had the same drug work for her. Unfortunately, she died in her sleep at 73 without ever finding an escape. Moral of this paragraph - it has nothing to do with moral strength or lack of effort - get the drug you need.

Being a bag of chemicals, you not only have to use those you have but you need to find the one(s) you need.

Hello,I'm new to TOD and found this site while feeding my news addiction(I was looking for information on the deepwater horizon,thanks bp you shouldn't have)Of course I was hooked after the first article and accompanying comments,I don't think TOD's a bad addiction at all,I guess you could overdo it but I guess that's the importance of developing a variety of healthy addictions.I've felt for a while that it's key to solving a great many of society's current problems,I think its necessary.That junkie you see turning tricks on the street might possibly be holding something that could drastically change the course of humanity if convinced of a healthier hobby,people are way too important to throw away or lock up.Some of my healthy habits - snowboarding,bass,hiking,travel,news,ect.And oh yeah I've got a wood stove too.Thanks for your post and good luck with your garden.