I came across this today:

Stranger Knows Best: Other People Know More About What Will Make Us Happy Than We DoScienceDaily (Mar. 20, 2009) — Want to know what will make you happy? Then ask a total stranger -- or so says a new study from Harvard University, which shows that another person's experience is often more informative than your own best guess.
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"If you want to know how much you will enjoy an experience, you are better off knowing how much someone else enjoyed it than knowing anything about the experience itself," says Gilbert. "Rather than closing our eyes and imagining the future, we should examine the experience of those who have been there."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 142352.htm

I am putting this in the Ask an INFP section because, well, I think how much an INFP enjoys something will increase the accuracy that I will enjoy it, too.

Tell us a few of the things you most enjoy -- either now or in the past. In the spirit of the article, please don't speculate on something you haven't yet done (unless it's in response to someone else saying they've enjoyed it.)

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Fiction is just like real life, only truer.

I'll start with some of the experiences I've most enjoyed that maybe some of you haven't tried.

Years ago I had a small farm. We had rabbits, chickens, turkeys, a hog, a steer, and at one point 5 dogs (not including the 13 puppies we once had). I used to love feeding them in the evening -- go check on each one, feed and water, talk to them, then stand there watching the sun go down listening to so many animals quietly chewing or bedding down. It was a feeling of such sweet peace.

Parasailing (getting pulled around by a boat while being held aloft by a parachute) in Hawaii was awesome. I did it to challenge myself since I tend to have a bit of a fear of heights. Instead of being scary, I was awed by the beauty. I felt like a soaring bird, and loved looking down through the clear water far below me, watching the huge turtles bask in the sun. Ahhhhh....

I love sitting in a large band or orchestra and playing music. There is something primordial about being so musically in sync with so many people.

I'm passionate about writing fiction. It gives me permission to induldge in structured daydreams, something I've always enjoyed.

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Fiction is just like real life, only truer.

I'm trying to think of examples of things I didn't think I would enjoy, which other people told me I would, that turned out to be surprisingly fun. I can't think of many though, but I think it depends on the attitude you adopt; if you go into something expecting it not to be fun, then usually it won't be, whereas if you try to find the fun, it can be a great experience.

In that respect, anything can be fun for me, assuming I am within the right frame of mind. The only time something isn't fun, is when I'm just being moody ^^

Going to the gym is fun, surprisingly.

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~I'll think of a witty comment later, or not. Maybe something to do with clouds?!~

I can think of three things I did for the first time on my recent overseas trip that I enjoyed immensely.

1) Trampolining. I never thought I'd even be getting on one in my adult life, let alone looking forward to the following morning so that I could get up, go outside and get on it again. It was so much fun! especially doing stunt jumps like a kangaroo

2) Taking children to a swimming lesson. I attended two different swimming lessons with friends' kids as a spectator. It was surprisingly entertaining and sweet to watch them singing songs, splashing about in the water and learning to trust the instructor.

3) Flying jumpseat. (I mentioned this anecdote on gc in response to a thread so you may have already seen it there.) One of my friends is a captain who flies Boeing 737s for a large airline and when I was staying with her she arranged for me to fly jumpseat with her. This particular jumpseat is the foldaway seat located in the cockpit immediately behind the flight crew, and sadly these days it is out of bounds to most regular passengers. The whole experience was AWESOME! It is one of the coolest things I have ever done.

Things I enjoy:
Baking - there is something deeply satisfying about making something from a random assortment of ingredients and I try to challenge myself to ever more complex things. I made and decorated my own wedding cake and made authentic Baklava for Christmas - next year will be Sacher Torte perhaps (ooops that's in the future!) I most of all enjoy watching other people being nourished and enjoying my cooking and my secret ingredient is LOVE

Spending time with pets - I have six - four rescued cats all in desperate situations who needed homes and have 'additional needs' and two cavalier king charles spaniels - will soon be more as my darling Boo is expecting puppies so I will have to play midwife (very scary!). I love spending time playing and cuddling with them and know absolutely that they understand me. I don't believe I own them, but rather they have chosen me to live with for this incarnation. They are all beautiful in their own way.

Reading and writing. I devour about five books a week - generally non fiction and about self improvement or psychology. I love to write screenplays for short film, short stories and occassionally full length screenplays. I love playing around with themes I find inspiring and structuring stories into larger meanings.

Renovation - sometimes it is a real hassle, but I get a great deal of joy in making something beautiful out of something that is old and discarded. I am almost at the end of renovating my very run down house and have also done furniture.

Mosaic - similar to above - I like the metaphor of making beauty from broken pieces.

Singing - I trained in opera many years ago and though I don't sing in public now I often treat the neighbours to a rousing rendition of a Mozart or Puccini aria (poor things!)

Acting - I have acted in amateur and professional stage productions and some film / television since childhood and really enjoy taking on the role of someone else and the psychological challenge the stage provides - there is no high quite like it.

Well that's a few of my loves - there are many many more besides! This is a nice thread - cheered me up thinking of all these things

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"Creativity, like human life itself, begins in darkness" Julia Cameron

Taking an art course: This was probably one of the more rewarding experiences of my life so far. Fun, informative, and I got to meet a bunch of nice people too. What more could you want?

Going to Disney World: I know they're an evil empire and they treat their workers like crap, but none of that matters once you get there. I'm sure it's better if you go when you're a little kid, but I was 14 when I went and I loved every minute of it.

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What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet. - Gerard Manley Hopkins

Taking a culinary arts course: You learn a lot from expert chefs, from different cultures, and cooking within a group can be fun too.

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