my very unserious dopamine menu
I recently stumbled over the trend of creating a dopamine menu, which basically means listing things to do that give me dopamine.
I genuinely like the idea behind this, however, I couldn´t find even one dopamine menu that hit the spot. I guess everyone is different. Most things I saw listed on almost every dopamine menu were things like reading, painting, doing crosswords, going for a walk, lighting a candle, the list goes on. And yes, some of those things I enjoy doing. But let´s be real, if I want a hit of dopamine, sitting down to read is not gonna cut it for me.
So here´s my dopamine menu, maybe you can draw some inspiration from it, or whatever. Of course those aren´t things to do every day, and some days, a good old doomscroll for some dopamine it is. But if I wanna do something nice for myself, this is the pool of things I would probably pick something from. There are other things I enjoy doing, such as reading or going to the cinema but these don´t exactly give me the dopamine I´m looking for, that´s what makes the dopamine menu different from just having hobbies.
Clubbing
Always my number one thing to do for dopamine. Nothing like hitting the club after after a fucked-up day, dancing it all out, loud music, dopamine from moving my body, sweating, a nice iced tea in between. It really depends on the music and the club, and I´m happy to have my little collection of clubs in Berlin that always make me feel good. I feel confident, I´m good with the people working at the door, I know the regulars (I guess I´m a regular myself), so even if I go on my own, there will be people there that I know. The club just makes me happy in a way no other place does. It´s not about drinking, as you know I´ve been sober for years, it´s not about hooking up or meeting people either, for me it´s just expressing myself through dancing.
Ordering food
Nothing like filling the shopping cart with my favorite food items, carefully curated, and no greater happiness than constantly refreshing the app and seeing the delivery guy come closer and closer.
Listening to party music in my room
Party pop from the 2010s always hits, or some Project X inspired DJ mashup on YouTube always brings me dopamine, preferably way too loud through my headphones. My genre of music will always be rock, but party pop always hits the spot. The other day someone looked down on me because I knew so much about rock bands, while also listening to Lady Gaga. God forbid liking more than one genre of music.
Just Dance by Lady Gaga
THE dopamine song. There is nothing just like Just Dance by Lady Gaga. It´s been my number one song for getting in a better mood, and it always does the job. When my grandpa passed away last year, I knew I had to put off the first wave of grief for a few hours because I had to go to work, so I listened to Just Dance on repeat. And it worked.
Taking a bath
Nothing like boiling myself alive in a burning-hot bubble bath, emerging looking like a boiled lobster. This is wellness to me. I need all lights turned off for this, lying there in the dark, scaring my flatmates to death if they found me like this — they won’t, obviously I lock the door, just painting a picture here.
Orange Essential Oil
I like smelling different essential oils, like lavender when I want to calm down, but there is a very specific essential oil that gives me immediate happiness, a little dopamine rush. It smells like oranges, but like the best oranges you’ve ever had.
Cursing
Nothing like a little hit of dopamine from using curse words.
Watching edits of my celebrity crushes
Not quite sure what to add here, it just makes me happy. I love my celebrity crushes and take catching up on them and their lives very seriously. My celebrity crushes may change from time to time, but some regulars are Emily Armstrong, Cate Blanchett, Lady Gaga and Cameron Diaz. It´s funny because if they were all in a room together, my type in women couldn´t be more obvious, but what can I say, I´m a sucker for blonde women slightly older than me, preferably with tattoos. This would also end up on a list of things that make my brain go gay, if I were to ever make one.
Cooking comfort food
I show myself love by cooking, not necessarily elaborate meals, but comfort meals. Eating makes me happy.
Grocery Shopping
I love to hit the grocery store after having a bad day. Actually, I just love grocery shopping. Grocery shopping for dopamine includes getting some kind of treat, whatever that may be: frozen dumplings, a sweet treat, some kind of fruit that I wouldn´t normally buy because it´s too expensive.
Going to the organic store
This may look similar to grocery shopping, but it´s not. I love the organic grocery store, the vibes are always a 10/10. I could never afford to do my weekly shop in there, but some days I go just to browse through all the aisles and leave with some kind of treat to eat afterwards. The other day, I bought fresh pasta and made a nice tomato sauce at home. Or they have a very specific kind of mango chili flavored chips that I love. There´s just so many things in there that bring me dopamine. My dream is it to one day earn enough money to do my weekly grocery shop at the organic store without looking at prices.
The Indian Grocery Store
Similar to grocery shopping and the organic store, but not quite. There´s an Indian supermarket near my apartment, and I love to go there some days to look through all the items. It always smells so nice and makes me think about India, which always makes me happy. They also have fresh samosas, so I almost always get one. Sometimes I take home green chilies, incense sticks or some other snack.
Scrolling through Vinted
Not necessarily buying anything, but I love to browse through Vinted checking my options.
Watch Friends, or some other Sitcom
I love Friends, it´s my comfort show, I´m currently rewatching it, but Rachel and Ross are starting to piss me off, so I might need to either skip some seasons or switch to another sitcom.
Sauna
I don´t know what it is, I love warm environments and I love being naked, so bringing these two things together is always guaranteed to bring me dopamine. My ex and I used to love going to the sauna together, our ritual included hitting the Vietnamese supermarket on our way to buy tofu summer rolls (the older lady working there always makes them fresh in the morning) and then eating them in between infusions when resting at the sauna.
This is also a great example that mixing multiple things on the dopamine menu doesn´t always work out. The other day, I went to a disco sauna, which I thought would be heaven because I love to party and I love the sauna, so I really thought it couldn’t get better than this. Turns out I was so stressed the whole time, there was a bar, everyone was drunk, people were fucking, it was way too hot, and I was very overstimulated, so I left, and I never ever wanna go back.
Urban Outfitters
Okay, this is very random, and I do it very rarely. I don´t like shopping, and I never buy new things if I don´t have to. But there is something about Urban Outfitters that heals something in me, I know I´m being dramatic. Maybe it´s because I used to love Urban Outfitters as a teenager, and feel like entering a time capsule every time I go. I would never buy anything, it really just is about the vibes, about the music, all the fun little non clothing items, it just brings me joy.
Watching Project X
I can´t add anything here, this movie brings me dopamine, that´s just the way it is and I´m not ashamed about it. Another one in this category would be Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz, not a really comfort movie but a dopamine film for sure.
— ☾ —
I also wanted to include things I do on a regular basis to feel better, these don´t really bring me dopamine in the moment, but help me overall.
gratitude journal
therapy
having a clean room
stretch
move my body regularly
little acts of love for myself and the people around me
laying on the floor to ground myself
leaving the apartment every day
calling my Mum
Well, that´s about it. I know in the dopamine menu trend, you´re supposed to categorize all those things into starters, mains, desserts etc but I don´t really give a fuck. Writing this actually gave me dopamine, I was blasting a Project X Mashup on YouTube through my headphones and had a blast. This is also the post where I would be most intrigued about opinions - what unhinged things give you a hit of dopamine? Looking for inspiration to expand my own.