Seeking soothing/distracting internet videos for friend in the hospital
December 14, 2023 4:06 PM   Subscribe

My friend is in the hospital after a major surgery with some pretty miserable complications that have made it so she is not allowed to eat any food (nothing but water and ice chips), possibly for up to 14 days, and is on oxygen to boot. I am seeking distracting, pleasant, soothing, and silly internet videos (Youtube or otherwise) that require low to no effort to watch. Cute animals, interesting crafts or art -- what other ideas do you have? (NO videos that include food or eating please!)

Thinking shorter videos (like 1-10 minutes, not two hours) but if it's a longer video that's chill and soothing or doesn't require someone to pay attention the entire time / doesn't matter if you lose the plot, I'm open to that too. She particularly loves cats, but I'm sure she'd be up for fascinating or adorable critters of all kinds.

I also plan to bring her some coloring books and scratch-off color art pages on the days that I am allowed to visit. If you have a particularly stunning idea for a really easy hospital-bed-appropriate hands-on activity for someone who's very ill, in large amounts of pain, hungry, confined to bed, and generally feeling miserable, also feel free to share that.

But my main goal here is to compile a vast library of the best soothing, distracting, positive, heartwarming, cute, non-food internet videos so I can text her one every few hours throughout the day for at least the next week. Link me your best stuff!
posted by cnidaria to Media & Arts (21 answers total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
this may miss the mark but i'll just throw it out there anyway.
on youtube, there are various "cat tv" channels and I have found that, for me, they are really quite soothing. just a bunch of birds and chipmonks and so forth on a log eating birdseed. super chill. (so, yes there is eating but...birdseed). some of these videos are multiple hours long..i have one on all the time, but there are shorter ones too. plus: pleasant chirping.
posted by The_Auditor at 4:51 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Sarper Duman, who plays piano for (and around) rescue cats. Calming music, adorable kitties, even more adorable human.
posted by humbug at 4:56 PM on December 14, 2023 [3 favorites]


The Repair Shop is on YouTube. Whole episodes.
Oh my gosh. Just now looking it up to answer this question I found The Repair Shop Australia on the channel. It’s just a great show. Amazing craftsmanship and very sweet and calming and often happy tears when cherished heirlooms are returned to a former glory.

Train Passengers Sing Over the Rainbow
Chicago’s Magical Piano
2013 Tony Awards Opening Number
posted by Glinn at 5:02 PM on December 14, 2023 [3 favorites]


Maybe massage videos? They come in all different lengths are great for soothing/relaxation. Some channels I like, from shortest videos to longest: massageclips, asmrmassage, itsblitzzzz, and ASMR Twix.
posted by Jess the Mess at 5:17 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]


I know you asked for videos, but a diamond painting kit might also be fun and not take a lot of brain power.
posted by saturdaymornings at 5:37 PM on December 14, 2023


Youtube is all about soothing for me!

These Expedia travel videos are always playing at my favorite Chinese restaurant and they are sooo soothing.

Shelby Sherritt is a sweet Australian ceramicist who bought a huge load of old pottery molds during the pandemic. Start with the Revealing Molds I found on Gumtree playlist to watch her cast each mold and figure out how she'll apply her own art style to the item.

The Northern Mudlarks are a mother-daughter team who hunt for old treasures like beach glass, and items washed out of Victorian dumps. It's very sweet and the scenery is beautiful. The videos might be a little long but there's not really a big conclusion you would miss if you quit the videos in the middle.

Katie Carson is an extremely sweet and wholesome artist who makes soaps and tests craft kits.

Katie Scott rescues old sad furniture and clean up the pieces and gives them makeovers.

Sarah at Red Rocking Bird is an extremely soothing artist - mostly air dry clay but other mediums as well.

Cute animals:

Poppy the prairie dog

Lou the Chichi

Tiny chihuahua Cedric
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 5:46 PM on December 14, 2023 [2 favorites]


Oh, sometimes the cute animals I listed eat things like treats - not sure if that's ok.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 5:49 PM on December 14, 2023


This livecam page gives you endless opportunities to watch animals in real time. At the top you can choose a tab by type of animal or you can choose something like the "sanctuaries" tab. This really has everything - from honeybees to toucans to bears in Alaska to red pandas. These obviously aren't timed videos, but you can easily just watch them for as long as you want or keep them on as a kind of background while you do something else.
posted by FencingGal at 6:04 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]


Johnny Devaney does short, silly dog-related videos on YouTube and TikTok, the best of which, I find, are his skits about how different breeds react to things.

https://youtube.com/@jauncydev?si=HFIYVcCQKRJmM8Tf
posted by telophase at 6:51 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]


There's a tiny kittens youtube channel with live streams of rescue cats and their kittens. I haven't watched it in a while, but just checked and there are currently 10 day old kittens. Very soothing.

I also had this reindeer sleigh ride (SlowTV) on in the background a few Christmases back and it was lovely. I think they might have stopped for a fire and cocoa once, but I'm not sure about eating.
posted by My Kryptonite is Worry at 7:07 PM on December 14, 2023 [2 favorites]


If you haven't heard of Joe Pera, here's a sample. When I hear the word "soothing" he's what pops into my head.
posted by mmoncur at 8:09 PM on December 14, 2023


My go to for distracting videos is The Kid Should See This. I’m also on hospital leave and YouTube has lots of soothingly read audiobooks that can be listened to while doing jigsaws.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 8:14 PM on December 14, 2023 [1 favorite]


Maybe this Boards of Canada video? I could almost watch this on repeat for hours.
posted by dngrangl at 8:55 PM on December 14, 2023


Best answer: Not a specific video recommendation, but if your friend digs Will Arnett, there’s a new season of Lego Masters and it’s very charming and lighthearted with no food.
posted by samthemander at 11:49 PM on December 14, 2023 [2 favorites]


May I present Haburu, the pianist supurrvisor?
posted by oceano at 2:03 AM on December 15, 2023


I have compiled a large library of enjoyable animated shorts that are available online as a Letterboxd list.

I also have it as a spreadsheet here, with URLs. The majority are amusing / fun / beautiful, but there are also some that are sad or weird.

Some that I would definitely recommend:
The Monk and the Fish
The Man Who Planted Trees
Oktapodi
Out of Sight

And of course the Simon's Cat series on YouTube.
posted by snarfois at 2:32 AM on December 15, 2023


Best answer: Japan’s public television station NHK has a 5-minute program called Cat’s Eye View of Japan. Though there are subtitles, you can follow along just fine without reading them. I like a lot of the programming on NHK for slow, relaxing media, but this fits the bill perfectly and is safely not focused on food like many of the other programs.
posted by inkytea at 4:24 AM on December 15, 2023 [2 favorites]


Not cats or crafts, but I find some hiking videos to be pretty soothing - and there is no plot/requirement of watching the whole thing.

This guy is extremely calming - I'd say he has Mr. Rogers vibes in that he's calm and very positive. He doesn't talk a lot in his videos, which I like - it's mostly about showing you the landscapes.

These guys are less calming, but they provide some pretty amazing footage of their hikes and also only talk in spurts, but much of the videos is just the landscapes they are moving through. Sometimes one of them pukes from the bodily stress of hiking, and they do sometimes eat snacks - but these are short bits.
posted by coffeecat at 8:23 AM on December 15, 2023


Bob Ross videos
I like Another Boring Topic, though they are longer. I have fallen asleep to them.
In a similar vein, https://www.youtube.com/@halfasinteresting
Brandon Shephard does graphic design stuff.
I love Charles Cornell and his analysis of music. He's a jazz pianist.
Cinama Therapy is a therapist and a movie guy who talk about movies
I found Heron's Bonsai here on the Green.
posted by kathrynm at 11:16 AM on December 15, 2023


Karen Puzzles and other jigsaw puzzle YouTubers are so soothing to watch. Just make sure the puzzle images for the videos you send don't include food.
posted by Threeve at 11:24 AM on December 15, 2023


Response by poster: Marked a couple favs, but these are all delightful! Keep 'em coming <3
posted by cnidaria at 2:03 PM on December 15, 2023


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