One that's a little more consistent with your post is interior decorating. The design bubble that gets me farthest from misery's edge is a design that winks at the viewer. What that means is hard to describe but, for me, it's some combination of eclectic (lots to explore) and abundantly thoughtful (lots to appreciate). The more miserable I am, or can make myself, with the status of a room the more it drives me to make it winky (although usually I focus on making it thoughtful because I saturate a room early and easily with eclectic things).

People who like to learn are super familiar with moving to/from misery's edge. Not understanding a subject is like misery's edge on that subject's planet. Your existing bubble wardrobe doesn't do you much good in a new biome with new forces and a new atmosphere.

I think small improvements are easier to measure near misery's edge, and you're kind of eliminating confounders/baggage when you start from the edge and build a new bubble from scratch.