Studio Notes #1 - What Makes Us Happy? Music?

Thoughts from the studio of ambient musician Caught In Joy.

We live in a strange time.
Consumption feels endless. Everywhere you look there is another message telling you to buy something.

Sometimes it feels impossible to read anything online that isn’t trying to sell you something — a product, an idea, a lifestyle.

The only thing that still feels pure to me is music.

Music is the one place where I can truly relax.
Or focus when I need to.

Over the years I also developed a small philosophy:
treat each day as if it might be the last one.

Not in a dramatic way — simply as a reminder that a day should be a good one if possible.

But this raises an interesting question:

What actually makes us happy?
Or maybe a better question is — how do we make other people happy?

What do we give?

For many years I was juggling two careers: technology and music.

Eventually I realized that the thing I could truly give to the world was not another piece of software or another piece of code.

It was music.

So a few years ago I made the decision to focus on it fully.

84 albums later, I feel it was the right choice — even though the struggle is real. Not just financially, but creatively as well.

Interestingly, I discovered something unexpected along the way.

I used to think that writing music was what made me happy.

But that’s not really it.

The real joy is in giving the music away.

Knowing that a piece you created might make someone’s day a little better.
Help them relax.
Help them focus.
Keep them company while they work.

That, to me, feels like the essence of happiness.

And if I can continue doing that — releasing music as often as possible — I’ll consider it a life well spent.

Forgive me if these are not long essays.

Think of them more as small observations.

Something closer to the style of Paul Graham.