happy but could be happier. How? Making more money!! 2 kids and a wife and our 2 bedroom condo is not getting any bigger. Would be happier if I could into a 3 bedroom place for them.

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Jaded, old fart is me.

Yes. Yes. Awareness, gratitude, circumstances. Peace and free time.

I'm content for now. My life's almost always been just good enough; basic needs met, many creative outputs, a life partner, a surprisingly easy and creative job with lots of freedom and the right kind of responsibility. Even when it wasn't, I've found the missing joy from somewhat excessive alcohol use. Also, I take up smoking during not-so-joyous times, like military refreshers and funeral arrangements, stuff like that. Everything's easier when you have something nice to look forward to. I'm almost certain that smoking has saved me from a total mental breakdown on many occasions. Not the most stoic thing I guess, but it's survival.

I have also had to compare myself to less fortunate people to make myself appreciate all the good things I have. At the end of my last summer vacation (which was four weeks instead of my usual seven) I had to remind myself it could be 5-10 days, and I could be commuting an hour every day instead of the ~8 minutes it takes me to get to the office. All in all I probably live better than medieval kings. Some days I just WFH, lay on the sofa watching stuff on Netflix and give a thought or two to a problem at work, then open my laptop to actually implement the solution when I feel like it. It's hard to imagine how it could realistically get any easier than that. Now this AI shit's here to ruin it all though, but I'm confident I'll find fulfilment in less creative work too.

I'm not rich, but any lack of money has very rarely kept me from achieving the things I want to, and I doubt it would bring me too much extra happiness anyway. Playing a riff a bit more cleanly than I did yesterday, writing a guitar section that I feel proud of; that's the kind of stuff that makes me happy. But of course if I could buy a new guitar or a set of e-drums without spending an hour on a spreadsheet, I would be just that tiny bit happier.

What a fucking asshole post now that I read through it.

I must say though, I believe the secret to my personal feelings of contentment and success is simply that I am mostly unburdened by agreeableness. Lulz.

Yes I am, although it's kinda hard to list all the reasons why you're happy without sounding like an OrangestO diary entry, and nobody wants that. I suppose the simplest way to cut through the schmaltz is to say I'm happy because I have, and I've experienced, pretty much everything that as an alienated, miserable young man I never thought I would. I didn't ever think I'd get here, but I managed it.

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Yeah, since I've achieved my goals of being tenured and married to my college sweetheart. Also, I'm stoked my first ever Korean language class starts tomorrow and I managed to leap all the way to upper intermediate (so by the end of the winter I'll be able to brag that I'm at the advanced level in the language).

On a scale of 1 to 5, that's not bad at all

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Indiana Clones Upcoming Sets
[ I May Upload Something Someday ]

I’m sad.

Life is rough these days. I feel like my 30s would be so much better if there wasnt so much economic disparity

No, lol, I am da {b.s.e.}

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Wave is to particle as zero is to one as bagpipes are to modem noises.