Notion of Happiness #7

Haley-in-the-box, apps for satisfying typing sounds, since the milk went bad, progress made vs. achieving the goal, songs for end of summer chillin’, and making unforgettable moments.

Jac Boothe

Published in

Notion of Happiness

6 min readAug 27, 2023

“What happened in the two weeks since the milk went bad?” — Ryan Holiday

👋 Hello friend!!

I hope you are doing well!! I can’t believe we’re at the end of August already. Time will always incredibly weird to me. Without fail it subverts my expectations.

I thought you might appreciate a new product available called “Haley-in-the-box.” Unlike your traditional Jack-in-the-box, this is actually a live creature (feline) that waits quietly and eventually pounces on you. It is a completely unpredictable pounce, which creates an even more thrilling experience!! Coming to a Toys R Us near you (do they still exist?).

Haha, without further ado, let’s get into it!!

🛠 Tech Toolbox — KeyBell

Have you ever seen videos of those keyboard typing TikToks where people showcase the sound of a particularly clicky (or clacky…) keyboard? Apparently it’s kind of an ASMR thing.

Sometimes these fancier keyboards get a little pricey. So if you’re still keen on a clicky/clacky experience but don’t feel comfortable selling feet pics to do it, you might want to consider KeyBell for your Mac. I am actually using it as I type this article and… I weirdly love it. It is satisfying.

I had a previous experience with something similar with a unique writing app called Ommwriter. That too, is a brilliant app, and it has several clicky keyboard sounds to choose from. The main downside is that they’re only available in the app, they don’t affect your computer globally.

Enter KeyBell: you have a range of keyboard, typewriter, and mouse sounds to choose from for just $2.99. The only two qualms I have with this app are that I can’t change the volume of the mouse and keyboard sounds individually (just altogether) and there could be a little more diversity in the repeating samples used for the keyboards… but that’s me being an audiophile.

10/10 for its use case, and I definitely recommend!!

💬 Quality Quote

“Time elapsed you’ll never get back. but more than elapsed, right? You spent that time. on something. What happened in the two weeks since the milk went bad? What do you have to show for the year these registration tags have been on your car?”
— Ryan Holiday

Mr. Ryan Holiday is great at no BS. He’s known for his best-selling books, but I actually stumbled upon him first from his podcast The Daily Stoic. I am a big fan of how he explains stoicism philosophies and their insightful truths.

This particular reminder is needed, BUT it can admittedly nudge me into a spiral, too. Like I mentioned in the very beginning of today’s writing, I’m shocked that we have less than a week remaining of August. That we’ve got only one month left in Quarter 3. That there’s only 4 months left in 2023…and then I start trying to fight off a sudden onset of “I have not done enough this year and I suck” syndrome.

The reality for me, at least at the time of this writing is:

I feel I will never have done enough in any amount of time I have. I struggle to be satisfied because I know there’s always room for improvement. I haven’t achieved X and Y goals in the time I thought I would, and I feel like a failure because of this.

And while those feelings are totally valid — they’re not productive. They’re disheartening. If one can never do enough in any amount of time given, then why try at all?

Instead, I have to actively remind myself of what progress I have made, not just the goals completed since the ‘milk went bad’.

I have a longstanding habit of overestimating how much I can do at once, and underestimating how long things take — a known human dilemma. But this occurs especially when I approach goals with a sustainable, balanced, trying-to-look-out-for-my-wellbeing kinda approach.

When I’ve dropped everything and forsaken my relationships, my wellbeing, and/or other experiences that fulfill me, I’ve been able to achieve the goal at a faster rate, but at a cost. I can’t speak to the figurative ‘health bar’ of any other area in my life. So my goal is to keep going, even slowly. Because making forward progress to any degree is far better than being stagnant.

There’s so much I’m doing that isn’t finished. Progress has been made but the goal hasn’t been achieved yet. I’m closer, but haven’t ‘arrived’. And that’s okay. That’s just life.

🎵 On Repeat — End of Summer Chill

1) Surefire — Piano by Wilderado

2) See the Light by Stephen Sanchez

3) Tidal by Noah Kahan

🌱 Reflect & Refresh

What have I done so far this year?
What changes have happened around me? What changes have occurred within me?
What am I proud of?
How am I different than this time last year? How am I growing and/or healing since last week?
How can I keep positive change in my life sustainable longterm?

🤣 A Little Laugh

But do you still love me?

↗ Onward & Upward

Give them a moment.

One of the most transferable lessons I learned back in my band days was how to create killer live performances. Most bands do it wrong by cramming as many songs as they can into their set. From studying Tom Jackson’s valuable teachings on stage presence, I learned that whether you have 5 minutes or 90 minutes — if all you do is spam your audience with your music, your performance becomes forgettable. And unfortunately, the newer and lesser-known you are, the truer this is. Because then you really can’t rely on your audience’s familiarity or adoration of you to give you energy and confidence on stage.

And let’s be real. If you paid big bucks to see Adele and she just sang her latest album’s songs in chronological order… I really think it’d be a little disappointing (and rightly so!). Because you can download all of her music already — the reason you see a favorite artist live is to see and hear something you can’t experience from the recording. You’re there for a one-of-a-kind, exclusive experience.

To create a great show, your set has to ebb and flow. You have to let the audience breathe and absorb. Tap in to more than one audience emotion if you can. Use a good ice-breaker song first. Add a little story or a joke. Change positions from standing to sitting for a slower song. Use the stage, don’t stay in one place.Switch out the instrument you’re playing. Teach the audience a call-and-response part to one of your catchier originals. Don’t turn your back to the audience, and hold the microphone in the hand that doesn’t come between you and them. Keep things open, and invite them into the vibe you’re creating. You’re sharing this experience with them. It’s personal and human 🖤

The best performances have moments that feel spontaneous — even though they’ve been rehearsed endlessly and painstakingly sculpted.
Give your audience focused, memorable moments with your work and creations. Be unforgettable 🖤