A Poem by my mentor

Hallå pals!

Jonas here with another issue of Indie Notebook to get some ideas out of my noggin, and to inspire you to do the same.

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This last week has been all over the place creatively for me. I’ve written 10+ comic strips, fully prepared a Patreon for Space Deer, worked on a secret game project, made thumbnails for some Youtube videos, drawn a birthday present, done two job interviews and I’m doing a one-week work test.

I love the variety. But I feel like I’ve promised too much since I’m doing all this at once. If I had known how all this would pile up I would probably have dealt with it differently. The problem is I didn’t see all this coming. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Soon I miiight have to choose between two full time gigs. Which means I’m probably gonna have to give up on the secret game project? And maybe put Space Deer on hold or change the release schedule to be able to keep up?

Neither Space Deer or the game project pay me anything at the moment. So prioritizing what can pay the rent makes more sense.

Maybe I will publish Indie Notebook less frequently too if I end up getting one of those gigs?

Even when I own 100% of my time I find it challenging to switch between game development, writing and drawing comics. So keeping this up with another big obligation seems unsustainable.

I’m lucky to have these opportunities though! I’m glad it’s this way instead of absolute stillness.

Now onto something else I’m excited about..!

A Poem by my mentor

One of my best friends whom I’ve never met, Hasse, started a newsletter of his own recently.

He’s a great thinker and writer, he helped me find my writing-voice when I was making my first story, Empty Planet. Since then he has continued to be a sort of mentor or spiritual support to me. He always replies with a Russian-novel length email when I ask him for his thoughts on something I’m struggling with or thinking about. And he keeps an eye on everything I do. I’m very lucky to have him as a friend.

As for his own own art, he mostly keeps his writing offline. But recently he took the step to start sharing his poems on the internet. Here is one I love and relate to a lot right now…

Hands of Creation


Life Is a Word,

and Love Is a Sentence.



Some souls are just creative

and see this in themselves.

They know why they are here

and know that time will tell

how much they will produce,

before their hands are bound

together, in a noose -

and no more is allowed.



They strive against regret -

it haunts them in their dreams:

the thought of being less

than they were meant to be

is worse than any other,

when all is said and done.

The horror of concern

for all they could have done.



It is a constant push

by a cold and nagging hand,

and while it doesn’t feel too good

it’s direction isn’t bad.

Yes, feet are slowly moving,

and hands are getting busy

creating all the new things,

they’ve only dreamed to see.



That cold and nagging hand

is part of their creation;

the sting of their potential -

it hurts to be a maker,

but, after all the pain

and pushing is endured,

it all comes into frame,

and life has been renewed.



Thank You

to the Human Spirit…

The poem comes from Hasse’s newsletter Hearts on The Line.

Each poem comes from someone answering “what is your greatest love?” and “what is your greatest fear?”. This one, he wrote from his own answers.

If you want to you can send him your own answers to the questions.

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I’m getting close to my 30’s, and I’m thinking more and more about death and time and what I want to accomplish as an artist before my time is up.

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Panel of the week

(from Space Deer)

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Thank you for reading Indie Notebook! I’d love to hear what today’s issue made you think about.

Take care and have a creative week.