Hi pal!
This week I read something that brought me to define better what Indie Notebook is about. A fellow writer, Grant Shillings wrote a great piece called Just get it over with. At the end he asked “what is something you love doing, and also love having done?”
This was my answer,
“For me that thing is to draw in sketchbooks, I love to just disappear into them in the moment, fill up pages and to look back through old ones. Maybe turning those ideas into art/products/things is just a way for me to make enough money so I can keep filling more sketchbooks.”
Which begs the question why do I like to fill sketchbooks and notebooks so much? I think the reason is because I like piece of mind. I want calm waters in my mind, but it’s more like a noisy washing machine. Putting my thoughts and ideas on paper soothes this rattling machine a bit. Let me pull a quote from Grant’s article,
“It is more pleasant for the artist to paint than to have finished painting.” - Seneca
My interpretation of this quote is that it feels better to be painting, because the machine is being soothed. As soon as the painting stops, the machine starts to grow more and more agitated again. Using sketchbooks and notebooks is a much more reliable way to get this crap out of my mind than to rely on finishing projects. The times in my life that I have become too obsessed with using projects for this ‘rinsing’ has also been the times where I’ve been the most creatively frustrated.
Thanks to this I’ve rewritten the about-page of Indie Notebook.
“I rub the pages of sketchbooks and notebooks with pencils all the time. Every week I examine that stuff and put it here, to clear my mind and make sense of it all. This is my public notebook.”
It should be more clear for newcomers what this newsletter is about now, and it should also help me focus more on what the purpose of all this is. My hopes are that this will inspire you to get more crap out of your mind too, cause it might turn into something neat. Or if you’re like me, at least it should calm you down a bit.
Thank you Grant for writing with so much thought.
Mini Notes
🪀 Website - The Blob Toy
I love that this exists. It’s a small creative sandbox where you can play with mushy balls and bouncy strings. Nice reminder that the internet could be used for anything.
✍️ Article - Drawing (on the side)
Thanks to this I realized what a good phrase “side drawing” is, it’s when you draw idly while also doing something else, such as watching a show. I’ve been doing this all my life but never thought of putting a name to it. It’s a lot more zen than scrolling endlessly on my phone.
🎵 Song - Roll On Babe
This song is on my head all the time lately, it makes me happy.
❓ Question time
What is something you love doing, and also love having done?
Since this question was so helpful for me I wanna pass it on to you as well. Feel free to share in the comments or shoot me an email.
Usually I don’t like to exercise, but I’m glad when I have done it.
Thank you as always for reading! Have a creative week.
Wow, thanks so much for the shout out!
I’ve noticed that’s one of your unique skill sets that most writers and programmers do not have. I think you should lean into it. Keep the art coming!