Thursday, May 20, 2010
Do you doodle?
I'm a doodler. I doodle spirals and geometric shapes and lots and lots of circles. I've noticed that I do it to relax, listen and focus.
I should have known there was a psychology involved. Experts say it's a subconscious act and can be very revealing. Did you know, for example, that doodling at the top of the page shows confidence? And probably that you have a lot of ideas going on inside your head. If you're at a meeting and place your doodles, for instance, near the title of a handout, it might mean you think you have more to say on the subject than the speaker up front.
Interesting enough, it's more common to doodle on the left-hand side of the page. But for those who doodle on the right, that might mean you're a lefty (I'm talking handedness), or that you have some hidden thoughts to share.
If you draw chains, I learned, you could be feeling locked in or boxed in. A relationship, maybe? Your job? I'd pay attention to those scribbles. There's obviously stress involved.
Drawing circles, on the other hand, could indicate you've finally figured things out, or that you are looking for that which will bring things together--balance. Drawing geometrical figures means you have a logical, analytical mind, according to Dr. Robert Burns, a Seattle-based psychologist who studied doodles and used them to diagnose his clinical patients. He says the patterns you draw over time can reveal a lot about your psyche.
The book, pictured above, The Doodle Diary, gives you a fun way to look at your own subconscious scribbles. But if you searched Google to learn the meaning of your own doodles, you'll most likely get several interpretations. So while I do find the psychology interesting, I wonder how relevant it really is. With several interpretations to pick from, how does one know which is the correct one?
Oh, but then there's Doodle Day. It gives more meaning to the silliness. Seriously, National Doodle Day takes place on February 11, 2011. Mark your calendar. It began in the United Kingdom in the 2004 as a way to raise funds and create awareness about epilepsy and neurofibromatosis--two disorders that lead to seizures of the brain. They gather celebrity doodles and auction them off for charity, but would you call this a doodle? To me, that's more like art--and my doodles have never looked that good.
How about you?