Were you one of those kids who got in trouble for doodling while the teacher was talking? Or on your homework? Before the pandemic, did you sometimes have to hide some of your meeting notes because the margins were lined with, well, lines?
Consider yourself vindicated, because I’m going to tell you what you probably instinctively knew: doodling is good, actually!
Non-representational (ie. stick figures of yourself eating lunch probably don’t count) doodling is an incredible whole-brain activity, engaging you visually, kinesthetically, and emotionally. Plus it’s just, you know, fun. Fun might feel like a distant concept these days, but that’s why we’re bringing it back like indoor dining.
Similar to adult coloring books, doodling can act as another active form of meditation that makes you both focus and relax. Because it engages and integrates the brain and body on so many subtle levels, it can birth whole new lines of creative thought, and can improve your recall of the events during the doodling.
birth whole new lines of creative thought and improve your recall
Doodling also trains you to accept mistakes and move on with whatever you have. By not erasing, and working with the page you have and whatever might already be on it, doodling teaches you to accept your work, and not worry about going back and erasing the past, but staying present and moving forward. You don’t have to plan ahead, or be anxious about results, or worry about your artistic ability, or perceived lack thereof. Doodling will teach you self-acceptance.
Or just let it do the relaxing thing.
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