Doodle Do's

Posted by Milano, Editorial Assistant

While the smell of freshly sharpened pencils continues to thrill some people well into adulthood, for many just a whiff of a leaded number two is redolent with back-to-school dread. Severe sufferers of ISTSO (It Sucks That Summer is Over) Syndrome may even experience the following symptoms: dry-mouth, depression, excessive sweating, and uncontrollable doodling.  Doodling is a more creative way of saying, YeahYeah, I'm listening, in a sarcastic Ferris Bueller voice.  It's also a stellar way to make meetings and other work situations more bearable.  (I suggested drinking as an alternate boredom/stress reliever, but that didn't fly in the office.) Not even Blueprint staffers are above scribbling their way through meetings: you might remember the doodle decoder in our September/October issue. If not, click here for a recap.

Before speaking with Michelle Dresbold, co-author of Sex, Lies, and Handwriting: A Top Expert Reveals the Secrets Hidden in Your Handwriting (Free Press, 2006) for our Perimeter piece, I thought doodling was naughty and shameful -- a way of avoiding something potentially important. But Dresbold insists that the stars, houses, names, hearts and flowers we unwittingly put to paper tell a great deal about who we are.  Here are some outtakes from our interview that didn't make it into the magazine:

• “Doodling is the space between being asleep and being awake. In a way, the more you doodle, the more you’re still dreaming.”
• “People who don’t doodle at all are not as creative as those who do. As we get older, we doodle less and less.”
• “When your creativity is being stifled -- when you’re stuck in a meeting, for instance -- and you can’t scream, or yell, or even talk, your hand does it for you. It is an outlet like screaming or yelling. You can partly pay attention to what is going on, but there is another part of you that’s just doing its own thing.”

So what do those skull-and-crossbones you keep doodling mean? Well, lucky for you, Dresbold has offered to analyze the figures of three or four Blueprint readers. Just send us your notebook scribbles and check back in two weeks for Dresbold's insight into your doodle psyche.

 

Comments

[Julia H Fitton]

This post makes me think you may be VERY interested in my brother's mother-in-law. She is a creative wiz. A few of her brainchildren are...Pendragon, http://melonstomp.com/pendragon/home.html, a line of gorgeous invitations. Her daughter, my sister-in-law, does the hand painting. And Zentangle, http://zentangle.com/index.php. You should see her desk blotter, talk about doodle-dos. She is an amazing woman. You should feature her. Check it out! Love your magazine and blog!