Yellow pages open, phone to her ear, pen in hand, I watched as my mom doodled.  Oblivious to the conversation on the other end, I was transfixed by the loops, whirls, and  zigzags created by her hand.  I did what most kids would do, I ran to the best set of books I knew…the Encyclopedia Britannica and opened one to find a piece of canvas…a white, thick paper in the beginning of that important book.  It  begged to be decorated, and I had discovered it like a buried treasure.  I was in my own world, and a deep satisfaction filled my very soul as I drew lines and circles interacting and connecting with my beautiful crayons.

I was five and just about to enter kindergarten, but I knew the peace and joy color and lines could bring.  It wasn’t about the final product;  it was about the experience.  In my mind, I could do anything.  I was invincible.  Needless to say, when my siblings got home and found my masterpieces, my doodling days with the expensive books were over.  However,  the effect was coded into my brain. Even today doodling is my go-to whenever I am idly listening.  It helps me to listen and remember better…go figure.

There’s no right or wrong way to doodle.  Anything will do.  True, there are trademarked ways of teaching effective doodling, and I wouldn’t mind learning more, but for the novice just looking for a moment of whimsy, doodling is just a matter of repetition of line, shape, and form.  It may not grace the walls of a museum, or even the refrigerator, but it will give the creator a “moment”, and it’s free. (Unless you choose to do it in the front page of a very expensive book.)

WORLD-CHANGING ACTION:  Go doodle today!  Keep a small doodle book in your car.  Keep one in your purse or backpack.  Use it like a stress-preventing vitamin, or an ibuprofen for tension.  Send us pics or comments and let us know what you’ve been doo-ing.

*The doodle shown above was a real-time doodle…nothing fancy about it.