“One of the strangest things about doodling is that no-one tells us what we should be doing yet many of us end up doodling similar things” (Caroline Blakiston, Actress)

Take a trip down memory lane, remember your school and college days, remember the freshly bought copies and registers oozing of that lovely smell of fresh new paper? How tempting and darkly pleasing it was to doodle your name in and draw abstract everythings and anythings especially on the front and last pages?

Oh and remember those never ending Math lessons? Or perhaps geography lessons in which endless classifications of rocks, plateaus, and rivers sent you in a trance and your little head started swimming- and lo and behold a doodle masterpiece was created where there should have been humble lecture notes or neat margins.

Also, not so long ago when there weren’t smart-phones and searchable sim/phone/Google contact lists there used to be a telephone diary and notepad lying next to the telephone and during long conversations (as a teenager mine could go on for hours) a lot of mazes, flowers, trees, circles, patterns and faces were inked onto them.

After the advent of the laptop, smartphone, notepad, and the blogosphere, encountering  a clean sheet of white paper, a telephone diary or a journal is becoming rare and so I wonder if doodling is dying a slow death?

The Psychology of Doodling (and a Funny Story)

Doodling is defined as a type of sketch or unfocused drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied. In the same way that dreams are said to offer us a glimpse into our unconscious, psychologists believe doodling can give us an insight into our deepest thoughts and feelings.

Psychologists say that doodles are expressions of the subconscious mind. The subconscious is also the birthplace of all forms of creativity. Thus, through doodles the subconscious gains a medium to break free of rules of language and translation and surface through direct symbolic expression and creative expression. So the next time someone asks ‘what are you doing?’ when you are caught doodling, don’t feel embarrassed to have to explain yourself.  Surprisingly, doodling is not always random, nonsensical and crazy- the symbols that surface in doodles have meaning and contain messages from the unconscious says Dr Robert Burns (formerly the director of the Institute for Human Development at the University of Seattle). Signs and symbols are part of our collective unconscious- a level of the conscious that is not unique to an individual and consists of “thought and experience shared collectively by humans” (Jungian psychology).

Doodling is akin to dreaming in the sense that it also uses a form of picture language- but the best part is that you can look back at your doodle and interpret it but you can’t really do that with dreams now can you?. Funny story here, the British media had a field day with Tony Blair when he left doodles in what seemed to be junk papers left behind on the desk after a press conference, so some random all-boy picked up these papers and said “hmm, ill use that to make fun of Mr: Blair”. These doodles found their way to psychologists who put on their self-important analytical hats and said “tch tch, the man is not cut out to be a natural leader”, “is really stressed” and “struggling to balance too many issues at once”. Guess what? the doodles weren’t Tony’s but of Bill Gates of Microsoft who was sitting next to the British prime minister during the press conference.

Doodling better than Daydreaming

Asked to remember names they’d heard on a recording, people who doodled while listening had better recall than those who didn’t. This suggests that a slightly distracting secondary task may actually improve concentration during the performance of dull tasks that would otherwise cause a mind to wander (Plymouth university research).

The human attention software loaded on our brains has a fixed amount of RAM, and is not very good at multitasking so it can’t watch TV and read, retain,understand and process new information (thus the failed quiz) or pay attention to all the minute details of driving safely while even on hands-free during driving. So, while in class listening to a lecture or in a round table corporate meeting doodling is the lesser of the two evils when compared to full on day dreaming because simply put, “Doodling takes only a small cognitive load, but it’s just enough to keep your mental resources focused on the main task” says Jackie Andrade a University of Plymouth psychologist.

So paradoxically it seems that the human race pioneered the art of doodling to help concentrate on a mundane, boring task and keep attention demanding daydreaming just at bay.

Meanings of Common Doodles

(In this section I have just summarized evidence from the web)

Shapes

Straight lines vs Curved lines: Straight lines show strong willpower and self-control and an affinity for facts, while those who prefer curved strokes are more flexible, imaginative and emotional.

Pointed shapes: Determined people who need an outlet for their mental and physical energy tend to draw things with triangular or pointed shapes- arrows, weapons, kites, stars, zig-zags

Square shapes: Down-to-earth, practical people who need security and like to be in control tend to draw things with square shapes or flat surfaces, or symbols of material security- squares, boxes, houses.

Circular shapes: Emotional people who want harmony and love tend to draw things with circular or rounded shapes, or symbols of love and femininity- circles, spirals, suns, flowers, hearts, faces, lips, eyes.

Sizing and Spacing

Size and spacing reflect lifestyle and balance in relationships. A large object in relation to the space on which it is drawn, shows they are outgoing, appear confident and have a busy life, while a small one suggests they observe more than they participate, like their personal space and prefer a quiet life. Good balance shows mature give and take, clear thinking and good organisation.

Location of Doodle on the Page

Center- extroverted and needs attention or personal space

Top- confident and a faucet of ideas

Left- nostalgic for the past

Right- lefthanded bloke or expression of hidden thoughts and ideas

Styles and Strokes

The mood and sense of movement (lively, peaceful, static, rushed, disturbed etc) reflect a person’s temperament, dynamism and well-being at the time, while the strength of the strokes indicates what energy went into the doodling.

Light Short Sketchy Lines: People who are sensitive or hesitant tend to draw with short, light or sketchy lines

Long Firm Strokes: Determined people who feel strongly about things

Digging into the paper: Frustration

Going over and over someting: Stuck with a problem

Heavy shading: Depression or worry.

Drawing lines or objects in rows shows good organisation, a methodical approach and a liking for order and control. More disorderly-looking doodles are done by lively people who like freedom to do things on the spur of the moment but have a tendency to get side-tracked. Chaotic doodles suggest problems coping with life or possibly some mental disturbance.

Style and strokes show temperament, energy, drive and strength of feeling.

Some simple Doodles and their Meanings (A-Z of Doodling)

Arrows:

Arrows indicate a person who is aggressively ambitious.

Boxes:

Boxes are usually drawn by men. Stacked boxes indicates methodical thinking. Closed boxes signify self-centredness, and a desire for privacy. Open boxes may be a reflection of a wish to welcome someone. Alternatively, they may represent a desire to escape from a restrictive situation.

Cats:

Doodles of cats need to be examined carefully. Is it playful in nature, or is it a spiteful/aggressive cat? The nature of the cat indicates it’s meaning.

Dots:

Dots forming a pattern or picture are sometimes the doodles of a fragmented personality. They can also indicate an extremem state of anxiety or a lack of stability.

Eyes:

Doodles of eyes are often sign of a wish to be alluring. However, repeatedly doodled eyes may indicate that they feel constantly watched.

Flowers:

Most flowers are doodled by women, and are romantic in nature. Indicating a desire to blossom and be fruitful in life.

Guns:

Doodled guns are a sign of subconscious agression.

Houses:

Houses are one of the most common doodles. Usually drawn by women, they can show how the person feels about their home environment. Clues can be found in whether the front door is open or closed; whether there is smoke coming from a chimney (showing a welcoming fire). An unhappy home is usually represented by asymmetrical structures without windows.

Intricate Patterns:

Very detailed doodles are often drawn by people who have an obsessive nature, and who simply will not let go of their ambitions or loved ones. They are also likely to be jottings of highly introverted people.

Jets:

Aeroplanes of all kinds are said to be evidence of a strong sex drive.

Keys:

A doodled key could mean that you are desperately seeking the means to escape from a claustrophobic situation.

Lips:

Lips usually point to a frustrated sexual desire of some kind. Usually drawn by women.

Mazes:

An intricate maze suggests that you feel that you’re in a tight spot. Alternatively, it could be a sign of the need for protection from a threatening element in your life.

Newspaper Headlines:

People who fill in or embellish the letters in newspaper headlines are thought to be the soldiers in life rather than the initiatore.

Oceans:

These doodles are typical of people who spend a lot of time indulging in their imaginatioins, but who rarely put their dreams into practice.

Portraits:

Faces are usually doodled by adolescent girls, seeking to produce an idealized self-portrait. Faces in profile, however, can be a sign of an introverted personality. Comic faces are usually drawn by men, indicating a desire to be the centre of attention.

Question Marks:

These signify a difficult decision, or doubt about your role in life.

Robots:

Doodling a robot is an indication that, that is precisely how you feel: lacking self-assertion and bored with your day-to-day life.

Signatures:

Repeatedly doodling your name is a sign of an identity problem.
These doodles are often done by recently married women in attempt to assure themselves of the’r new surname.

Stars:

Repeated star shapes are often drawn by the irrepressibly romantic.

Trees:

A tree which is doodles without leaves or roots can show how you feel inside: isolated and without strong family ties. A tree which is blowing in the wind may show instability in a relationship.

Umbrella’s:

This generally signifies a desire to extend help to a loved one, or to protect yourself from unpleasent outside influences.

Vehicles:

Doodles of luxury cars usually represent a desire for the material things in life. A doodled train, however, signifies someone who is more likely to proceed with caution, but is determined to get there in the end.

Webs:

These can symbolize a sense of being trapped, or a desire to entice someone into a particulaer relationship/situation.

Yachts:

These usually represent a wish to escape from restricting circumstances.

Zigzags:

This repeated pattern may signal a need for comfort, or a need to regress to childhood in order to escape from the harsh everyday reality.

(Evidence taken from nationaldoodleday.org.uk, consellingcentral.com and bbc.co.uk)