To doodle?

I'm guilty!  I'm a chronic doodler!  Always have been, always will be.  When I was in school I could not pay attention for more than a few minutes before turning to my notebook and either drawing seemingly meaningless lines and shapes or writing out the lyrics to my favourite songs.  I have notebooks FILLED with these pages as proof.  At my last administrative job I would be on the phone answering questions while simultaneously filling post-it notes with flowers and little stick figure men.

I've always thought that this meant I could never be a good student or productive worker.  Even now when I'm working on a production set and someone comes and sits next to me I immediately cover up my work, embarrassed by how juvenile and crude my illustrations are.

But then I saw this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz68b879rOI

If you don't have time to watch the video, the speaker is talking about the importance of doodling and how it actually helps people keep from losing focus and can lead to better retention of information.  She states the new definition of doodling should be: To make spontaneous marks to help yourself think.

I couldn't agree more with that statement because any time I am doodling I am thinking about something.  There is something about the action between my mind and my hand that allows my mind to come together and I actually pay attention more to what is going on around me.  I've just been too ashamed to admit it.  So in the spirit of de-shaming this very practical practice, I am going to share with you some of my most recent doodles and then show you the pieces that they have inspired for Little Hibachi.

  

  

So much of my adult life has been about un-learning so many things about myself I thought to be true and in turn learning something new.  So, here's to us, the doodlers of the world!  

Feel free to share any of your doodles with me in the comments or in an email: littlehibachi@gmail.com

<3