WHAT IS A DOODLE?
Doodle is that little scrawl which qualifies neither as a perfect drawing, nor as handwriting. Doodles can take just any form. It can be a cluster of lines, blobs or dots, cartoons, cirles, flowers, faces, indecipherable strokes, etc. A doodle is an abstract extension of handdwriting. It is pictorial and has visual appeal. It is not direct, like handwriting and ;therefore needs careful and well thought out interpretation.
Doodling is an expression, of a thought or a desire. It can also represent unfulfilled ambitions or an unspoken word, which is translated into some kind of a drawing. Since the doodler has been unable to verbally voice his feelings or cannot do so due to some constraint he finds an outlet to his bottled emotions through his doodles.
People also doodle to relieve themselves of stress and anxiety. Doodles are the proverbial Freudian slips of the pen, which divulge the carefully tucked away sentiments and longings of the doodler.
Doodles are not a prerogative of any particular age or sex or any such criteria. People who are emotionally and sentimentally inclined, tend to doodle frequently. Doodling is not a negative or a derogatory activity and there is no taboo attached to it.
HABITUAL AND OCCASSIONAL DOODLERS.
There are some people who are Habitual Doodlers. These people need to doodle on a regular basis, to express themselves. For instance, telephone operators and receptionists doodle for sure. This is their favourite pass time, when they put you on hold.
While some people doodle habitually, others take to doodling, as and when they feel the need for a let out. These people are called, Occasional Doodlers.
There is, still another category of doodlers, who need to doodle in order to concentrate on the discussion at hand. They need to carry on a parallel activity, to stay focused and from straying mentally.
At the same time, you come across people who doodle, just to keep themselves from falling asleep. This becomes quite a problem for speakers, if a section of the audience dwells into doodling, rather than paying attention to what is being said. Watch out orators or you may soon lose your listeners to doodling !!!
There are some people who do not doodle at all. They simply do not use doodling, as a medium of expression.
Where to look for Doodles ?
The most common places where you will come across doodles are, back pages of notebooks, telephone directories, note pads or any other papers found near telephones.
Another place, where you will find plenty of doodles, is the doctor’s waiting room. The magazines and newspapers here have a whole variety of doodles, highlighting a wide range of emotions including anxiety, fear, relief, happiness, etc.
Doodlers don’t confine their desire to doodle to notebooks and paper alone. They can doodle on tablecloths, posters, billboards, place mats, benches, walls, rocks, etc. In fact, just anything on which they can write or carve on. Desks and benches in classrooms are the worst hit, as they have to bear the brunt of the misuse of the student’s geometric compass and dividers.
You will also come across carvings on trees, in parks. The most common carving, is that of two hearts with an arrow passing through them and the initials of the carvers (lovers) made in them.
Many people do not attach any significance to the doodles made. They merely think of it as an activity taken up, to kill time or to engage in when
one is thoroughly bored.
Doodles are not mere meaningless scrawls, but are a series of clues, which can throw light on the thought process of the doodler.
Even the doodler’s choice of pen or pencil while doodling, offers clues to his frame of mind. For instance, the pencil gives the doodler freedom to change his mind at any point of time, as he can erase the doodle, if he is not happy with it. While on the other hand, an inked doodle shows decisiveness and self-assurance on the part of the doodler.
Analysing doodles can become an interesting hobby, provided that it is studied diligently. In-depth understanding of Handwriting Analysis, Signature Analysis and elementary knowledge of psychology will further aid the process of analysing and interpreting doodles.